Rad Racer

Infobox VG| title = Rad Racer


caption = North American box art
developer = Square Co., Ltd.
publisher = ^JPN Square Co., Ltd.
^NA Nintendo of America
^EU Mattel Inc.
designer = Hironobu Sakaguchi (concept)
Nasir Gebelli (program)
composer = Nobuo Uematsu
engine =
released = ^JPN August 7, 1987
^NA October 1, 1987
^EU January 15, 1988
genre = Arcade style racing
modes = Single player
ratings =
platforms = Nintendo Entertainment System
media = Cartridge
requirements =
input = nihongo|"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 Square'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;cite web | author= | title="Rad Racer II" Player Reviews | url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/review/587551.html | accessdaymonth=11 May | accessyear=2006] 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 from the Homestar Runner Flash cartoon.

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. Even if time runs out, the vehicle can continue to coast for awhile; if the vehicle reaches a checkpoint before running of momentum, the game continues.

"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").

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.

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 (255 is the highest number allowed in the 8-bit computer world).

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", [(July/August 1988). "Player's Poll Top 30". "Nintendo Power", vol 1.] and even those critical of the game have praised its excellent graphics.cite web | author=grasu | year=2006 | title=Thank God Squaresoft stopped making non-RPG games. Oh, wait... never mind. | url=http://www.gamespot.com/nes/driving/radracer/player_review.html?id=269598 | accessdaymonth=11 May | accessyear=2006] 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."cite web | author=Skyler Miller | year=2002 | title=The History of Square | url=http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hist_square/p1_01.html | accessdaymonth=11 May | accessyear=2006]

Nearly twenty years after its release, "Rad Racer" continues to garner impressive player reviews.cite web | author= | title="Rad Racer" Player Reviews | url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/review/587550.html | accessdaymonth=11 May | accessyear=2006]

References