Racing, romance, and retro music in one video game
Nirvana Pilot Yume is a psychedelic visual novel featuring the high-speed action of an arcade racing video game. Considered the visual novel version of the classic DOS game SkyRoads, Nirvana Pilot Yume tells the story of Mitur Aldaine—a former Eye that used to be the best guide for pilots in the city of Alba Proxima—and Yume, an aspiring young Nirvana Pilot who’s determined to get Mitur to aid her in her dream no matter what. This game is a total ‘80s sci-fi anime nostalgia trip for anyone who’s a fan of retro-synthwave music and space racing.
The space race
An old but well-known title for the MS-DOS computer operating system, SkyRoads was the polished-up remake of another video game called Kosmonaut and had received international fame throughout the world. It was a simple game wherein you had to race through circuits and platforms in space that had different areas of effect wherever your spaceship drove through.
The controls are just your directional keys and your spacebar: Up to accelerate, Down to slow down, Left and Right to steer, and Space to jump. SkyRoads’ simple gameplay is the very foundation of Nirvana Pilot Yume’s own gameplay and so it’s no surprise that you’ll be spending your time traversing across these retro-style polygonal renditions of space. However, don’t expect that this is all the game has to offer.
A drama that has it all
Nirvana Pilot Yume’s other core mechanic is its visual novel side. In this game, you are embroiled in a rich story that talks about atonement, ambition, and the value of relationships—all in the midst of a sci-fi world. The year is 3080 and the barrier of the Speed of Light has long been broken. Spaceships can now travel at Ultrathought speed thanks to the Atanasij Power Engines.
Instead of wars, factions settled disputes by racing against each other in the Great Ultrathought Race of the Universe or G.U.R.U. In order to drive an Ultrathought spaceship for the race, a Pilot and an Eye are needed—and they need to do the Nirvana Sync in order to act as one.
You play as Mitur Aldaine, a legendary Eye who guided his Pilot with great precision through the races. However, after a tragic accident 10 years ago, he quit racing. One day, he is suddenly approached by Yume Kichi Neleiad, an Apprentice Pilot who wants Mitur to be her Eye. Soon enough, the pair gets entangled with a small but solid cast of characters, all wanting different things from both Mitur and Yume.
As Mitur, you not only get to guide Yume on the track but also in life—setting up important life events and even romances that will decide the ending of your story. Mitur’s road to redemption rides alongside his romances that can come from either Yume herself or the two other female characters that end up helping the pair’s career.
Romance and races come together
Looking at it as a whole, Nirvana Pilot Yume surprisingly pulls off the combination of SkyRoads racing and dramatic visual novel quite well. The lore of its sci-fi plotline is interesting and expansive enough that several sequels or spin-offs could be made for it. The relationship arcs between the main characters may feel rushed at times—and you might even think that it’s because of the few NSFW adult scenes in the story—but all in all, Nirvana Pilot Yume ties cohesively into one nice game you can jive to, especially because of its amazing soundtrack and graphics.
