Your favourite racing games on SNES

[Tanooki]

Well Wayler called it.  Not even worth the shocked pikachu face picture efforts.

 

The sad thing is I own that one, and it's the Gameboy release which miraculously runs at a notably better and smoother frame rate and is actually functionally playable and even enjoyable in very small doses.  It runs better than both the Genesis and SNES releases which is stunning.

[CapitanClassic]

8 hours ago, Wayler said:

Everything is a great choice if you are not on Kirk's ignore list. I wonder what his opinion would be if someone listed Race Drivin'?

Someone must like this abomination, so it should count right?

I like it, but only in the arcade with force-feedback, or on the Genesis where it plays decently.

[Kirk_Johnston]

2 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

I like it, but only in the arcade with force-feedback, or on the Genesis where it plays decently.

It's surprising when you see the arcade version and just how not totally crap it is, especially when compared to the meh Genesis version and the just crap SNES version. This game didn't port particularly well to the 16-bit systems. Would kinda like to see a VR version of it now though, just for a bit of novelty. . . .

[Tanooki]

I think we'd all be happier if Kirk quit, but even more that Hard Drivin at home is forgotten and I'll give you the mind bleach here to forget it -- STUNTS.  Cut this at a start point for a reference of how it could be far better.

 

 

[Radio F Software]

Seeing lots of love for Super Off Road and that makes me happy! There was a three-player Super Off Road cabinet at the Chuck E Cheese's where I grew up and every time my parents took me there I'd spend half my tokens on that one game without fail. I got the SNES game when it came home to consoles and since the game never ends I have fond memories of my younger brother and I spending hours playing it non-stop.

 

Starting in 2013 I began doing 24 hour charity marathons for Extra Life where I did speedruns of tons of games and back then I defined the original "completion" scenario for the game (99 Nitros, Max Stats). In 2013 and 2014 I set back to back world record speedruns live during the marathon, though in 2015 I lost the record to someone else. I started grinding the game to get a better time but so much of it felt like random chance that was out of my control. It started making me resent the game and since Super Off Road has a large sentimental value to me I opted to relinquish the record to the person who had earned it after me and left it uncontested.

[The Mr. Video]

On 1/16/2024 at 10:30 AM, Tanooki said:

The sad thing is I own that one, and it's the Gameboy release which miraculously runs at a notably better and smoother frame rate and is actually functionally playable and even enjoyable in very small doses.  It runs better than both the Genesis and SNES releases which is stunning.

Fun fact: The Gameboy version of Race Drivin' was developed by Argonaut Software who also worked on X with Nintendo, which would explain why the game runs so smoothly.

[Atariboy]

On 1/16/2024 at 10:04 AM, SlidellMan said:

@Wayler Funnily enough, someone made an enhancement hack that has SA-1 for Race Drivin'.

The game still stinks even in hacked SA-1 form, sadly.

 

There's essentially no vehicle physics. With the Origins hack of the SA-1 hack that restores the pace of the arcade game (so that it doesn't feel like you're trying to fly a supersonic jet fighter inside of a gymnasium), you can basically do an entire lap with the accelerator to the floorboard. For a game that's all about the realistic physics model, you're left with a game that's no longer a game. For an example of how broken it is, you can launch off a ramp at a speed that's safe for landing and if you keep the accelerator floored, you'll accelerate in mid-air and crash upon landing. The game is that broken on SNES.

 

The patch both in straight "supersonic" SA-1 form and the Origins version also introduces new issues. The tachometer is all screwed up, the canned 360 spin of your car goes in super fast motion that's quite comical to see, graphical glitches appear every time in particular spots on each circuit that make it appear as if the road disappeared or that you're airborne when you actually aren't, etc. It's just a very broken game and while the SA-1 is a fine technical achievement, someone needs to dig deep under the game's hood if it's ever to be rescued from the SNES rubbish pile.

 

16-bit console fans are much better off sticking with the very playable Sega Genesis ports of Hard and Race Drivin'. They feature a great physics model that does the arcade games justice while also doing a great job of replicating the arcade's graphics within the constraints of Sega's hardware. The frame rate in both isn't so hot and it's going to turn off 99% of those that try it these days as they quickly run off the course at the first corner, crash, and write the game off as a choppy mess. But stick with it and suddenly the choppiness isn't so noticeable and it becomes all about making the fastest laps you can.

 

I'd love to know how many hours I've put into both of them on the Analogue Pocket over the last year or so (which is where I finally came to respect the Genesis conversion of each game, with the Pocket's small screen no doubt helping me get past their choppiness). And the Game Boy conversion of Race Drivin' also is excellent and well worth playing for the connoisseurs of old racing games on consoles, computers, and handheld systems from decades gone by. 

[Tanooki]

8 hours ago, The Mr. Video said:

Fun fact: The Gameboy version of Race Drivin' was developed by Argonaut Software who also worked on X with Nintendo, which would explain why the game runs so smoothly.

You're right, and it really shows.  I'd guess it's a progression of things.  They got an earlier test, then had their X game which was wire frame, and then they went into full on polygons pushing it perhaps maybe even a little too hard as it's a little less speedy than X but it's more than enough moving compared to like the sorry 16bit versions do trying to keep all the assets instead of working around the limits better.