On 9th September 1999, Sega released a new console to an excited public, the now legendary Dreamcast. Many would argue the first in Next Gen visuals, and online gaming, the Dreamcast was overtaken by Playstation2 but never forgotten. To this day, a decade on, it is still a powerful force in the gaming world. This is my tribute to the console and games, where a poet becomes fanboy.
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 February 2012
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Wacky Races
Wacky Races came out in 2000 from developer Sheffield House and publisher Infogrames. Its a kart racing game based of course on the popular Wacky Races cartoon of the late 1960s by Hanna~Barbera. And boy is this a decent racer!
All of the cartoons wonderful oddball and zany characters are playable although Dick Dastardly and Muttley, Red Max and Professor Pat Pending must be unlocked by completing challenges before they become available. (Full character list below.)
There are three areas (Snowfall Peaks, Wild Frontier and Redwood Valley) which have five circuits each to compete against the computer or three friends in different track challenges. Time Trial, Wacky Cup, Golden Muttley Cup and battle arena make up these challenges.
The Slag Brothers worry about Dick Dastardly's ego
Now having never been a 'serious' kart racing fan I was of the opinion that they were pretty easy and getting number one places and quick times were a cinch. How wrong I was! Wacky Races is anything but a walkover and provided me with plenty of hours must~have practice and time to learn the tracks. And with some racing games this can prove frustrating but such is the brilliance of this title, I never once thought of launching my controller through a window.
It looks absolutely lush with hints of cel shading to make it as close to the cartoon as possible with bold black lines and trippy bright colours the show was famous for. Its almost like driving in your very own cartoon. Okay I found the desert tracks to be a little too orangey but hey its the desert!
There are types of controls ~ Race and Kart, with Kart being the easiest (although in some races you would never think it easy.) You can select at first three power ups (three more become available as you progress) which are unique to your character and assign them to the X, Y and B buttons.
Power ups/weapons can be had by collecting tokens that are strewn all over the place. You can also nick them from opponents by ramming their vehicle to kingdom come. In a cool twist of gameplay these tokens are recycled and as you use your power ups/weapons the tokens will plop out of your kart and back onto the circuit for other racers to nab them. In all of the admittedly small amount of kart racers ive played, this way of getting tokens was a new one on me.
The ony gripe I have at Wacky Races is the difficulty. Even at the earlier stages and challenges its very unforgiving and to get top positions and quickest lap times you best be at the top of your game. And choosing the right character and kart is important because on certain tracks some vehicles are not up to the task. For instance I almost totalled the Slag Brothers' Boulder Mobile during a race on the Tombstone Pass in the Wild Frontier. Sorry guys!
But as I said earlier, it never gets beyond the point of tutting before restarting the race. It never makes you feel like boiling the disc in hot oil. This is an impressive kart racer and can be picked up for just a few shekels. I paid £4 for mine which would give anyone that Muttley laugh. Brilliant!
Full List of Characters and Vehicles ~
Penelope Pitstop (Compact Pussycat)
Peter Perfect (Turbo Terrific)
Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (Buzz Wagon)
Luke & Blubber Bear (Arkansas Chugga~Bug)
The Ant Hill Mob (Bullet Proof Bomb)
Sergeant Blast & Private Meeks (Army Surplus Special)
The Gruesome Twosome (Creepy Coupe)
The Slag Brothers (Boulder Mobile)
Unlockable ~
Dastardly and Muttley
Red Max
Professor Pat Pending
** Check out video **
All of the cartoons wonderful oddball and zany characters are playable although Dick Dastardly and Muttley, Red Max and Professor Pat Pending must be unlocked by completing challenges before they become available. (Full character list below.)
There are three areas (Snowfall Peaks, Wild Frontier and Redwood Valley) which have five circuits each to compete against the computer or three friends in different track challenges. Time Trial, Wacky Cup, Golden Muttley Cup and battle arena make up these challenges.
The Slag Brothers worry about Dick Dastardly's ego
Now having never been a 'serious' kart racing fan I was of the opinion that they were pretty easy and getting number one places and quick times were a cinch. How wrong I was! Wacky Races is anything but a walkover and provided me with plenty of hours must~have practice and time to learn the tracks. And with some racing games this can prove frustrating but such is the brilliance of this title, I never once thought of launching my controller through a window.
It looks absolutely lush with hints of cel shading to make it as close to the cartoon as possible with bold black lines and trippy bright colours the show was famous for. Its almost like driving in your very own cartoon. Okay I found the desert tracks to be a little too orangey but hey its the desert!
There are types of controls ~ Race and Kart, with Kart being the easiest (although in some races you would never think it easy.) You can select at first three power ups (three more become available as you progress) which are unique to your character and assign them to the X, Y and B buttons.
Power ups/weapons can be had by collecting tokens that are strewn all over the place. You can also nick them from opponents by ramming their vehicle to kingdom come. In a cool twist of gameplay these tokens are recycled and as you use your power ups/weapons the tokens will plop out of your kart and back onto the circuit for other racers to nab them. In all of the admittedly small amount of kart racers ive played, this way of getting tokens was a new one on me.
The ony gripe I have at Wacky Races is the difficulty. Even at the earlier stages and challenges its very unforgiving and to get top positions and quickest lap times you best be at the top of your game. And choosing the right character and kart is important because on certain tracks some vehicles are not up to the task. For instance I almost totalled the Slag Brothers' Boulder Mobile during a race on the Tombstone Pass in the Wild Frontier. Sorry guys!
