I have been playing racing games since the late 70's, and this genre
is my overall favorite for computer games. The Indycar/Nascar series
by Papyrus have provided with me hundreds of hours of enjoyment, as
well as hundreds of dollars in upgrades to my computer systems. I
spend most of my time with the sims mentioned above, as well as GP2,
but I also enjoy good arcade racers for all platforms. My main reason
for attending the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Atlanta was to
check out the newest crop of racing games. Strangely absent was SODA
Off-Road Racing and Grand Prix Legends by Papyrus. CUC/Sierra had
posters for SODA and the Busch League Nascar 2 add-on, but no other
information. CUC/Sierra had two Nascar 2 cockpits setup for racing at
their sportsbar like site, but no information on the Nascar Racing
League. In fact, TEN was shown in the E3 directory, but was nowhere to
be found(Creative Labs was on display at the site where TEN was
supposed to be). I also saw nothing about Starting Grid from Visiware.
Does anyone know if this title is still even planned? However, there
were loads of racing games(actually more arcade than sims) at E3, and
I will give the rundown and first impressions on all the games I've
seen over the past two days for 3 platforms: 3DFX-PC, N64, and
Playstation:
3DFX:
1)Andretti Racing 98 - Electronic Arts: This was the sleeper. I had
heard nothing about this game before hand, but it looked and played
great. It was as smooth as MotoRacer/POD and had both Indycar(CART)
and Nascar tracks and cars. Like the original Andretti Racing for the
Playstation, there are some licensed drivers and tracks and some
fantasy. Indycars was what was playing, and they had it hooked up to a
CH Products force feedback steering controller which was also cool.
The EA employee said it was pre-alpha running on a 3DFX card with the
alpha version of Microsoft Direct X5. It looked great(had lens
flare,etc.) and was very fast. It was definitely more arcade than sim,
but it was very fun to play. They said it would be available in
Oct/Nov 1997. Definitely one to watch.
2)Cart Precision Racing - Microsoft: This was the main game I came to
see at E3 following the demise of further Indycar support from
Papyrus. They had a huge display with 10 or more playable workstations
and Mark Blundell's Indycar. Microsoft employee said all machines were
running Direct X 5 with 3DFX cards. While this felt much more like a
sim, it did not run as smooth, or look as good as Andretti Racing 98.
There was a good bit of draw-in. However, the 3D cockpit was very
cool; your view changes as you take a turn. This would probably take
some getting use to. It will be playable for free over Microsoft's
Internet Gaming Zone, and work with all 3D accelerators(3DFX obviously
would be the best since that was what Microsoft was showing it on). It
will also support force feedback controllers out of the box, even
though they had none setup for the demo. This one could be very
promising with improved performance.
3)F1 Racing Simulation - Ubisoft: Looked very good. They had a 3DFX
accelerated version running next to a software only version and there
was no comparison. Ran faster and looked better than the current 3DFX
enhanced Formula 1 by Psygnosis. Has 16 circiuts and 22cars/drivers
from the 1996 season. Ubisoft says they are going for realism and
there is a true cockpit view with this one(as opposed to the views
available in Formula 1 by Psygnosis). Overall it seemed promising. 4
player network, 8 player Internet.
4)Powerslide - Emergent Software: Kind of like POD rally. Looked very
cool, played very fast. 60 frames per second at 640 x 480.
The track that they were demoing had grafitti all over the walls and a
big fat 3DFX logo to drive over. Final version will have network and
Internet multiplayer cababilities.
5)Formula 1 97 - Psygnosis: Looked just like the original Formula 1
but was said to allow 8 player network and split screen modes with 97
updates. Seemed to be running pretty fast, but the graphics quality
wasn't up to some of the other titles listed here. The release date
was Fall 97 so it seems unlikely that they would release a multiplayer
pacth for the current version(which is still not available in the
U.S.)
6)Test Drive 4 - Accolade: This one was playing at the 3DFX booth. Did
not get to see too much of it but it looked o.k. Sports cars of today
vs. past classics.
7)ABC Sports The Road to Indy - Disney Software: I'm originally from
Indianapolis and grew up with a love for the 500. I hoped this game
would be good, just like I hoped the IRL would be good. Unfortunately,
in its current state this game seems to need alot of work(just like
the IRL). It looked like it was running some kind of 3D acceleration
but I am not sure. The frame rate was very slow and choppy, and the
cars did not look good. The track itself looked ok, but the people
playing seemed to be having major control problems. Maybe they just
didn't know how to drive. Wait and see on this one.
8) Need for Speed II(SE?) - Electronic Arts: I purchased NFS2 when it
came out and promptly returned it after such poor performance on my
P166 32mb Intergraph Reactor/Monster 3D PC. However, what I saw at E3
was amazing. The graphics looked great, and the gameplay was very fast
and smooth. Then I noticed the 3DFX logo on the monitors. I talked to
an EA employee, and he said that they had re-done 2 tracks and 2 cars
for 3DFX to show it at E3. He said there would still be alot of
development time required to finish the full version, and thought that
its more likely that EA will release NFS2 SE with 3D enhancements and
a few new tracks and features as opposed to a patch. From what I saw
it would be worth it.
