ArcadeRacingCENTRAL

Yeah, this is very cute - interested to see how this one shapes up! With all the GB and GBC games coming out lately, it's nice to see a raster racer in the mix!

I ended up backing this. I was a maaaaasssiive Hyper reader back in the day, being Aussie and all, and an occasional Mean Machines, Gamepro and EGM one.

I never read CVG back in the day, I'm not sure we got it at all here. I could be wrong, but I am sure I would have picked up at least an issue had it been available

The graphical style is completely off-base and definitely off-brand, but the controls look niiiiiiiiiiice!

Not too sure about the 'Murica' stuff though, but I get that it's tongue-in-cheek enough to mock the OG series.

I'd give it a crack, for sure!

@Azuris Yeah, Cruis'n Blast is great! It's definitely one of my go-to's on the Switch

@NinChocolate They are challenges spread throughout the Championship Mode. There's around two per Championship

@Pigeon This is the perspective that is missing these days.

I don't understand why Arcade Racers can't exist just for the joy of it without all the extras? I mean, they have stopped selling all that much anyways after becoming kart racers or huge open world things anyways, apart from a couple of mass-appeal juggernauts.

Arcade Racers would be much easier to make these days than back then, and don't need to last forever in a Campaign sense. Victory Heat Rally does it right, and I hope to see a million others following their lead, because personally, I feel like my gaming tastes are being properly catered to for the first time in a long time

@NinChocolate There's things called Joker challenges that do amp up the crazy! It's things like avoiding vehicles, collecting balloons, drift challenges all that kind of stuff. They're very much in the vein of some of the stuff from OutRun 2's Heart Attack mode. I specifically love the Moonshine Mile Joker challenge toward the end of the game. I don't want to spoil it though!

"Unlike Mario Kart, there are no weapons to use, which reduces the scope of its appeal..."

I am SO glad there are no contrived weapons that turn this into YET ANOTHER Kart Racer. Arcade Racing can exist outside of a weapons set

I don't find it shallow at all either, it's all about the controls. The drift system is deep and flexible. I find half the fun is figuring out how to best bank and maximize boost use, and which combinations of vehicles and parts to use on any given course. The depth is there if you look for it, but different strokes, I guess.

I've personally found that it's a Time Trial players dream. There's 46 tracks in the game, and they're all super high-quality, and I find that quite insane to have at launch these days. If you like competing against yourself - or against friends - with legitimate racing, then there are multiple reasons to come back. I've clocked the Championship mode, done some Time Trials and I'm sitting at about 9 hours so far. I haven't really stepped into the GP or Multiplayer Modes yet either.

If you miss legit Arcade Racers, not just from the arcades, but 32-bit style racers too, then I reckon Victory Heat Rally will be right up your alley. It's a true-blue Arcade Racer, and the best Arcade Racer in an age, in my books.

@PopetheRev28 Jim Power barely functions, I can attest to that. I think their Street Racer release on GOG and Steam is very average too, and requires you to do most of the heavy lifting to get to the version you want. It's literally easier to emulate with those two.

Their more modern releases seem to be fine, though.

@PopetheRev28 They aren't horrible or anything, but yeah, maybe try their Jim Power Collection on Steam. They've come a long way since then, but it's one of the laziest cash-grabs I've come across so far, unfortunately.

I did really love the Zero Tolerance re-release though, despite the inconsistent controller mappings across the games.

I've got The Immortal re-release wish listed.

Once upon a time I would have thought this was neat, but being old now, I feel like it's just more useless trash for people to buy to fill that void.

I've gotta pull myself up on this stuff all the time, and ask myself if these things actually serve a purpose in my life. Games are awesome, and showcase the creativity that lies within people. Collectible junk like this just to collect, not so much, unfortunately.

@smoreon You're bang-on. Dead or Alive on the Saturn is stunning, still. As is Tobal 2 on the PS1.

I'd love to see content creators just stop giving Nintendo the time of day. They obviously don't want a mindshare, so let's stop covering their, IMO, overrated IP and see how long that lasts?

There's so many great OTHER games that Nintendo didn't have a hand in, but made it on to their platforms. Cover those.

When I get my project off the ground, there'll be very little Nintendo coverage, partly because of Nintendo Dick Moves™, but also because I feel there are other people out there that have always been better, but for whatever reason never had the mindshare, luck, vision or inclination to become the nasty corporate entity with the family friendly veneer that Nintendo has.

I much prefer 3D fighters to 2D fighters, and it makes me a little sad that most 3D looking fighters today play like 2D games.

Yeah, I disagree with his statement too, haha.

@PinballBuzzbro YES! Agreed. I had to use Brave's Block Element feature to rid myself of it.

It's absolutely foul.

I owned Soul Reaver on the Dreamcast back in the day, and I always found it hard to wrap my head for some reason.

I think I might wait for the remaster to give it another crack!