But as I said earlier, it never gets beyond the point of tutting before restarting the race. It never makes you feel like boiling the disc in hot oil. This is an impressive kart racer and can be picked up for just a few shekels. I paid £4 for mine which would give anyone that Muttley laugh. Brilliant!
Full List of Characters and Vehicles ~
Penelope Pitstop (Compact Pussycat)
Peter Perfect (Turbo Terrific)
Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (Buzz Wagon)
Luke & Blubber Bear (Arkansas Chugga~Bug)
The Ant Hill Mob (Bullet Proof Bomb)
Sergeant Blast & Private Meeks (Army Surplus Special)
The Gruesome Twosome (Creepy Coupe)
The Slag Brothers (Boulder Mobile)
Unlockable ~
Dastardly and Muttley
Red Max
Professor Pat Pending
** Check out video **
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Sega GT
Developers - WOW Entertainment. Publishers - Sega Corporation. Released 2000
Sega GT is a driving simulator that was aimed at being a Gran Turismo beater. Or at least aimed at being on par with Playstation's car game/pornography. And in my opinion it succeeds. Granted this title drove straight past me ten years ago, and truth be told I had already had enough of 'real' driving games thanks to the Sony game but now after all these years I have picked up a copy of Sega GT for my collection and must say, I love it.
All the car makes are here, including Peugot, Suzuki, Subaru,Fiat and Honda, and they look the buisness too. Graphically this a very fine example of what the Dreamcast was capable of. (In fact I get the feeling this game wasn't running at full pelt and Sega's console was capable of so much more.) Still, everything looks lush from road shadows to whispy, moving clouds in the blue sky.
Of course before you can partake in any of the serious races you must first acquire a license. There is the B Class, A Class and SA Class to obtain in all and each will let you in to their relevant races. There are time trials to full blown championships to get stuck in to.
One particularly cool aspect of Sega GT is the corporate sponsorship of the championships (featuring, among others, McDonalds!) Win the tournament title and you'll earn more than just moolah and a fancy car; you'll bag a sponsor who rewards you further with great performances. The money is all well and good but the Golden Arches still hasn't gotten me my very own Big Mac vending machine.
When not racing for money (and burgers) you can pay a visit to your garage and upgrade your cars by fine tuning everything from fly wheels to pistons. Fans of the other driving simuluator will know what I mean here.
The only downside to Sega GT is during the early Club stages, the races are slow and as you can only afford a basic, un-souped up car you are forced to grind around the circuit feeling like you are steering an iron on wheels. But the game is only reflecting reality so no blame can really be applied to Sega GT.
Another great thing about this game is the music. Different races have different music styles so for example the dusty, desert circuit 'Deep Rock Road' has gentle country music in the background whilst 'Sky Peak Hill' has jazz. Its all a merciful release from having the likes of Ash belt out the same tedious track ad infinitum like they did on Gran Turismo.
Best news of all? It can be taken for a spin for the same price as a pint of beer so racing fans should have no excuses for not picking this up.
Jager Rating: 10 Jagerbombs !!
Sega GT is a driving simulator that was aimed at being a Gran Turismo beater. Or at least aimed at being on par with Playstation's car game/pornography. And in my opinion it succeeds. Granted this title drove straight past me ten years ago, and truth be told I had already had enough of 'real' driving games thanks to the Sony game but now after all these years I have picked up a copy of Sega GT for my collection and must say, I love it.
All the car makes are here, including Peugot, Suzuki, Subaru,Fiat and Honda, and they look the buisness too. Graphically this a very fine example of what the Dreamcast was capable of. (In fact I get the feeling this game wasn't running at full pelt and Sega's console was capable of so much more.) Still, everything looks lush from road shadows to whispy, moving clouds in the blue sky.
Of course before you can partake in any of the serious races you must first acquire a license. There is the B Class, A Class and SA Class to obtain in all and each will let you in to their relevant races. There are time trials to full blown championships to get stuck in to.
One particularly cool aspect of Sega GT is the corporate sponsorship of the championships (featuring, among others, McDonalds!) Win the tournament title and you'll earn more than just moolah and a fancy car; you'll bag a sponsor who rewards you further with great performances. The money is all well and good but the Golden Arches still hasn't gotten me my very own Big Mac vending machine.
When not racing for money (and burgers) you can pay a visit to your garage and upgrade your cars by fine tuning everything from fly wheels to pistons. Fans of the other driving simuluator will know what I mean here.
The only downside to Sega GT is during the early Club stages, the races are slow and as you can only afford a basic, un-souped up car you are forced to grind around the circuit feeling like you are steering an iron on wheels. But the game is only reflecting reality so no blame can really be applied to Sega GT.
Another great thing about this game is the music. Different races have different music styles so for example the dusty, desert circuit 'Deep Rock Road' has gentle country music in the background whilst 'Sky Peak Hill' has jazz. Its all a merciful release from having the likes of Ash belt out the same tedious track ad infinitum like they did on Gran Turismo.
Best news of all? It can be taken for a spin for the same price as a pint of beer so racing fans should have no excuses for not picking this up.
Jager Rating: 10 Jagerbombs !!
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