You'll Remember the Speed Bumps

I purchased this racing game simply because it looked unique. How often do you get to see radio-controlled racing? This isn't a kart racer. Nor is it a sim. Nor is it a real racer....but an RC racer. The title said it all.

After loading the game, and defining a few options (and turning the vibration feedback ON), I started up, chose my starter car, and started to RACE! The initial difficulty of the races was a hurdle to overcome, but after a few crashes, bumps, and jitters (of which I felt every single one), I had completed the first hub and was ready to explore the secrets of the tracks in "Track Exploration" mode.


Graphics:

The graphics are fritzy. They look nice and colorful, but when the camera sits still, they have a nasty tendency to shake and jitter. Right at the starting line this is a little annoying, but fortunately the jitters all-but vanish once the action starts. There are a few clipping problems, and the extra graphical effects aren't exactly spectacular, but they work very well.


Sound:

The sound effects are descriptive enough. You can hear (not to mention FEEL) every bump and object on the track, as well as the sound of your engine and the other cars. In addition, several powerups (described later) make their own unique sounds when someone gains them. Unfortunately, the musical score is bland. There are a few good tunes, and a few downright annoying tunes, which equally cancel each other out and leave little of a memory stuck in my head.


Gameplay:

There are eight different game control settings--four with the analog stick option, and four without. One setup was intriguing in the respect that it turned your controller into a virtual radio control with two joysticks; one for throttle and one for steering. Personally, I prefer the more-standard "gas pedal" and "brake" approach, so I was relieved to find that in the options menu.

The strangest feature of the controls is that the right/left directional movements work like a real car. In kart racing games, when you switch into reverse, turning right will rotate your car to the right. Left to the left. But with RC racer, if you turn your front wheels to the right and back up, your point-of-view rotates to the left. It was somewhat frustrating at first, but I got used to it. Power-sliding, a feature regularly seen in kart racers, is also present but a bit more tricky to perform (as I believe it should be).

But, then there's the vibration feedback support, and it couldn't be better. Without it, the races would be dull. But turn it on and the races become much more realistic. RC cars are lightweight and the BOUNCE. These cars are indestructible, and somehow always manage to roll back onto their wheels after a flip, but in the meantime, you can feel every bump, pothole, wall, gate, or enemy car that you crash into. Run down a steep hill and when your engine revs up to maximum rpm, the controller literally buzzes in your hand from its heat. Take a jump at the wrong angle, hit the ground rolling, and you'll literally feel the impact as your car bounces off of the ground, hits another wall, and bounces a few more times before you finally regain control.

Which brings me down to the number one control demerit. You can't steer in mid-air. Why is a simple fact of physics a demerit? Given the infinite number of speedbumps that you'll be travelling over when you race, you'll spend a good 1/4 to possibly 1/2 of your time airborne. And although many curves are banked, they are usually done so unevenly, which means that you have to anticipate and prepare for corners in order to pull through without a hitch.

The racing map is unique among racing games. Instead of being set up in a menu system, the racetracks are structured in a "hub-level" system reminiscent of Spyro/Spyro 2 and Mario 64. You drive your car around a world hub with access to a few tracks and a save point. Beat three other (seasoned) computer racing cars on those tracks to access more tracks and (usually) a bonus car. Beat all tracks and you can unlock an even tougher challenge with more tracks, tougher enemies, and a few other bonus cars.

And what would a racing game be without powerups? Powerups are easy to earn, once you learn how. Scattered throughout the track are several colored gates. Drive through one gate to start a color sequence (which displays onscreen). Drive through subsequent gates of the correct colors to activate a powerup. There are turbo boosts, invincibility, invisibility, time stop, improved traction, and a helicopter powerup that literally allows your car to fly over & above the competition. Powerups can also be mixed & matched, as long as you can race through the appropriate gate sequences.

Racing isn't everything, though. Exploration plays a large part as well. In the "Track Attack/Exploration" mode, you can race for record time, or simply explore a track to discover all of its secrets. Eight of the 16 tracks have secret teleporters that, once discovered, will teleport you to a bonus level where you must complete a special challenge in order to win a cool new car.
In one bonus level, you must negotiate across several gelatin-looking floating platforms to flip two high-altitude switches. In another, you must travel along a perilous skyway where rainbow-colored pendulums and boulders threaten to knock you off. Or you may end up racing a large beetle (the six-legged bug, not the car!) on a track where the odds are against you. You might spend time earning your wings, using a helicopter powerup to ascend a spiral staircase high up into the air where your prize awaits. The toughest bonus level requires you to beat all other bonus levels first in order to unlock the ultimate car (good luck!).

There are a total of 16 different cars, but you only start the game with four. One of your ultimate goals is to collect all 16 cars. You can find four cars lying around the world hub, but the other eight cars lie hidden in the bonus levels.


Replay Value / Fun Factor

Replay Value is a bit low--this is probably due in part to the nondescript musical score. You might spend hours, days, or even weeks mastering a specific track or looking for another bonus level (even the tracks without bonus levels have their own cool secrets). But when all 16 tracks are conquered, all 16 cars collected, there are no prizes in store for the player, and interest can easily fade afterwards.

Fun Factor is another matter entirely. How much fun you get out of RC Racer depends on how much you like bumpy, jittery, and even aerial RC racing. It also depends on whether you like straight, "clean" racing or "dirty-tricks" races with weapons and powerups. Once in the lead, it is rarely possible to stay that way without grabbing powerups. Your computerized opponents are not dumb and will collect powerup sequences and use them, so you must follow suit in order to match and beat them.


It's a nice alternative to the kart-racing and sim-racing titles out there, but for its own strange reasons, RC Racer doesn't have the sort of enduring charm that is exhibited in the big-name racing titles like Mario Kart.