@Bu1ld0g Whatever, man. How does a Switch cart not count as Physical Media? You're the one putting arbitrary restrictions on a purchasing method. And it's happened plenty on disc too.

I think I might block you, since you seem irrational and unwilling to converse properly.

@-wc- Yeah, pretty much. I got burned by Spyro and Assassin's Creed The Rebel Collection for before I just decided to go all-digital on Switch (hundreds of games deep, still can't fit them all on a 512gb SD card) and just 'download' the ones I cherish on PC

I've got ROMS on current hard drives I've had since before I finished High School. If I re-write the law for me, I guess I own those, since they've travelled with me everywhere and nobody has taken them from me

@Bu1ld0g No, incomplete is incomplete.

How many Switch games have launched with horrible performance over the years on cart, only to be patched and improved? Once you can't update those games any more whenever in the future, then you'll only ever have the original buggy launch version on cart. Same as all those that come with mandatory installs because they cheaped out on smaller carts.

How is this a scandalous? Are you trying to justify your own purchases? It has been a talking point all of this generation :/

@Bu1ld0g Literally everything with DLC that doesn't get a GOTY edition?

For example, try buying Ridge Racer 6 on the 360 now. I hope you purchased all that extra DLC and music, because the marketplace is closed now and there's no way you're getting that. Pop it in and play it as it is? It's incomplete.

More recently? Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate on the Switch. It's the Ultimate version, not just the regular edition, and there's $100 worth of DLC for it. Not so Ultimate, eh?

EDIT: Oh, and all the seasons of content deleted from Destiny 2 recently.

C'mon, this is common knowledge and practice, do I go on?

@Bu1ld0g Well, physical releases suck these days too, since most of the time, it's an incomplete version of a game that is bound to get a million patches, if it's on a disc at all.

There is no proper solution, and everybody loses.

"lmao."

@RootsGenoa Not triggered, but thanks for the clarification, yeah, these particular kind of videos are trendy, indeed.

@RootsGenoa Awesome to hear!

I'm the same when it comes to Ray Tracing and 4K. New games generally don't float my boat, but regardless, I choose to game on my 1080p monitor rather than my older, larger 1440p monitor I've got.

I'm not perfect either, but yeah, as long as we make strides toward our goals, then it's all good! If I'm in the same spot in 5 years, then I'll know I'm doing something wrong, haha.

I don't recognize the person I was before I moved to the country 8 years ago, let alone who I was before that, haha!

@RootsGenoa This is a very city-folk thing to say. Have you done much to reduce your carbon footprint? I'm legitimately interested, btw, it's not a dig!!!

I moved to the country in 2016, and now live on a small block of land in a 65sqm house running off solar and using water tanks. I've sold off my old gaming PC and almost entire retro gaming collection to go low-power digital.

I've got city-folk family that will spout this stuff, but use an incredible amount of power and water, and rely on a lot of disposable products for just one person. Tell them to cut back when they stay with you, and it's like they've been shot in the heart.

I game on a laptop and Switch, and will be replacing my laptop with an ASUS ROG Ally X next month.

I'd love to get to know you if you're like-minded that way - I don't think there's enough people out there vocal about saving power when it comes to gaming as a hobby.

I usually intensely dislike stuff like this, but the Shenmue one is actually really impressive, in a way. Super, SUPER held back by ancient NPC animation routines, but impressive. Once the technology improves, this will become way less creepy.

The Mario 64 one can burn in hell.

Comments about AI tech being a trend will age like milk.

I'm not super about it all myself, but it's not a trend and it's not going anywhere. It'll be the norm, because humans can't help but only care about themselves and the bottom-line by cutting costs and ruin things that are awesome. See THE INTERNET.

Games crafted by humans will become boutique and expensive, just like music, music on Vinyl and analog synthesizers, because the general masses won't be able to tell/give a hoot.

It's already written, and as a collective, we've proven already exactly the way this will all play out, unfortunately.

I wish I could stomach sim-racing because GT3 & 4 look great! I can play GT 1 & 2 these days, because they're relatively arcadey now due to being pretty old, but I just can't get along with these two.

Which is a shame, because the Japanese soundtracks are phenomenal, and the course design and visuals are fantastic.

Great work to the mod team, nonetheless!

I will be grabbing this, for absolute sure. Can't pass up a 30th Anniversary celebration of my favourite OST of all time to my favourite game of all time!

Mizuguchi, Mitsuyoshi and Hataya are my own personal Holy Trinity <3

@JonathanChapman @BLAZINOAH
Couldn't have said it better myself. The internet is full of entitled people that think they deserve things, just because they scream loud enough.

We don't 'deserve' ***** when it comes to hobbies and interests. We're lucky, and we should be appreciative that we get anything at all. Most of the cool progress that happens in retro gaming these days comes from people's volunteering of their OWN FREE TIME to do cool things. We should really remember that.

Looks amazing. I love Datassette, so anything he's cooked up, be it music, games or both, I'm all for.

Got the notification from Bandcamp for the game the other day, thanks for the additional reminder to purchase, haha!

