Radial-G aims to bring Wipeout and F-Zero-style racing to VR

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Radial-G is a Wipeout / F-Zero style futuristic racer currently zooming towards Oculus Rift.

It's entirely in first-person and puts you in exactly the type of cockpit that would have made you wet yourself when watching Star Wars as a child. Or maybe that's just me.

Either way, it's pretty awesome. You have virtual legs which you can see by looking down which adds an extra level of immersion.

Just above your legs is your UI. It's not an ideal location for this because you really don't want to have to glance down when you're racing at speed. In fact, it caused a few of my crashes.

We played on a track which was situated in space on a rollercoaster-style series of pipes. You could race all around these pipes and you had to do so to avoid obstacles and hit boosters.

It had to be said that the sense of speed in Radial-G was pretty disappointing but I'm not sure if that's designed to offset motion sickness. Hitting a booster didn't really make that much of a difference to your speed either.

It was also very difficult to see ahead of you when moving vertically up pipes. Many times I reached the top of the pipe and an obstacle was right in my path that I couldn't react in time to avoid.

I also had no idea where the other ships were or what position I was in the race. Glancing down to check your position in the UI was too dangerous and you can barely see what's ahead of you so looking for the tiny specks that symbolised a spaceship was a bit difficult.

You used an Xbox 360 controller to control movement but it was a little sluggish and I often found myself hitting barriers or missing boosters. It didn't make sense for a slow-moving racer like this to feel so floaty.

The sound was pretty impressive and featured dubstep tracks that popped along nicely as you whizzed around.

All being said it will probably satisfy the Wipeout / F-Zero fans but improved camera angles, a better UI, and a stronger sense of speed is what Radial-G needs to please the masses. A little visual polish wouldn't hurt either.