Game: Street Racer
Console: Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Vivid Image
Release Date: 1995
We'll start with the Mega Drive version of the game which graphically seems to be a mix of Mario Kart and Super Hang On, or Outrun. The track speed toward you much like the latter titles, but the sprites of the racers as well as bonus items and power-ups are reminiscent of the former. There's Practice, Head to Head, Championship, Soccer and Rumble modes to choose from in the main menu. Championships consist of 6 tracks and points are awarded for finishing positions as well as a point for the fastest lap, and most stars collected.
Soccer mode sees all 8 racers attempting to score the most goals within a time limit, or a certain number of goals depending on the options chosen. It works decently although the view of the field is somewhat odd and I much prefer using the overview map at the side most of the time. The ball is obtained by either driving over it when no-one else is in possession or using the punch control to steal it from another racer. To score a goal the player must release the ball with the punch button into the goal, controlled by the computer.
Rumble mode is a little like one of the battle modes on Mario Kart titles; all 8 racers start inside of an arena with lanes of varying speeds. Travelling on the inside will cause the player to go slowly and the outside allows much faster travel. The barrier at the edge of the arena slowly crumbles away, allowing the elimination of players via punching them at the correct moment, so as to make them drive off the edge where there is no barrier. Although this can work well, it can take a while before there's enough barrier missing to eliminate anyone, and on the whole the game expects you to do most of the eliminating.
The best way to describe the controls of the game is to say that most of the time it feels like the track is moving under you, than the other way around. Things feel more fast paced than the first few Mario Kart titles, and the game borrows ideas such as holding down the accelerator at the right time when the race starts and using power-ups, although here they're scattered on the track and more difficult to distinguish between. When added to the faster gameplay, this makes for a tough challenge.
Graphically Street Racer has some nice moments, especially backgrounds on certain levels, and even the racer sprites work well in a cartoon style. Musically the game's general style is very much Mega-Drive era sounding, with influences of funk and rock which goes well with the game, without being particularly impressive or memorable. The sound effects feel more suited to the Master System in general and there's not really much to enjoy from the tyre squeal and engine sounds.
Overall the game is best played on Easy difficulty, and still there'll be one racer who is always getting ahead of you (just like Mario Kart). Unfortunately it's more difficult to get ahead of the rival than in Mario Kart and even on easy mode, second place isn't unusual. Street Racer feels like it's trying to put too many elements into a Mario Kart type game with the movement style of Hang On, power-ups on the track and characters who could well be out of the Wacky Races. It's playable but probably best with two players.
Rating: 61/100
Grade: D
Game: Street Racer
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Vivid Image
Release Date: 31st October 1996
The Playstation version of the game features a few changes from its Master System counterpart. The graphics have been updated and soccer mode removed. Races are now made up of 10 laps of short circuits rather than 5 of slightly longer ones, power-ups are still scattered about the track but a little less so in the racing line of the cars, there are new special attacks which the players have 2 each of, rumble mode has been revised and a there are lot more turbos to be collected on each stage.
Other than this however, much of the old game remains, championships are scored in much the same way, and all of the characters are the same. Many of the old problems still exist too; the track still feels as if it's moving around the cars, it's almost impossible to finish 1st but too easy to finish 2nd, the computer waits for you to eliminate it in rumble mode, and the sound effects are still not particularly impressive.
Graphically the game seems to outclass the Mega Drive version despite only having an updated version of the 16 bit graphics. The backgrounds, racers and animation are all impressive and there's a nicer map displayed in the top left. Musically also the game seems to have improved featuring a variety of interesting pieces, including a version of Ride of the Valkyries for the final stage which was quite enjoyable.
Overall if anything, this version feels like Street Racer +; an update to the Mega Drive version which refined some aspects but didn't fix many of the gameplay issues. Even having replaced all of the old tracks with new ones, difficulty issues remain meaning that its almost impossible to win a rumble match against the computer or even come first in a race on the Easy difficulty. If anything the turning on this version is worse than that of the Mega Drive version, if a little smoother.
Rating: 61/100
Grade: D
In the end both of these games play in pretty much the same way, the PS1 version isn't as much of an update to the Mega Drive version as I'd have liked and lacks the soccer feature and the ease of racing, but looks better and solves some of the problems at least. My advice would be to play whichever version you can get your hands on if you're that desperate to do so, otherwise stick to Mario Kart.
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