Club Retro 2021: July - Racing Games
Jul 9, 2021 9:00:43 GMT -5
Post by toei on Jul 9, 2021 9:00:43 GMT -5
I spent a little over an hour playing Virtua Racing Deluxe this morning. I have never been good at racing games before, but I'm starting to get a grip on this one, so it's pretty cool. My best rankings so far on the five tracks (in order) are 1st, 3rd, 4th, N/A (I haven't managed to finish it yet) and 2nd. The timer is really harsh in this game, probably a leftover from Sega's earlier sprite-scaling driving games like OutRun. You can be 5th out of 16 and run out of time. Imagine a race where they won't even let 2/3rds of the participants finish.
As primitive as the 3D is, the handling of the cars is great in this version. It's really pretty impressive physics. It's a harsh game, though - the road gets really narrow, and you can tailspin very easily if you hit the grass. That's why this game doesn't need 30 tracks or whatever - it's hard enough mastering each. You don't even get a trophy unless you get first place. Forget "qualifying". It's surprisingly easy to hit 2nd place in the last race, for example, but that's because the number 1 car is just way ahead of everyone in that particular race.
Also, 2D is just bad for racing games. It doesn't feel real the way 3D does.
Also played some Road Rash and Road Rash 2. Those games are... not that good? RR2 is fun when you're just screwing around, but it gets really frustrating when you're actually trying to progress. Obstacles come out of nowhere all the time, and it takes a ridiculous amount of time for your racer to run back to his bike when he gets knocked off. Also, cops and bike destruction were just a bad idea. When you get into the later levels, just finish a race is way too hard. Who wants to race for 6 minutes, only to get arrested and not only waste the race, but lose a bunch of money too? Also, you can see the difference in skill between Sega and EA at the time. Road Rash 2's gameplay feels loose and flat-out amateurish compared to VR Deluxe. It's not a bad game, but now I remember why I never beat it. I haven't talked much about RR1, but that's because it's boring. Racers don't really try to fight you in that one, and nothing much happens on the road.
As primitive as the 3D is, the handling of the cars is great in this version. It's really pretty impressive physics. It's a harsh game, though - the road gets really narrow, and you can tailspin very easily if you hit the grass. That's why this game doesn't need 30 tracks or whatever - it's hard enough mastering each. You don't even get a trophy unless you get first place. Forget "qualifying". It's surprisingly easy to hit 2nd place in the last race, for example, but that's because the number 1 car is just way ahead of everyone in that particular race.
Also, 2D is just bad for racing games. It doesn't feel real the way 3D does.
Also played some Road Rash and Road Rash 2. Those games are... not that good? RR2 is fun when you're just screwing around, but it gets really frustrating when you're actually trying to progress. Obstacles come out of nowhere all the time, and it takes a ridiculous amount of time for your racer to run back to his bike when he gets knocked off. Also, cops and bike destruction were just a bad idea. When you get into the later levels, just finish a race is way too hard. Who wants to race for 6 minutes, only to get arrested and not only waste the race, but lose a bunch of money too? Also, you can see the difference in skill between Sega and EA at the time. Road Rash 2's gameplay feels loose and flat-out amateurish compared to VR Deluxe. It's not a bad game, but now I remember why I never beat it. I haven't talked much about RR1, but that's because it's boring. Racers don't really try to fight you in that one, and nothing much happens on the road.