Were Racing Games Good Before the PS2 Era?

[Akiba]

Yes the game that never released outside of Japan was "peak".

My girlfriends dad imported a few months after release. And there were ads for it in Magazines for import businesses. Just because it never left its mother tongue until fan translations doesnt mean it cant be peak or wasnt.

If Einhander, Parasite Eve or Vagrant Story never released out of Japan, would that make them any less good?

Racing Lagoon was peak, it was doing what made Need for Speed Underground a smash hit, years earlier with a narrative that in its underlayers one could hold up to the quality of Kojima or any FF game.

 

[MemeAlert]

My girlfriends dad imported a few months after release. And there were ads for it in Magazines for import businesses. Just because it never left its mother tongue until fan translations doesnt mean it cant be peak or wasnt.

If Einhander, Parasite Eve or Vagrant Story never released out of Japan, would that make them any less good?

Racing Lagoon was peak, it was doing what made Need for Speed Underground a smash hit, years earlier with a narrative that in its underlayers one could hold up to the quality of Kojima or any FF game.

Most people didn't played it at the time of release, that is my point. Peak is subjective.

 

[Akiba]

Most people didn't played it at the time of release, that is my point.

Doesnt make the game any less good is mine.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Hell yeah they were.

 

[Tortuga]

Yes the game that never released outside of Japan was "peak".

Majority of japanese games was never released outside of Japan and most of them was peak

 

[Don Patch]

I'd say "yes" but it depends on your threshold of patience.
PS1/Saturn/N64 have a shitton of great racing joints.
Further back it gets spotty, but IMO, there's some real romps on in the 2D realm as well.

 

[Tanner]

Yeah, i kinda agree with OP.

Racing games profited a lot from technological progress and i feel like with the 6th gen consoles the genre was finally not held back by hardware. Atleast if we only look at home consoles. There are arguments to be made for hardcore simulators on the PC or standout titles on arcade hardware which released before that timeframe like Daytone USA which just looks insane for '93.

Tbf i'm completly in the 3D camp when it comes to racing titles. I dont like top down racers too much. Super scalers can be pretty pleasant in my experience. But they're a seperate thing for me? IDK, they're cool but dont provide the same experience like a good 3D racer. Tracks made of polygons are just really beneficial. On top of that comes the physics stuff which is possible in a 3D space alongside the general upped processing power.

I'd argue that there were quite a lot of good racing games in the era before the PS1. They're just not as palatable with our modern tastes, habits and expectations. They are their own thing which can be enjoyed with managed expectations.

Gameplaywise the PS1 already has a lot of bangers tbh. The graphics arent just that fancy yet. But some of the games really made the best out of it with stunning artstyles which still hold up sometimes. The low polycount and the rather low rendering distance can be an issue. That was just objectivly better with the PS2 onwards.

But yeah, i'd say the golden years for racing games was between the 5th-7th gen consoles. Because somehow the genre really suffered the last 10 years.

 

[JPZ]

F355 Ferrari Challenge for the Dreamcast was really good.

Ridge Racer Type 4 and Wipeout XL for the PSX, as others have already mentioned.

I'd also add Star Wars Episode I: Racer and Wave Race 64 for the N64.

 

[Tanner]

I'd also add Star Wars Episode I: Racer [...] N64.

Dreamcast or PC version is sooo much better though. Apart from just more content the framerate on the n64 is just horrendous. It feels like it tanks into the single digits on busier areas on some of the tracks.

 

[>pitchshifter]

Road Rash '95 is still one of the greatest racing games ever. Great soundtrack, funny artstyle, satisfying riding and badass intro

 

[JPZ]

Dreamcast or PC version is sooo much better though. Apart from just more content the framerate on the n64 is just horrendous. It feels like it tanks into the single digits on busier areas on some of the tracks.

I did play it with the memory expansion pack, so that probably helped.

Would still like to try the version on Steam.

 

[Ferik]

Road Rash '95 is still one of the greatest racing games ever. Great soundtrack, funny artstyle, satisfying riding and badass intro

To this day I still associate Rusty Cage with Road Rash more than anything lmao

 

[MegaDrive1987]

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That's Road Rash
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Excellent selection

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 9:12 PM

Personally, I would've put on the Burnout 3 Takedown or Revenge OST, those soundtracks were absolute bangers.

Always a place in my heart for Burnout 3, came out when I was 16 and I've always loved it, for many reasons but the soundtrack is one of them!