I was literally JUST thinking about this game the other day! And on those exact reasons... I always did wish the game wasn't so ridiculously difficult.

Will definitely give this a crack, cannot wait!

The art and OST looks like it all makes it a must-play for me, even though turned-based games are not my favourite, haha.

Seriously, that art... it looks so well drawn!

Amazing stuff. Super capable hardware only being taken advantage of now - I'll be here for this stuff all day, every day

@WileyDragonfly That's what Streets of Rage Remake is for, haha! It's the best SOR out there

I love the OG Tomb Raider, so I never had a problem with the controls, it was the camera I had issues with. Here's hoping with the improved controls there is an improved camera!

I'd love to play through this again, I never did end up finishing my Saturn copy back in the day.

Very happy Argonaut is back, too

@Hexapus This got a laugh out of me. Also found this on the Steam Page:

"AI Generated Content Disclosure
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Dall-E 3 was used to help generate the textures and pixel art, no artist prompts were used, just generic terms. Suno was used for the music. Eleven labs was used for some of the voice work."

Might explain the oddness But seriously, I don't mind AI-generated content like this.

How are 8bitdo not releasing low-latency 2.4ghz dongle versions of the SN30 Pro/Pro 2 lines? Almost every other line has a 2.4ghz variant or compatibility except for their two best lines.

They're such a frustrating company.

Yeah, this is brilliant news. Not only will we have NightRunners to play, but also a new Genki-developed Shutokou Battle game.

My most anticipated racer bar none right now - with maaaaaybe Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown being up there, too.

This has come a long way since the first video, it's looking great!

The variety of vehicles looks awesome, and it looks like they're going to all handle very differently.

It's all looking very Lotus so far, which is A-OK with me

I purchased DDI Rally and refunded it immediately. I could absolutely see what it's going for, and I WANTED TO LOVE IT, but the quality just isn't there. I'd love to give it another crack, but all the dodgy crashing in the trailer above (which shows no high-level gameplay play at all) doesn't really inspire much confidence that things have changed on that front.

I've also tried the demo for Super Retro GP, and it's much the same. There's a strange positive buzz around the demo, which I just can't see myself. I love the passion on display, but I just wish the dev were better able to execute his vision. Maybe all they need is more time, and he's shared the games waaaaaayyy too early.

I've found the Early Access for Super Polygon GP much, much better. The physics, while still a work in progress, are sound and feel like a legit SEGA/NAMCO racer. Not at all like Virtua Racing, but much more like Indy 500 & Ace Driver. And though there are serious performance issues right about now, I can see them being sorted out, and the game is making good progress with the updates.

@Azuris I'm not saying you can't disagree and have an alternative opinion. You can, and that's fine. I usually am not all that into western pixel art myself, I get it. Having now played the demo, this game doesn't adhere to that imo, it's got it's own thing going own.

But calling is 'generic western slop' is a bit mean. Also, the rest of their comments are almost always cutting something down in a poo-pooing fashion. That's what I meant by negative.

@Bonggon5 All of your comments are so negative.

I think the pixel art is gorgeous. It's got lots of personality

EDIT: I also think the music sounds quite Sonic-like in composition, rather than Mario, which is no bad thing!

I got the transparent black V10 with blue/purple buttons and it's fantastic. It is indeed perfect for GBA, but Atari Lynx is also brilliant. It integer scales perfectly on to V10 screen. Wonderswan isn't bad on it, either!

@Dehnus I can only imagine the comment - I must have blocked this particular person a while ago

@Scollurio The thing about SEGA Rally that stands out is that it has amazing track design. That would kinda go out the window in yet another open-world racer, I would think.

But yeah, I'd love to see SEGA own their racing heritage - nobody did it better in the arcades.

@-wc- I sold mine too - it was bright red and gorgeous <3

This one still needs a bit of work. Insta-purchased it after seeing this article, btw.

There's some funky jerky scrolling when you turn, and I'm definitely not a fan of the auto-acceleration in the gameplay; I think the game suffers a bit for it.

Fingers crossed the dev continues to tweak this, because it's got a lot of promise! The presentation is utterly fantastic.

@Hexapus I had to do the same. Do you use any adblocking stuffs? I do, that could be why it didn't work properly.

Well, it looks like we've been heard, because there's a new Digital Supporters tier with the Kickstarter. It includes a Steam Key, which is great.

I'll definitely be jumping on this

@GOmar Yeah, OK.

@GOmar It absolutely doesn't look exactly the same as OutRun? The only way it's like OutRun is in the way that Lotus was like OutRun, or Top Racer was the same as OutRun.

And I don't think it's fair to judge the eventual game on what is an early peek at some cool, and obviously early, technology. You're talking about it like it's finished.

I guess Earthion is redundant too. And ZPF.

Also, I guess my beef is that I just really don't like watching people piss on indie passion-projects that are obvious labours of love. If it's not for you, move on, but... eh.