From: carleton@tecsun1.tec.army.mil (Daniel Carleton)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Any good SNES racing games???
Date: 7 Jan 93 06:48:00 GMT
Organization: U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center, Ft. Belvoir, VA.

rauser@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser) writes:



>   I LOVE Super Monaco GP II on the Genesis, and I'm wondering what
>comparable driving games exist for the Super NES. Even though it's so old,
>should I pick up F-Zero? And how about Seta's F-1 ROC? That looks excellent.
>Any suggestions? Reviews?
	The only game that resembles Monaco GP is Top Gear.  It is a good game,
and you have the slightly unrealistic advantage of an indestructable car.
You also have a selection of four different cars, and a password feature for
selecting tracks you have qualified for.  I didn't get this game, Unfortunately
for it, I also have a Genesis and it had to compete with Road Rash!  The
Top Gear graphics are similar to GP, and some tracks have hilly terrain that
is more convincingly bumpy than what I remember of Monaco GP.  One nice feature
is that it has a split screen for two player mode, but the graphics are still
plenty fast.  In one player mode, the computer takes the car in the bottom 
screen, so you can have a look at how your computer rival is progressing.

	I have not played F-1 Roc.

	F-Zero uses mode-7 graphics to render the tracks and does so very
effectively.  You have a choice of four cars.  Generally the faster a car's
high speed, the worse its accelleration is.  A nice data screen is displayed
for each car showing its accelleration curve and vital stats.  The mode-7
makes control a little more realisting.  Unlike games such as Pole Position,
Monaco GP and Road Rash, moving the joypad doesn't just move you side to side
on the track, you actually turn.  In fact, you can even make a u-turn, provided
you wish to lose the race.  You can also use the L/R buttons to make the car
slide sidways or turn tighter in curves.  Rather than getting a linear 
progression of tracks, you choose one of three legues, each having a set of 
five tracks.  You can play the legues in any order, but the higher legues have
progressively more treaturous tracks.  You can also select skill level, which
determines how fast your rival racers are.  This game has no two-player mode.

	Super Mario Kart is a very fun collision of F-Zero and Super Mario 
World.  The tracks are mode-7, and you still have three leagues with five 
tracks each.  Track names and conditions are based on the areas from Super
Mario World.  Instead of four hovercraft racers, you get eight go-karts driven
by Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Toadstool, Bowser, Donkey Kong Jr, a Koopa
Troopa, and Toad.  There are four different performance classes, each
represented by two of the charachters.  For instance, Yoshi and the princess
have fast acceleration, average top speed, and poor handling, while Bowser
and D.K. Jr have poor accelleration, great top speed, and average handling.
Another twist is that you can pick up special items.  There are question mark
boxes inlaid in the track.  When you drive over them you get an item.  A 
mushroom gives you turbo boost, a feather lets you jump high, and shells, 
banana peels, and lightning can be used to foul up your opponents.  It's 
impossible to crash out of the race, but the attacks can really slow carts down
by spinning them out, or in some cases, shrinking them.  The biggest difference
between it and F-Zero, is that it has a split screen two player mode.
You don't get the feeling of insane speed like in F-Zero, but this game is
lots of fun.h
s
Newsgroups: rec.games.video