15th October 2004, 11:49 AM
Quote:Two words: No split-screen. Racing games were made for split screen. It's a social genre.
Hmm... okay, splitscreen multiplayer. I have two gamepads and a keyboard, so that works (as long as it is okay with a four button gamepad with no analog). And quite a few of those have it.
Almost all of those games have either split-screen or shared-screen two player modes. A few don't, and a few have four players, but most have shared system multiplayer...
Many: Micro Machines 2. I forget exactly how many it supports, but it's at least 4 and maybe it's 6 or something... many in tournaments.
4 (splitscreen): Rollcage Stage II and Moto Racer 2 for sure. Not sure about the rest, perhaps one or two more has it as well.
No single-system multiplay: Motocross Madness 2 (I think... I should check to be sure), Rally Championship, Death Rally, Extreme-G 2, Driver (which isn't a racing game anyway). The rest of those games have 2-player splitscreen modes. Several also have lan/modem modes, and a couple have (or had) internet play with a gameservice... Pod and NFS High Stakes, to be specific. Though both of those services are now, I believe, offline. Motocross Madness 2's (and maybe Monster Truck Madnesses'?) are still running.
Anyway, I think I made my point. Okay, is it more fun to sit around the TV? Perhaps, but I have spent far too many hours playing single-system multiplayer PC games with friends and relatives to think that it is in any way bad.
Quote:Crap handling, crap speed, crap tracks.
Handling depends on settings and the car you choose. Speed increases with difficulty level but is admittedly a bit weak. Tracks? As I said, I consider the great track designs (and style) to be by far the game's greatest strength!
Quote:All except for Drome Racers... which got bad reviews anyways. And Screamer 2. Haven't played that.
Screamer 2 had fantastic graphics for a 1996 PC game... it's great fun still, once you get used to the very slippery controls. That takes a little while. But still, great arcade racing game probably best compared to a Ridge Racer. With cars that slide a lot. :)
As for Drome Racers, it cost me $2, is by the guys who made Rollcage, and is decent. Not fantastic, but okay...
Oh, and I'd be pretty surprised if you've played even half as many demos as I have. Sure they only give you a track or two of the game, but that's enough to get a good picture of how it plays... and I have five years of PC gaming magazines with demo CDs, which means many demos, including quite a few racing games. :)
Quote:The latest Bloody Roar is about as good of a fighting game as XG and Pod are racing games. Not very good.
'Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity...' I think that saying applies here. :)
Quote:Well good for you. I on the other hand place great importance on "fun".
So a complex game with a very high learning curve cannot be fun to anyone, even once they get used to the control scheme and game system? I do not think that that is the case at all!
Quote:Therein lies the problem. The second is much better than the first and the third [from what I have seen] is better than the second. I've played some of the NFS games before and they just can't beat the Burnout series.
As you remember, I'm sure, I'm not a huge NFS fan... but they are okay racing games. Burnout 1 is a lot of fun. But since I've only played that Burnout game, and I've played at least a little of all of the NFS (PC-version) games (full versions of 1 and 4, demos of the rest), it's definitely an unequal comparison and that certainly helps NFS... playing Burnout 2 would be good to let me see if that series has improved enough to beat NFS, but as it is I don't know, obviously.