Drift Fury

Summary

Fancy a browser drifter that lets you bash doors and rewards big-angle skids? Drift Fury lets you throw your car into corners until you feel you’re gonna spin, then provides a burst of speed (think of it as a bonus for committing) that’ll often bail you out.

If the hero-spec entries don’t quite go to plan, running the walls (or even smashing into them entirely) isn’t penalized, leaving you free to continue pushing your ride to its absolute limits across the entire circuit.

There are two separate 10-level modes. Drift puts you into solo two-lap events with stars, points, combos, and the best cash payouts. Race pits you up against a serious rival that’s more interested in sending you into the barriers than joining your pretend tandem.

Once you get the hang of the physics, you’ll quickly unlock the varied nine-car garage (ranging from old-school muscle to modern-day supercars) thanks to the generous payouts for showing off your skills.

Features

• Release date – February 18, 2023
• Difficulty – Beginner
• Levels/environments – 20 levels (10 Race, 10 Drift)
• Number of vehicles – 9
• Vehicle customization/upgrades – Paint only
• Multiplayer – No
• Mobile – Yes
• Developer – Freezenova

Physics

While it might not be the most realistic drifting game out there, Drift Fury’s slidey arcade physics provide plenty of big-angle fun. When the car looks ready to spin, you’ll get a sudden burst of speed to help you correct yourself (which takes a bit of getting used to).

Shallow slides tend to drain your momentum, and you’ll often find yourself needing to blast the nitrous to keep the rear wheels spinning (it refills super quick, so don’t worry). Once you understand the quirky sliding, you’ll often be able to keep the throttle pinned throughout the run, and you’ll rarely need to use the handbrake to kick the back end out.

One downside that takes some getting used to is that the front wheels don’t actually counter-steer, and they look pretty much straight despite feeling like you’ve got a Wisefab big angle kit fitted! So, you’ll need to get a feel for what the rear is doing instead, which soon makes sense. If it bothers you, look no further than Drift Hunters Max for the ultimate drifting game when it comes to realism in your browser.

Don’t worry about the barriers, either. You can run the walls and bounce off them without any damage or losing your current combo (unless you stop drifting in the process).

If you’d rather watch your panels crumple when you crash into things, we’ve got plenty of options in our stunts & crash games category. Crash Game: Physics Machines is a great browser-based Beam NG-style open-world crash sandbox, and Deadly Descent is the top pick for players who want more drifting (and racing) alongside the panel crumpling chaos. 

Graphics

The cars look sharp, the tire smoke is decent, and the rocky mountains in the distance give you some good views along the way. High- and low-quality options (available in the main menu or at the top of the in-game screen) let you trade some detail for smoother performance if your device is struggling.

Don’t expect much scenic variety as you progress, though. You’ll get different layouts on each new level, but they’re all set on the same track with near-identical surroundings. You’ll also notice that the distant scenery often disappears and magically pops back into view. If this bothers you, Drift Rush is a great alternative for fast-hitting two-lap drifting, with more varied tracks and a larger garage, but a much stricter combo penalty for hitting walls.

Controls

PC/laptop/Chromebook

• W/Up arrow – Accelerate
• S/Down arrow – Brake/reverse
• A/Left arrow – Steer left
• D/Right arrow – Steer right
• Spacebar – Handbrake
• Shift – Nitrous

You can see how much nitrous you’ve got left in the tank from the blue ring around the speedo. Although it empties super quickly, it soon tops itself back up, so don’t be afraid to use it.

Mobile (iOS/Android)

• On-screen touch controls – Drive/steer/nitrous

The controls work well without needing a keyboard. Our mobile games collection has plenty more optimized picks for when you want more browser games to enjoy on your phone or tablet.

How to Play Drift Fury

Initial Setup

When you get to the main menu, the medal icon in the top right opens the Achievement list, while the H/L button toggles between high and low graphics quality. Try H first, then use L if performance struggles (you can do this in-game, so don’t panic). The musical note controls the sound.

You begin with $100 and a free Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (not a bad start, huh?). You can change its paint (for free) before your first event, and you’ll immediately collect your first achievement. After that, you can choose between Race or Drift game modes. We always start with Drift, but we’re probably a little biased!

Getting Started

Drift mode launches with a rolling start, so be ready to get sideways as soon as the level begins.

Play it sensibly at first, and you’ll likely see your car struggle for power. Then, play around with keeping the throttle down and using more angle than you normally would. Don’t be afraid to hit the walls a bit, and play around with the true angle limits, as you might be surprised (just don’t rely on the front wheel-angle for guidance!).

You’ll quickly learn that the typical clean, fast-paced, small-angle drifting that the Japanese drifting OGs were known for definitely isn’t rewarded here.

While it’s definitely not always necessary (countersteering and weight shifting are more than enough to get sideways), the Spacebar e-brake can help initiate a slide or help rescue an over-rotation (but don’t panic too early).

Use Shift (nitrous) when you’re lacking speed. A short burst is often enough to get you sideways easily, or carry you through the rest of the turn.

