Rad Racer
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| Rad Racer | |
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| Developer(s) | Square Co., Ltd. |
| Publisher(s) | JPN Square Co., Ltd. NA Nintendo of America EU Mattel Inc. |
| Designer(s) | Hironobu Sakaguchi (concept) Nobuo Uematsu (music) Nasir Gebelli (program) |
| Release date(s) | JPN August 7, 1987 NA October 1, 1987 EU January 15, 1988 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Media | Cartridge |
Rad Racer (ハイウェイスター Highway Star?) is a racing game developed by and published by Square for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. It was programmed by Nasir Gebelli, designed and supervised by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and featured music by Nobuo Uematsu, all of whom later contributed to Final Fantasy in similar roles.
By 1987, few racing games existed for the NES, and Rad Racer was seen as Nintendo's answer to Sega's Out Run. In 1990, Square followed up with an exclusive North American sequel, Rad Racer II. It differed little from the first version, and players considered the gameplay inferior;[1] as a result, it was not as successful as the first version.
The game appeared in an infamous scene in The Wizard, where Lucas Barton (Jimmy's rival) uses a Power Glove to play through the first stage of the game, a feat in itself considering the much noted unreliability of the device.
Rad Racer is Uematsu's 15th work of video game music composition. One of its songs was used, with vocals added, as the theme song for Stinkoman, the anime-parody version of the character Strong Bad.
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[edit] Gameplay
The idea of Rad Racer is to race around a course, and make it to check points before the fuel (gas) runs out. If a player hits another vehicle, road sign or tree at a high speed, the car crashes. Crashes take time and make it more difficult for the player to reach the check point. There are eight different levels of requiring increasing skill. The eight tracks are as follows:
- Stage 1 - Sunset Coastline (probably California or Hawaii)
- Stage 2 - San Francisco Highway
- Stage 3 - Grand Canyon
- Stage 4 - Ruins of Athens
- Stage 5 - Los Angeles Night Way
- Stage 6 - Snow White Line (a course through the Rocky Mountains)
- Stage 7 - Seaway in Typhoon (presumably in Japan)
- Stage 8 - Last Seaside Running (perhaps Florida)
Rad Racer came packaged with 3D glasses, which could be worn to give the player the illusion of three dimensions (Square had previously incorporated the usage of 3D glasses in 3-D WorldRunner). It should be noted that the 3D glasses were somewhat of a gimmick seeing as they did not work effectively.
[edit] The cars
At the car selection screen, the player can pick one of two cars: a Ferrari 328 or an F1 racing machine, similar in appearance to the 1987 Camel-sponsored Honda/Lotus 99T Formula 1 car. If the player selects the F1 racing machine, the computer-controlled cars will also drive one in all stages. The default computer-controlled cars are as follows:
- Stage 1 - Volkswagen Beetle
- Stage 2 - Chevrolet Corvette
- Stage 3 - Citroën BX
- Stage 4 - Mercedes-Benz
- Stage 5 - Lamborghini Countach
- Stage 6 - Lotus Esprit
- Stage 7 - Porsche 911
- Stage 8 - Ferrari Testarossa
Although officially there is supposedly no performance gain by choosing the F1 racing machine over the Ferrari 328, this is debated by race fans. The player cannot clear the course faster. The maximum speed is still 255 km/h.
[edit] Reception
As one of the NES's premier racers, Rad Racer was met with favorable reviews and enjoyed modest commercial success; it ranked 8th on Nintendo Power's player's poll Top 30,[2] and even those critical of the game have praised its excellent graphics.[3] It was condemned, however, for its extreme similarity to Sega's Out Run, released the previous year. In their article The History of Square, GameSpot conceded that "Rad Racer bears more than a passing resemblance to Out Run," but went on to say that "it's more than just a clone" and credited the game with "effectively convey[ing] the proper sense of speed." The article concluded that the game "stands on its own as a fine racing game."[4]
Nearly twenty years after its release, Rad Racer continues to garner impressive player reviews.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Rad Racer II Player Reviews. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- ^ (July/August 1988). "Player's Poll Top 30". Nintendo Power, vol 1.
- ^ grasu (2006). Thank God Squaresoft stopped making non-RPG games. Oh, wait... never mind.. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- ^ Skyler Miller (2002). The History of Square. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- ^ Rad Racer Player Reviews. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
