Comparison

Formula Rising Star vs RetroGP!

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Formula Rising Star

Experience a racing driver's career from age 15 to 35. Manage training, join teams, and master stunts to win championships over 20 years. Enjoy straightforward development gameplay with rich training strategies.

Highlights
  • Concise and straightforward development gameplay
  • Rich training strategies
  • Driver career simulation from 15 to 35
  • Participate in races and master stunts
  • Join professional teams and win championships
  • Numerous trophies and achievements
Features
Read full description

Begin your journey to the greatest driver in the world, right here, right now! This game features a uniquely concise and straightforward development gameplay, while being rich in training strategies, allowing all racing enthusiasts to freely experience a completely different racing life. In the driver mode, you will take on the role of a 15-year-old prodigy, join a professional team, and kick off your racing career. Over the course of 20 years, you'll keep participating in races, training hard, moving between different teams, and mastering various racing stunts to help your team win championships. Game Features: Say goodbye to complicated operations and easily enjoy the fun of simulation development Fast-paced and highly exciting, letting everyone fulfill their dream of becoming a racing superstar A wide variety of tactical strategies to see who can dominate the track Numerous trophies and over 100 achievements, making the pursuit never-ending

About

RetroGP!

Experience classic top-down pixel racing with 24 real-world circuits and challenging AI. Compete in full seasons, race friends privately, and customize your car and driver. Enjoy authentic 90s handheld gameplay with modern features.

Highlights
  • 24 real-world circuits
  • Dynamic AI opponents
  • Full season championship mode
  • Private multiplayer races
  • Customizable cars and drivers
  • Progressive steering and boost mechanics
Features
Read full description

RETRO GP is grand prix racing the way it looked on a 1990s handheld: top-down pixel cars, chiptune engines, and 24 real circuits drawn from the actual track maps. DRIVE THE CALENDAR From Albert Park to Yas Marina, every circuit is scaled to feel like the real thing: Monaco is tight, Jeddah is long, Spa is fast. Take the lights and fight a 22-car grid through 3, 5, 8 or 12 laps. A REAL CHAMPIONSHIP Pick your livery, race under your own name and number, and work through the season round by round. Points, standings and results carry over, and you can start a fresh season any time. OPPONENTS THAT LEARN The AI paces itself to your own lap times, so races stay close whether it's your first lap or your fiftieth. Drivers have form that changes every weekend, so the podium is never a foregone conclusion. Easy, Normal and Hard are real steps, not a slider. DRIVING THAT FEELS RIGHT Progressive steering with trail-braking. A boost with a reserve that refills over a lap, for passing and defending. A reaction-time start: jump the lights and you bog down with a penalty; nail them and you launch. Track limits and collision penalties you can switch off. PRIVATE RACES WITH FRIENDS Invite Game Center friends to a lobby, choose the track and settings, fill the grid with bots or keep it humans only, and race live. Up to 16 friends per race. LAP RECORDS Every session's best lap goes to a per-circuit Game Center leaderboard. Beat your friends at every track on the calendar. MAKE IT YOURS Your Game Center name or a racer name of your own, a race number, a helmet, a livery. Three liveries, three helmets and the first five circuits are free; the rest come as one-off packs, no subscriptions and no ads. RETRO, PROPERLY Pixel art, chiptune music, haptics on every curb and contact, painted grid boxes, a synthesized engine that revs through eight gears. Portrait, one hand, nothing tracked.

Screenshots

Formula Rising Star4 screens
RetroGP!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: RetroGP! at 5.0 against Formula Rising Star's 4.1. RetroGP! also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs fortnightly). Formula Rising Star's advantage is ratings volume (44 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Formula Rising Star sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and RetroGP! sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RetroGP! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Formula Rising Star has 44 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Formula Rising Star ships an update fortnightly, RetroGP! daily. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Formula Rising Star versus RetroGP!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFormula Rising StarRetroGP!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (44 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews13.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings44 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size241 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBabuyo GamesJEREMY DANIEL GRIFFITH

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Formula Rising Star

One-time10
  • 60 Diamonds$1.99
  • 330 Diamonds$4.99
  • 1020 Diamonds$10.99
Show 7 more
  • No ADs Forever$14.99
  • 2560 Diamonds$19.99
  • 1280 Diamonds$19.99
  • 6560 Diamonds$49.99
  • 3280 Diamonds$49.99
  • 12960 Diamonds$99.99
  • 6480 Diamonds$99.99
3 purchases

RetroGP!

One-time3
  • Livery Pack$1.99
  • Helmet Pack$1.99
  • All Circuits$4.99

Questions

Is Formula Rising Star free?
Formula Rising Star is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RetroGP! free?
RetroGP! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Formula Rising Star or RetroGP!?
RetroGP! is rated higher. Formula Rising Star averages 4.1 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while RetroGP! averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Formula Rising Star or RetroGP! have ads?
Formula Rising Star shows ads; RetroGP! does not.
Which is updated more often, Formula Rising Star or RetroGP!?
Formula Rising Star ships an update fortnightly, and RetroGP! daily. Most recently, Formula Rising Star was updated on October 30, 2026 and RetroGP! on October 26, 2026.

Other comparisons