One of the most important aspects of any game, regardless of their genre, is if they can still be enjoyable years after their release. In most cases it’s a no brainer; many NES titles are still referenced and played after almost 30 years. Even systems like the Atari 2600 have amassed a cult following despite their primitive hardware and simplistic games. The reason I bring this is up is that most people can agree that some games have aged terribly. Sports games and especially racing games suffer from this. Ever wonder why there’s always a brand new Forza or Gran Turismo game almost every year? It’s because people strive for realism when it comes to these games. Even though it’s always enjoyable to play the newest racing sims, it never hurts to go back to a simpler time. Today we’re going to look at the great granddaddy of racing games: Rad Racer. Oddly enough this game was developed by Square, the same company that created one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time: Final Fantasy. With a company like that responsible for this game, it’s almost expected for the game to be a smash hit. Is Rad Racer as good as Square’s other titles? Let’s find out.


Graphics - 7

         For 1987, the graphics aren’t too shabby. The two cars you have, a Ferrari 328 turbo and a Formula 1, both look pretty good in the game. You also have a couple of opposing racers to worry about. For the time the game shows a really nice and relaxing colour scheme. The clouds actually shift to whatever side your car turns which I find to be pretty cool. But by far, the best tracks take place during the night where it’s pitch black and all you see is a city ahead. The game really looks nice in the night themed stages and it really shows that the NES was a pretty capable system. It also mentions the compatibility with 3D glasses on the back of the game’s cover. But this looks more gimmicky and confusing than it is actually helpful in playing the game. But there are a couple flaws every now and then. For example, on land, there’s nothing to look at. I know that this is a minor nit pick but with a lot of racing games, it’s nice to see a change in elevation. Who wants to play a racing game where it takes place in what looks to be Death Valley half of the time? Not to mention, there’s only two stage designs, the desert and the city at night. So you’ll find yourself repeating what look to be the same stages but with more twists and turns in the tracks. But with the few tracks and cars this game has, it does a pretty good job capturing the look and feel which is why Rad Racer gets a 7 for its graphics.


Sound - 5  
         
         The NES is known for some really well known music from some of its games. Rad Racer is not among those games. It has little to no music. But that’s not the point in racing games; you want to hear the roar of your car going 150+ mph right? Wrong. By the time you approach the second race, you just want to mute the T.V. and be done with the sound. The sound of the car just isn’t appealing to listen to. The NES simply isn’t capable of complex music and sounds as the Super Nintendo or N64. The cars sound very annoying; it’s like the occasional fly you get in your house. Thankfully the car sounds much better when you apply your boost but you need to be careful when using it. The sound isn’t really the NES’s fault as pretty much all racing games on the system sound pretty off putting to say the least. But with that said, it’s nice of Square to put the effort of trying to replicate the feel of a supercar even if it does sound mediocre. With that said Rad Racer gets a 5 for the sound department.  


Addictiveness - 6  
        
          I have to admit, the first time I played Rad Racer, I found it to be pretty engaging. That is until the 3rd track. By the time you play one or two tracks, the game starts to get stale; you’ve already faced the worst the game has when it comes to obstacles. All that changes are the tracks. Not to mention, the game has that very outdated feel that a lot of old racing games have such as Pole Position for the Atari 2600; you don’t really have a lot of directions to move as you’re always restricted to the middle of the screen. This is what makes the game so unplayable today in comparison with all the racing games nowadays. You like the idea of being able to move, dodge, and turn throughout the tracks in a game like Need for Speed for example. And you really can’t do that in a game like this. Being this restricted removes any sense of freedom to move around; where’s the fun in that? With that said, it’s not really the game’s fault but more so the industry’s; by making games more realistic, we lose touch on the pioneers and take them for granted. Without games like Rad Racer or Pole Position, the racing genre would be a vastly different place. But with that said, this style of gameplay is pretty much obsolete; why spend money on a game when even flash games offer more fluent gameplay. Time has not been forgiving to Rad Racer which is why it get’s a 6 for it’s addictiveness.


Story - N/A

         As far as I’m concerned, there is no story in Rad Racer. You’re just some unnamed driver who goes from track to track hoping to win. That’s all I can think of. NEXT!


Depth - 4

         Surprisingly for a lot of these old racing games, there’s not that much depth. Rad Racer unfortunately suffers this. When it comes to many racing games, you have a vast amount of cars to choose from and countless more upgrades to use. But with Rad Racer you have two cars; a supercar and a formula 1 racer and all you have is your boost. This may have been understandable back when this game came out, but releasing a racing game today with only two cars to choose from and no possible customizations or powerups is unheard of. Some of you may say that this is an unfair thing to judge seeing as how this game came out in the 80s but let’s look at two games from that era. First there’s R.C. Pro Am; only one car to choose, but you’re given countless power ups and upgrades that keeps the game fresh. Then there’s Mario Kart for the SNES; you have a wide variety of characters to choose from that each have their own strengths and weaknesses and dozens of power ups to use. Age isn’t the problem here. With that said, this game gets a 4 for it’s depth.


Difficulty - 5  

         For the most part, this game isn’t really difficult. As mentioned before you don’t really have any obstacles to face except for the occasional car or two. Because of this, the game can be pretty easy. It’s when you need to make a sharp turn where the game can become unfair. As we all know, the most satisfying thing to use in any racing game is your boost. But like Excite Bike, you need to use your boost sparingly and effectively. The reason I bring up this is that it can be incredibly easy to be cruising in your car with your boost on and then suddenly, you see the road make a sharp turn. When you manage to cut the boost and use your brakes it’s already too late and your car ends up crashing into a tree. By the time your car get’s back on the road, you’ve wasted too much time for you to hit the checkpoint in order to continue in the race. Because of this, it can get increasingly frustrating in the later stages of the game as the race tracks get more and more complex. But with that said it’s not that hard; as long as you maintain caution with your surroundings you should have no problem dodging other cars and turning on the occasional bend. Because of this, the game gets a 5 for the difficulty. Time to wrap things up.  


Overall - 5.4/10: A passing grade

         See what I meant back in the beginning on how age can ruin a game? Rad Racer is a perfect example. While it does have decent graphics for the time, that merit is not enough to save the game entirely. The game is by no means terrible though; if you like the novelty of going back in time to when games were simpler then this is a great game to try out. But in the modern day gaming industry, it hasn’t aged as well as say Legend of Zelda or Contra. Which goes back to what I said earlier in this review; by constantly making games more and more casual we miss the point of games in general. We lose touch with the pioneers and innovators and care only about the best looking or best overall presentation. Not to say that’s it’s a bad thing. But it severely devalues the significance of the original runner ups. And it’s not just happening in one genre; everywhere you go, games are getting more and more mundane and casual. It’s a reality we as a community have accepted with open arms. And for that, I can’t help but feel sorry for games like Rad Racer.