Yo! I picked this game up today: Check it OOOOOOUT!! Since Orbital Media ain't exactly a household name in gaming, you may have your doubts about RGA. Well, it got a ton of good press, and it's developed in my hometown, so I thought I'd buy it. Ironically, it's nowhere to be found on store shelves here so I had to order it online. I've only spent 20 minutes with it so far, so I'll just write a few impressions for now and a full review sometime in the (probably distant) future.
The first thing I noticed was the presentation. I guess Orbital Media wants to be taken seriously, because they liscenced actual cars for the game and the box seems to be made out of higher quality cardboard than most Gameboy boxes, plus it has a fold-out cover with more info inside, like some PC games. Of course, since it was shrink-wrapped that's practically useless, but it's neat anyway.
The next thing I noticed was the awesome soundtrack by Neil Voss. He composed the soundtracks for Tetrisphere and the New Tetris on N64. I was quickly drawn into the game with some amazingly high-quality techno. It has some more hip-hop and rock influences than his N64 games, which suits the game well.
The game plays in an overhead view like R.C. Pro-Am, and the tracks contain lots of teeny-tiny details. The cars look good and are very nicely animated, but they're so small that the liscences are kind of unecessary. You'll only know that tiny red sports car is a Dodge Viper because you saw a picture of it on the select screen.
The controls are truly a thing of beauty. The cars steer wonderfully with a good mix of believable physics and tight, arcade-like control. I've become very accustomed to analog-controlled racers, and I'm glad to say the d-pad works great on this game. You can buy weapons and upgrades for cars and there are cash pick-ups on the track so you're less likely to get left behind if you don't win enough races early on.
I don't have much idea of the depth of the game, but there are several unlockable characters, tons of things to buy in the garage, and it looks like all of the drivers have upgradeable liscences, so there are good signs that it will last quite a while. My only complaint so far is that the computer drivers unleash most of their weaponry early on in the race, so the final result comes down a little too much to how well you survive the first lap.
So after 20 minutes, I'd recommend it. Fun!
Topic: Racing Gears Advance (Read 2240 times)
