Life on Saturn

Thoughts from someone who, until recently, had never owned or played a Saturn.

I love racing games. It's one of those genres, along with tower defence, which I just keep coming back to. I get a buzz from starting a race and then realising that I know the track from a completely different game (or indeed system.)

It's one of my gaming regrets that my family do not really enjoy racing games. There's no one who will go head to head with me in anything other than Mario Kart. And whilst MK has its place and is huge fun, races which aren't decided by a well placed banana hold more appeal to me.

Which brings me onto...

The only other Daytona game I've played is a Dreamcast one which I remember being extremely twitchy. So I was interested to see how its predecessor played.

The first thing that hit me about the game was the music. I'm sure there's been loads written about it so I'm not going to say much other than: it seems incredibly positive. The sort of thing which might be played at a funeral as people are leaving. So musically, it's a big thumbs up.

The other aspect about the sound which I found interesting was the voice. It's everywhere! I wondered if SEGA (or AM2?) were trying to prove a point back in the day. My favourite instance was when I inputted my initials. Especially when it said all 3 back to me like it was trying to read.

As I started the game my 14 year old daughter glanced up from her book, "Why does it say 'Gentlemen start your engines?"

Just in case you didn't hear it.

Erm.

Whilst racing, my 16 year old son wanders in to ask if I'd like a go at Tetris 99. He looks at the tv and adds, "but I can see you're playing this graphical masterpiece!"
Honestly, the youth of today.

But, in truth, I didn't really try to defend the graphics. I found them difficult to enjoy. I prefer the handling to the Dreamcast version but I find the game as a whole rather headache inducing.

As with all driving games, I'm not very good when I first start. It is easy to overtake a few cars but then I started to bump into the walls and lose a lot of speed. I liked the skid animation and the crashes were impressive. There's always something satisfying about smashing cars up. I liked the way the car took damage and the suspension started to rapidly rock up and down as if there were a couple of bunnies inside doing what bunnies do best.

The ultimate test of whether a driving game is enjoyable in our house is how long it takes someone to start driving backwards round the course. I knew the game was not going to be a winner when my 9 year old, who wanted a turn, began to do this after just a few laps.

I enjoyed Daytona but, sadly, I won't be coming back to it very often. The graphics and frame rate just hold it back for me.

Now, where's that banana?

Video Game Vault - Off-World Interceptor Extreme

Here's another VGV for ya!

Too bad it's another sucky game. They sure could pick up better games to review...

Well, at least they're showing some love for the Saturn, after countless 8/16 bits VGV's, particularly NES ones...

Anyway, here's Off-World Interceptor Extreme, featuring vehicles with such catchy names as Violator or VV Sector (WTF?).

More racing goodness

By now you should all know that I have two passions when it comes to the Saturn. The first is obvious, Japanese imports, since every Saturn fan knows that there are so many awesome games those selfish bastards kept for their own. The other is racing games. Due to the immediate nature of those games, where you just put the cd in the console and in a matter of seconds you're already burning tires in the highway, they're perfect for a busy gamer like me. Recently I acquired two new racing games, and after playing them for some time, here is my opinion of them.


The first is Street Racer, an Europe/Japan exclusive (sorry caleb). Needless to say me version is the european one, since I only have Japanese games that are exclusives. Don't be fooled by the name, though. I now what you're thinking, "street racer", where there tuning games for the Saturn, where you compete in street races to earn cash and "pimp your ride"? No, and this game definitely has nothing to do with that.


This is in fact a rip-off of Mario Kart, so expect cartoon-like characters riding little cars in wacky tracks covered with powerups. This games isn't anywhere near the greatness of Mario Kart (or Crash Team Racing, my other favourite), though, for the controls are complicated, the powerups are shit and the CPU drivers race like Airton Senna. In multiplayer the game is better, of course, and the graphics have same charm to them, but overall this is a game to avoid, considering the many great racers the Saturn has.


My other game is much better, and even combines my two passions for this is a Japan-only release and, obviously, a racing game. I'm talking about Drift King '97. Doesn't sound familiar? Well, let's put it this way, know the Tokyo Highway Challenge games for the Dreamcast? This game is part of that series, so you can expect similar races against a rival in some busy Tokyo highways.


