The Wonder Years: Week 7 - Street Racer
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 05.31.2007
Think Mario Kart with a heart of pure caffeine.
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
STREET RACER
(Ubisoft, Genesis & Super NES, 1994)
It's obvious that the Mario Kart formula is a successful one; just look at the many fantastic games in the series produced by Nintendo. Somehow, though, other companies have failed to capitalise on what should, in theory, be an easily executable product - simply inserting your own flagship characters into a sub-standard racer just doesn't cut it (I'm looking at you, Spyro and Crash Bandicoot). Ironically, before Ubisoft tried (and failed) to spawn a new franchise of their own with Rayman Rush and Arena, they had already created a perfectly respectable, and jolly fun, little madcap racer. No prizes for guessing what it was called…
The premise is, naturally, a simple one: eight racers from around the world gather to compete in a series of violent and fast-paced races to determine a winner. Yes, it's not exactly Screenwriting 101, but the characters do at least bear more semblance of originality than most, with everyone from a 900-year old Turkish wizard to a sumo wrestler from the future (the superbly named Sumo-San) taking part in the action. Of course, there are all the usual speed boosts, power-ups and special moves incorporated, and with 24 tracks across four championships there's plenty of lasting potential.
The tournaments themselves are laid out well, with one track initially themed around each character with two more unlockable. The learning curve is pitched nicely, and with a points system owing more to NASCAR than your average racer (ie. every racer gets points, with added bonuses for factors like the fastest lap and the most aggressive driver) battles become closely pitched over the course of eight races. However the game doesn't just stop with the racing - as well as the obligatory time trial mode, there're also battle and football modes that can be undertaken solo or with friends. While the battle arenas are rather bland, and games can last upwards of ten minutes trying to connect with one solid punch, it's a fun little diversion. The football competitions, on the other hand, are excellent fun, and with eight participants vying for the crucial goal can prove to be rather tense indeed. There's a plethora of options as well, with screens and screens of settings to be adjusted - everything from the number of laps (up to 30!) to the size of the cars. It all makes for a pleasingly length gaming experience.
Although the game runs at a fair lick, it's pretty obvious that the player is simply rotating the track rather than actually controlling the vehicle. This can be a little off-putting, as it means not only are the tracks completely flat, but there is a slight queasy sensation that results from all the spinning. Thankfully it doesn't take long to get used to, and the simple mechanic means that the action (of which there is plenty) is all relatively smooth. While the multiplayer struggles to maintain a solid frame rate, it's no real surprise as four player games can get surprisingly hectic. Fortunately the joys of punching a kart-driving sumo wrestler into a wall far outweigh any misgivings this might engender.
Street Racer seems to have suffered a bit of a bum deal, swiftly reduced to bargain bucket prices before being removed from shelves altogether. Nowadays it's very hard to track down a new copy, although the odd one crops up on eBay from time to time. It's a shame, as for multiplayer thrills it's a genuine riot, even if the four-player split screen mechanic suffers on all but the smallest TVs. In light of Ubisoft's recent heavy support for the Wii, would it be too much to ask for a Virtual Console re-release? Probably, but I'll be the first to sign a petition, as it's one of the few third-party games that comes close to capturing the simple joys of Mario Kart. Make it so!
Street Racer trivia
The Playstation version of the game was the first racer to allow simultaneous eight-player, for those people who have too many friends.
The SNES version actually beat the 16-bit Doom to the top of the charts, despite the latter still being at the time one of the best games around.
The cartridge is also home to the single worst piece of artwork I've seen on any game. Google it if you fancy a laugh.
Street Racer is number 56 in my official all-time Top 100 games.
Tangential musings
If anyone knows a treatment for minor whiplash I'd love to hear it, there was a really good band playing at the local t'other night and I may have got a bit carried away when they started playing some Joe Satriani.
Speaking of music, I seem to have gone from barely playing my guitar over the past six months to being in three different bands. How times change. Now if I can just convince one of them to get Satch on the setlist…
We've just got satellite TV installed for the first time in my life. The channels available are just bewildering, especially when you consider that out of 1000 on offer maybe four of them have watchable content.
Still, three cheers for having finally hooked up the old GameCube again, I'd forgotten what a blast Smash Bros. was.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. "The Wonder Years" will be taking a break next week, as I'll be working an 84-hour week (what a fool I am), but tune back in a fortnight's time as everyone's favourite hedgehog takes a leap into the third dimension. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
