Let's talk about pce racing games

[kazumn]

Since i coulden't find a thread about it and considering atleast 10% of the entire pc engine libary consist of racing games. What are your favourites, what is fun to play, what sucks, great multiplayer, hidden gem etc.
Apart from shoot em ups, racing games are my favourite genre i can dig some of those hudson top down f1 racers from time to time.

[soop]

I never played any of those.  I've heard bad things.  More than that though, it reminds me of a game I bought for the AMiga, which I assumed was like Supercars or super sprint or such, but ended up like one of the F1 games (Monaco?).  That reminds me though, I need to try Motoroader MC.  I like both the Motoroader games.

The other, "into the screen" games like chase HQ and outrun tend to be a little choppy for my liking.

[esteban]

I never played any of those.  I've heard bad things.  More than that though, it reminds me of a game I bought for the AMiga, which I assumed was like Supercars or super sprint or such, but ended up like one of the F1 games (Monaco?).  That reminds me though, I need to try Motoroader MC.  I like both the Motoroader games.

The other, "into the screen" games like chase HQ and outrun tend to be a little choppy for my liking.

I much prefer Rad Racer/Out Run/Victory Run/Chase HQ to the other racing games on PCE.

MotoRoader MC is UNLIKE its predecessors in that you have ONE SCREEN with TINY TINY TINY cars that race around (like Super Sprint or Off Road...except not nearly as addictive and fun and fantastic as Super Sprint and/or Off Road).

I really haven't given MotoRoader MC a final verdict because I have yet to invest a lot of time in it and get far (I keep replaying the same first bunch of tracks) and I really want to see if it can provide at least some of the thrill of Super Sprint...IT SHOULD, GODDAMMIT.

STATUS: Sadly, a lot of the PCE racing games are mediocre, at best. YOU'D THINK THAT A DECENT NUMBER OF THEM WOULD BE SOLID...but you would be mistaken.

LISTEN: MotoRoader Tunes

[fraggore]

Mmm motoroader is good but 2 is much better from what I remember as for motoroader mc never really liked it.
Outrun is fun.
F1 circus 91 and 92 are pretty good tho dame hard.
Zero4 champ is pretty crap.
f1 dream haven't really played it much but my mate loved it.
Power drift is pretty bad but I have played a lot.
Victory run haven't played it yet will give it ago.
The 2 chasehq games are ok but they have aged really bad.

My favourite racing game on the system is legend of deko boko looks like crap but I love it.

[Tatsujin]

most of the 8-/16-bit racers are medicore, not counting some very few SFC mode-7 racers exceptions.

fact is that the home consoles were so much underpowered at that time to even rudimentarily be able to compete with the arcade power horses especially those from the sega stable, that they all looked very mignon at best compared.

look at the mega drives racer repetoire, there isn't much that can hold a good candle up to the pce's repetoire. let alone all the real 8-bitters.

only with the much later 32-bit era, real arcade racers were finally possible within the four own walls.

I would say that out run, victory run (especially for a 1987 release title), final lap twin, S.C.I., power drift etc. hold a fair good candle up to the 16-bit era of racers. especially out run was very impressive for its time.

[majors]

Victory Run is fun, I've been playing it a lot recently.

I picked up Chase HQ and S.C.I. not too long ago, just b/c the seller had both...complete collection . Both are 'meh IMO. Way to twitchy on the controls.

I like Motoroader b/c it reminds me of a 90's arcade racing game (name eludes me ATM). It has it's flaws, but it IS a different type of racing game.

I gave away my Power Drift...ug, no love for poor Sega scaler ports.

The top-down F1 games never floated my boat, I do not have the reaction time to make the turns but I think for F1 fans, part of the game is memorizing the courses.

Final Lap Twin does have the RPG gimmick.

[soop]

I agree somewhat with tats.  I loved the arcade racers of the era (notably Chase HQ, the coin-munching rascal, and Road Blasters), but every conversion I played was sadly mediocre.

However.

I think there were games that put up a pretty decent job of that type - I think Final Lap Twin and Bari Bari Densetsu are pretty damn smooth, and the jittery scaling of other games could learn a lot from them.  It's just sad that BB Densetsu has no music and is less of an arcade racer and more of a drawn out grand prix.  And a shame Final Lap is just 1 on 1.

[sunteam_paul]

Out Run is a great conversion and one of the best racers on the PCE.
Power Drift is one of the few cards that I have traded in (later re-acquired) but is not as bad as it first looks. It can actually be quite exciting and you have to give them credit for such an ambitious conversion.

[bt]

What, no love for Knight Rider?  Oh, yeah, April 1 was yesterday.  Sorry.

[runinruder]

Good:
Final Lap Twin
Chase H.Q.
Moto Roader
Moto Roader II
Road Spirits
Knight Rider Special

Okay:
Victory Run
Power Drift
Racing Damashii
Out Run

Bad:
S.C.I.
Legend of Dekoboko
F1 Circus
F1 Circus '91
F1 Circus '92
F1 Circus Special

[esteban]

Ha! I totally forgot about Final Lap Twin. That game holds up even if you don't delve into the RPG quest.

Final Lap Twin is just fun to play, especially with another person.

Good:
Final Lap Twin
Chase H.Q.
Moto Roader
Moto Roader II
Road Spirits
Knight Rider Special

Okay:
Victory Run (ESTEBAN APPROVED FOR FOLKS WITH SKILLS!
Power Drift
Racing Damashii
Out Run

Bad:
S.C.I.
Legend of Dekoboko
F1 Circus
F1 Circus '91
F1 Circus '92
F1 Circus Special

I agree about Victory Run...especially since the original post stated he was looking beyond games like that...

OF COURSE VICTORY RUN gets bumped up from "OK" to  "GOOD" if you have skills and get into it.

[turboswimbz]

I like road spirits but I can't change the cars? is there a secret to it I'm missing?

[ccovell]

You can't change the cars after you start the game in Road Spirits.  There are several cheats that I discovered, tho...  http://www.chrismcovell.com/games_illustrated/arc-road_spirits.html#cheats

You could enter the stage select code and choose different cars for each stage.

[turboswimbz]

Thanks. I've never paid attention to the are you ready before the first screen, although i shoulda guessed based on all the other courses. Too bad this games time limits are tighter on the later stages.

[soop]

What was that rally game on Super CD?  That one looks really good, I've been wanting it for ages.