Game Modes

Drift

You get 10 levels, each run over two laps. It combines a timer, stars, drift points, and a combo multiplier that tops out at 3x. The exact time required to earn each star isn’t shown, so you need to balance speed (and not crashing) with keeping the car sideways for as much of the run as possible.

Assuming you can keep your car sideways and rack up the combos, Drift is also where you’ll make most of your money. Long slides and linked transitions (along with manjis on the straights) help increase the payout, and the short levels make it easy to earn more cash quickly. Even a pretty average run can bag around $25,000, which is enough to buy most of the cars in the showroom. No complaints there!

Race

Race gives you the same 10 two-lap levels, but this time it’s a one-on-one fight to the finish. Your opponent becomes tougher as you move into better cars and isn’t shy about ramming into you, and will happily pull off a PIT maneuver and leave you piling into the barriers.

Pick the Ford GT, and you’ll soon find yourself up against the still-locked Lamborghini. Harsh!

Since your rival has zero interest in a friendly tandem, it makes it all the more amusing when you sit on their door while they’re in a desperate race to the finish. Try changing the camera to the cinematic view, and you can pretend you’re enjoying some close-proximity sideways action.

When you actually want to win the race, use your nitrous wisely, and take advantage of the consequence-free shortcuts across the grass if you get desperate.

Drifted fans might recognize that this game feels similar to Race Burnout Drift. While it’s undoubtedly super similar, it swaps the achievement reward around by locking the Ford GT rather than the Lamborghini, and lets you go up against two rivals rather than one. However, there’s an off-track penalty system that you don’t need to worry about here!

Achievements & Progression

Race and Drift have their own progression paths. Completing a level in one doesn’t unlock the matching level in the other, so you’ll need to complete all 20 events to complete the game.

The medal icon on the main menu lets you check out the Achievements you can work towards. Some arrive by playing around in the menus, including simply opening Drift mode. Others cover first-place finishes, completing both mode paths, total drift points, and using nitrous for 1,000 seconds.

Money unlocks eight of the nine cars, but the Lambo Huracan Spyder is only unlocked once you complete every achievement. The generous Drift payouts remove most of the usual cash grind, leaving the Lamborghini as the final boss goal.

Car List

The garage starts with some free American muscle before moving into modern sports cars and exotics. Prices are nice and low, and you’ll soon be able to afford pretty much any car after a few decent runs in Drift mode.

Don’t expect the later cars to completely transform the experience, as they feel mostly similar. The fun comes from unlocking the full roster and enjoying the subtle differences.

• Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat – Free
• Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat – $2,000

• 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T – $5,000
• BMW i8 – $10,000
• Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 – $15,000

• Chevrolet Corvette Z06 C7 – $20,000
• Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – $30,000
• Ford GT – $40,000
• Lamborghini Huracan Spyder – Unlock all 20 achievements

Customization

Paint changes are free, and that’s all you get in the way of customization tweaks. Several cars arrive with aftermarket-looking wheels or parts, but what you see is what you get.

Thankfully, two super similar games offering tuning, upgrades, and customization. On top of that, they both offer online multiplayer, so you can tandem with your friends (rather than an unwilling race opponent like this one!). Drift King keeps a similar supercar focus (along with modern offerings like the Toyota GR Supra) while adding tuning, free-roam tracks, alongside real-time multiplayer.

Japanese drifting fans will want to check out Drift Hunters Pro, which offers near-identical physics but adds a JDM-focused garage, varied locations, tuning, and public or private online lobbies. Both feel like fuller versions of this game, but with proper tandems instead of the unwilling computer opponent.

Advanced Tips & Tricks

Don’t be afraid to throw down bigger angles than usual

Take advantage of the quirky feature where Drift Fury rewards you for pulling off big angle entries.

Keep the throttle pinned and give the car time to rescue itself before assuming you’re going to spin out. I’m definitely not promising you’ll pull off a backward entry into every corner, but you can get away with way more angle than the (lack of) front-wheel animation suggests!

Manji the straights to boost the 3x payday

Since you don’t get any penalties for hitting the walls or barriers, drift from side to side on the straights to make sure you don’t lose your combo.

This well-known drifting technique is known as a manji, and it keeps you racking up your drift score between corners instead of letting the combo die. Maintaining the 3x multiplier as long as you can is the fastest route to massive payouts.

Try lifting briefly when the big-angle magic runs out

If the rear really does rotate too far, try lifting off the throttle for a moment, or use the nitrous/tap the handbrake depending on the scenario. All three of these can help the car come back around when it feels like it’s too late. Don’t hold the handbrake and kill all your speed when a quick correction is all you need. Remember – when in doubt, flat out!

Use nitrous when a shallow slide bogs down

Use a short boost when your car loses momentum or a Race opponent begins pulling away. The meter refills quickly enough to use several times, and a well-timed burst can drag your car through the rest of a corner.

You can race dirty, but watch out for the rocks

There are no prizes for clean racing here, so you have the option to use the off-track shortcuts when your opponent blocks the obvious line.

Barriers won’t damage the car, but the exposed rocks in various parts of the track will happily bring you slamming to a stop in an instant if you clip them at the wrong angle.

Drift Fury FAQ