Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour has an easy, specific pull: you are not just selecting another sports car, but moving through Ferrari history one challenge at a time. The campaign splits that history into Golden, Silver, and Modern eras, covering 1947 through 2011, and you can switch between them whenever you want. That freedom is welcome. If one period or car type is not clicking, you can sample another corner of the garage instead of being locked into a single linear path.

Its structure is more restrictive than that freedom initially suggests. Each era stops progressing until you clear its current mission, so a single difficult objective can become a hard gate. The tasks vary between beating lap times, climbing a required number of race positions with two laps remaining, and staying within a specified distance of another car for several laps. They are clear objectives, and the changing conditions keep the campaign from becoming nothing but standard races, but they can also feel overly prescribed when you simply want another chance to enjoy a favorite Ferrari.

That makes the game more satisfying in short, goal-focused sessions than as a carefree driving tour. Learn what a particular mission demands, retry it with intent, and move on when it is done. The large unlock list gives those wins some weight: more than 50 Ferrari models are waiting across the three eras. Free Play is the better destination once you have opened up cars you genuinely want to drive, while online races support up to eight participants for anyone who prefers direct competition.

The underlying engine comes from the team behind SHIFT 2 Unleashed, albeit in a downgraded form, and that context fits the result. This is track racing with a simulation-minded pedigree rather than an arcade romp. If you want a Ferrari collection tied to challenge-based progression, it has a clear niche. If you mainly want unrestricted racing from the start, the campaign’s locks and mission demands can wear thin before the collection fully opens up.

Graphics

The most meaningful visual draw is the car roster itself: classic and modern Ferrari models spanning decades, placed on 36 real-world racing tracks. Behind-view and first-person camera options let you either watch the cars work through a circuit or drive from the cockpit perspective.

Story

There is a storyline linking the campaign missions, but it is a loose thread rather than the reason to play. The real narrative is the three-era structure: Golden from 1947 to 1973, Silver from 1974 to 1990, and Modern from 1991 to 2011. Moving among them gives the career a historical frame without asking you to follow a heavily plotted racing drama.

That light touch suits the subject. Ferrari’s long timeline and changing machinery are more interesting than a forced tale would be, and the game wisely puts its attention on getting you onto tracks and into unlockable cars. Still, do not expect the mission chain to build much emotional momentum on its own.

The downside is that story context does little to soften repeated failures. When a lap-time or position target blocks progress, you are tackling it because the campaign requires it, not because the narrative has made the next event feel urgent. The era framing is useful flavor; it is not enough to rescue a frustrating objective.

Overall Experience

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends is a middling racer with a very good excuse to exist: it lets Ferrari fans work through a broad slice of the company’s catalogue, from the Golden era to the Modern era. That scope is the payoff. Unlocking cars across more than half a century and taking them to a substantial set of real circuits gives the game more staying power than a small, generic licensed tie-in.

At the same time, the campaign asks for patience. Its missions are varied, but the requirement to finish the current one before advancing in an era makes the rougher challenges feel more important than they should. You may have more fun treating the career as a series of tests to conquer, then using Free Play as your reward, rather than expecting a smooth and constantly evolving racing campaign.

A 6.3 feels fair. Ferrari loyalists and track-racing fans can find worthwhile hours here, especially if the historical garage matters more to them than campaign elegance. Everyone else should know that the license carries much of the experience. For broader series context, see the related Test Drive entry; for game-specific background, the Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends history is useful.

Retro Replay Score

6.3/10