Street Racer

Infobox VG
title = Street Racer


caption =
developer = Vivid Image
publisher = Ubisoft
designer =
engine =
version =
released = October 31, 1996 (NA)
genre = Racing
modes = Single player, multiplayer (1-8)
ratings = vgratings|ESRB=Kids to Adults
platforms = Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Amiga, Amiga CD32, PC
media =
requirements =
input =

"Street Racer" is a racing game, similar to "Super Mario Kart", released for the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive in 1994, the Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Game Boy in 1996, and also the Amiga, Amiga CD32, and PC. It was made by UbiSoft and Vivid Image, and features nine cartoon characters which you could race with, one of which being a secret character unlockable by completing the game. It was one of the first games to feature multi-tap compatibility, and was the first racing game to allow 8 players to race simultaneously.

Despite the similar logo style "Street Racer" has no connection to the "Street Fighter" series by Capcom, nor to the game Street Racing Syndicate by Namco.

Gameplay modes

The game features the ability to race the "Street Racer Championship", beginning with the Bronze Championship and moving on to the Silver Championship, Gold Championship and Platinum Championship. Each championship gave you, after winning, a new password which could be entered on the Options Screen in order to unlock new tracks. The winner of the championship would be the driver with the most points after every race has been completed. Points are awarded according to the final positioning of each race, with bonus points awarded to the driver with the most punches, the most stars collected, the fastest lap, a record lap and drivers who lapped other drivers. The Championship could be raced in "Championship", "Head-to-head" or "Practice" mode.

The game also featured the ability to choose the tracks for a "Custom Championship", to drive a head-to-head series with a CPU driver, and to drive individual practice races. There was also a racing game called "Rumble", the objective being to knock the drivers out of a ring. It could be played in 3 levels of difficulty. Also, a "Soccer" mode featured a field to play against all other characters, with a giant soccer ball and a single goal for all. The score wasn't of team play though.

For all modes of play, whether "Championship", "Custom Championship", "Rumble", or "Soccer", Street Racer allowed the setting of many of the game parameters.

Characters

There were 8 characters who could be raced with in Street Racer. These were:

* Hodja Nasreddin - A 400 plus year old Turkish magician, described as 'friendly' and 'wise'
* Frank Instein - A 100 year old, big, green, Frankenstein lookalike
* Suzulu - A middle-aged African Voodoo specialist
* Biff - A 19 year old typical 'school bully' figure from America
* Raphael - A young, 'cool' pimp figure from Italy who 'secretly admired' Surf
* Surf Sister - A young Australian girl with a 'degree in mechanics'
* Helmut von Pointenegger - A retired German pilot and veteran of the Second World War
* Sumo-San - A Japanese sumo wrestler from the future

Each character has four special moves. They have a defensive move, an attacking move and left and right punches, which vary for each character. These moves are unlimited and do not require pick ups making it unique from most racing games.

After winning the Platinum Championship a ninth character, Rabbit, also become available. After Rabbit is unlocked one driver is randomly left out of each championship or race so that there are only eight drivers racing on the track. Rabbit featured in the intro sequence while starting up the game, and despite the requirement to unlock Rabbit, has no advantages over the other drivers.

Tracks

At first there are only eight tracks available on Street Racer. There is one track for each driver, named after the driver with the number one after (for example, Frank 1). After winning the Silver Championship a second track for each driver becomes available, and after winning the Gold Championship a third becomes available. When Rabbit is unlocked after winning the Platinum Championship three more tracks themed around Rabbit also become available.

Each set of tracks is themed around the track they are named after, with in-race music to suit. For example, Hodja's tracks have a magical theme and music, whilst Sumo-San has upbeat, futuristic, oriental music with a very Middle Eastern style of race track.

Passwords

The passwords given after winning each Championship are:

* Trafik - Given after the Bronze Championship is won
* Najiti - Given after the Silver Championship is won
* Dougal - Given after the Gold Championship is won
* Turgay - Given after the Platinum Championship is won

In addition to unlocking the character 'Rabbit' and his three tracks, 'Turgay' also unlocks a fairly crude Advanced Options menu which allowed the player to increase the size of each character's car.

Release information

Street Racer was released in 1994 and was originally sold with a Recommended Retail Price of £39.99, quickly reduced to £29.99 due to a lackluster sales performance, apart from the original SNES version which reached number 1 in Gallop charts ahead of "Doom". It is now generally a hard game to find as it flopped in comparison to other animated racing games of the same year, such as "Destruction Derby".

External links

* [http://www.gamespot.com/ps/driving/streetracer/index.html "Street Racer"] at GameSpot
*moby game|id=/street-racer|name="Street Racer"