I haven't played much yet, maybe because I suck at it and wasn't able to win a single race, but fortunately for me, even if I lose I still earn money. This money is then spent in upgrades for the various components of the car, like engine, exhaust, brakes, etc... This is where the Japanese origins of this game kick in, because the names of the various parts are all in japanese and I can't understand shit. Fortunately the menus and stuff are all in English.


The handling of the cars is pretty good, but more realistic than a sega rally or daytona, so don't expect the car to turn so easily. As the name implies, drifting plays a big role, to the point where there is even a button just for it! Of course you can still try to do it manually, but it's just more practical to simply press the button. It doesn't do all by itself, though, so if you're not careful your car will be out of control in no time.


Graphically this game is just great, simple as that. You see a lot more pop-up than in other games, but this is due to the tracks being based on highways, allowing you to see the buildings surrounding it, unlike most games with "tunnel" tracks, with barriers along the road that prevent you from seeing much, thus saving the graphics processor.


Being as it is you can expect lots of buildings, including some pretty interesting ones, like the Tokyo Tower, for example. The traffic is also well done, with "neutral" cars being numerous and nicely modelled. There's also a retro flavour to this title, with the time passing by as you race (from afternoon to sunset and then night) just like in OutRun, Hang-On and other old SEGA racing games. On top of that there is also a great attention to detail, like the speedometer lighting up whenever you enter a tunnel.


Definitely a must have for any import/racing fan.

"Like Manx, but worse"

It seems that I can never separate myself from my beloved Saturn. No matter how much work I have, or how busy I am, I still can't resist to play on my little box of retro goodness. After the passion for 2D beat'em ups, followed by a strange obsession with obscure Japanese titles no one ever heard about, lately I've been all into the racing genre. As most gamers I have the essential titles for the Saturn, like Sega Rally (best racing game ever), Daytona USA (2nd best, although I miss the CCE version), Sega Touring Car (shit) and Manx TT, but lately I've been craving for more exotic titles, that offer something different, you know?

In the past few days in particular I focused more in motorcycle games, instead of cars, and after some time spent with Manx I needed something more. And that's where Hang-On GP '96 comes in.

This title is none other than the sequel to on of the most important racing games of the past, the original Hang-On. I recently talked about it on an article about Yu Suzuki for PTGamers, but since I doubt many of you can read portuguese, I'm going to resume it. Basically Hang-On was a fucking amazing game for it's time, with gorgeous graphics (by the 1985 standards) and an awesome gameplay, along with an arcade cabinet featuring the very first force feedback system.


But right now we only care about Hang-On GP, right? Well, if I could resume the game to a single catch-phrase it would have something been this: "Like Manx, but worse". But of course there's a lot more to it than this, so let's see exactly what this game is all about. For a start, HO GP is more into the simulation style instead of pure arcade. Unlike Manx, where you just have to know when and how to turn, HO GP lets you to balance your weight on the bike, do powerslides and even change the tire grip to match track conditions.


With that said, if you thought Manx was hard, well, HO is harder, specially because if you touch the walls of the track your bike will jump in the air and until you're back on top of it you'll loose a lot of time/positions. Anyway, most hardcore fans of the genre will like this kind of depth in the gameplay (not me...).


It's a shame the same amount of depth wasn't put into the playing modes. When you start you just have the usual practice and championship modes, with the later being just a single race mode, really. There are only 3 tracks, but at least they made 2 versions of each one, with the more complete version being available after you beat the shorter one. There's also a hidden bike (you have several at your disposition) and an endurance mode, but like most racing games of it's era, HO GP ends really quick.



The graphics are nice, though (it's a shame that I can't find screens with more quality). Unlike Manx, which had a more sober colour palette, HO GP has the type of vibrant colours you'd expect from a SEGA game. The framerate is also stable and all the tracks, bikes, etc... are well designed.



Although I usually don't talk about the sound, since in the Saturn era most games just have "ok" soundtracks, I really need to talk about the sound of the bikes in HO GP. It's fucking annoying and it makes my ears bleed! No, I'm not exaggerating, it really is a fucking high-pitched whine that will drive you crazy! Thank Segata my tv has a mute button...

Overall this is a good game, but I think that only the motorcycle aficionados will enjoy in it's full glory. Despite this, if you already have Manx and want something similar, give Hang-On GP '96 a try, you wont regret it.

As always, good bye and good games ;)