Playstation:
1)Nascar 98 - Electronic Arts: Nascar licensed cars, tracks, and
drivers running on an enhanced Andretti Racing engine. Looked pretty
good as far as PSX racing games go. Much better than the original PSX
Nascar by Papyrus. Worth a second look.
2)CART Indycar World Series - Sony: Seemed to have the same type of
graphics engine as the original Andretti Racing for PSX. Allows split
screen racing, and had many of the licensed CART drivers and tracks(I
raced on Homestead). Solid, but nothing spectacular.
3)Formula 1 97 - Psygnosis: Looked very similar to original title with
split screen racing and 97 updates. If you liked the first one you
will probably like this one. Question will be whether there are enough
enhancements to warrant buying again(EA sports syndrome!).
4)Grand Tour Racing 98 - Activision: The concept seems ok: race on
tracks all around the globe in everything from dune buggys to rally
cars, to F1/Indycars. The graphics looked Rage Racer quality but the
gameplay was slow and choppy. Allows Split-screen play.
Nintendo 64:
1)Top Gear Rally - Kemco: Of all the console racing games, this one
was the best. The grahics were amazing. The developers are putting the
N64 hardware to the test. Control was very good. Had all types of
weather and night play. Supposedly Rumble Pak compatible(read Force
Feedback) as well, but they were not showing it off. Seemed to have
many different types of tracks with multiple shortcuts. Only bad point
was that split screen racing was virtually unplayable.
2)Multi Racing Championship - Ocean: Another rally racer, and in fact
it was being shown side by side with Top Gear Rally. I believe this
was a big mistake because Top Gear Rally beat it hands down. The
biggest difference is in the graphics department. This game does not
take advantage of the N64's graphic abailities. I don't even think it
looks as good as Rally Cross for the Playstation. I guess the gameplay
was ok but not as good as Top Gear Rally.
3)F-1 Pole Position - Ubisoft: This is the title already released in
Japan by Human. It had terrible reviews over there, and Ubisoft is
trying to clean up problems before releasing it in the states. What
they were showing did not look good, and was suffering from the same
problems as Multi Racing Championship above. It looks more like a PSX
game than N64 and the game play appeared to be pretty choppy.
Hopefully Ubisoft will keep improving it.
4)Lamborghini 64 - Titus: The graphics looked good on this one,
definitely N64 quality, but something was missing. Maybe it was just
that there are so many racing games out there, but nothing
distinguished this game. Looked like Need for Speed/Ridge Racer with
N64 graphics. Also, your Lamborghini looks more like a hum-vee and
drives like one too.
5) San Francisco Rush - Midway: This is the N64 version of the 3DFX
enhanced Atari/Midway arcade racer. The arcade version of this game
was all over E3, being played in linked modes of up to 10. The N64 is
the only console that could remotely mimick the 3DFX arcade version,
and it does a pretty good job. Not all the 3DFX graphics enhancements
are there, but it plays fast and looks great. There is a two player
split screen mode as well.
Summary:
My opinion of the best racing games to look for in the coming months:
3DFX-PC(Andretti Racing 98, Cart Precision Racing, F1 Racing
Simulation, PowerSlide, NFS2 SE)
PSX(Nascar 98, CART World Series)
N64(Top Gear Rally, San Francisco Rush)
Don Chapman
[email hidden]
One quick ammendment to the last post:
Apparently, Sierra/Papyrus did have SODA Off Road Racing available to
show, but just not to the mainstream public visiting their off-site E3
location. They also have another product tentatively called Nascar
Manager that sounds cool. Please refer to Eric T. Busch's previous
post titled "E3 part 1". I guess I talked to the wrong people.
Don Chapman
Hi Don,
Thanks for the info - very interesting. I twould be good to see more
"real" sims in the pipeline, but I guess that the mass market doesn't
really want to have to put in that much practice to be good at them :(
Just a thought - might this be what has become of Starting Grid?? Wasn't
SG supposed to be based on the '96 season and seeing as there would
(presumably) only be one licence for that year.....
Cheers,
Richard
Hi Don,
Wonderful report!! Looks like we'll be riding the high-hog this year
in racing sims. =)
This is the title that was originally "Starting Grid" by Visiware. =)
Cheers!
Marc
Marc J. Nelson
The Sim Project
http://members.aol.com/simproject
That's not what I've heard from the guys at Visiware...
A.Renault
Marc,
Are you sure Ubisoft F1 is the same game as Starting Grid? They
certainly look different...
--
Dave Bowers
...and you're a bit late with your post, since I've since been
corrected...again. ;)
Marc
