 Virtua Racing
Introduction In the mid ‘90s, video games were first starting to transition from 2D to 3D. One of those early 3D games was Virtua Racing on the Sega Mega Drive. When it first released in 1994, Sega had to use a large cartridge that was loaded with extra chips to support the game’s 3D graphics, but at the time no other game could match it, and even though it has a few problems (like most early 3D games), Virtua Racing has aged surprising well in 15 years.
Single Player Virtua Racing is a very straightforward game. All you have to do is select a mode, select a course, then race. There are two Single Player modes: Virtua Racing and Free Run. In Virtua Racing, you select a course, race, and transmission. Then you do a 5-lap race across the track against 15 other opponents (simple, right?). In Free Run, you select the course, the number of laps, automatic or manual transmission, and then you basically do a time trial (why didn’t they just name it Time Trial?). Multiplayer There is also a 2-player mode where you can race on any of the courses against someone else. You get the same options that you get in the Free Run mode, as well as a handicap option (but it doesn’t really change anything in the race.). Unfortunately, there are no computer controlled opponents in this mode, so there are only 2 racers on the track.
Gameplay Virtua Racing doesn’t have many options in terms of customization (there’s only three tracks and one vehicle type), but it is very fun to play. Your formula car moves fast and handles very well, with four different camera angles that you can change during play The 15 computer-controlled opponents are widely spread out through the course, which means it’s always extremely challenging to get into first place. Fortunately if you think the default difficulty is too high you can change it in the options menu. The three courses are well-designed so that they all have a nice mix of high-speed straight sections and more difficult technical sections. All of that adds up to some very enjoyable races. But as good as all of that is, there are still a few minor flaws in the gameplay. For example, since this is a port of an arcade game, there is a timer involved in a race, and when it runs out the race automatically ends. The problem is, this timer is low. Driving through checkpoints only add about 10-15 seconds to your time, and unless you’re in the top 5 for most of the race, you probably won’t be able to finish. Also, once you start a race, there’s no option to quit or restart the race (since there’s no pause menu, just a pause button), so you’ll either have to finish the race or just sit there and wait for the timer to run out (or reset). These are small flaws, however, and they hardly hurt the game at all. Graphics/Sound In 1994, 3D graphics were still brand-new for consoles. So Virtua Racing was a huge success back then. Granted, the vehicles and environments looked blocky, and the Mega Drive had a very limited color palette, but it’s still the most graphically advanced game you’re ever going to find on the Mega Drive. The sound is pretty much what you would expect from a Mega Drive game, with okay music, muffled sound effects, and voiceovers that sound so scratchy you would think they came from people who had throat cancer. Overall Virtua Racing might look as blocky as a Lego game, but its fast-paced gameplay and high difficulty level make it worth playing. In 1995, an enhanced version of Virtua Racing was released for the 32X with better graphics, as well as more tracks and vehicle types. + Good sense of speed
+ Solid framerate
+ Wide field of opponents to compete with
+ Very good course design - Not much content
- Timer is annoying
- Polygon graphics look terribly blocky
- Inferior to the 32X version . Buy |
Linear Mode
