Saturn import racing games

[Iron Draggon]

I recently got three different import racers for this system, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on them with the rest of you who may be interested.

I'll be adding to this thread as time goes by, so I can get a bit more in depth with each of them, but for now I'm just gonna be commenting on one of them at a time until all three have been discussed in as much detail as I can offer. I'm not a big racing game expert by far, but I'll do the best that I can.

GT24:

This one seems to be yet another great game that we only missed out on because Sega of America, in their infinite wisdom, decided to pass on just about everything worthwhile that came out in Japan towards the end of the Saturn's life here in the states. So we all know how that story goes, right?

Basically, if you ever wanted to play Daytona USA with GT cars instead of stock cars, then this is your game. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as polished as Daytona is, but the pop-up & draw-in is about the same as it is in Daytona Championship Circuit Edition, so it could be worse. It's very similar to the Daytona games in alot of ways, but still different enough to be alot of fun. So let's just get right into it. All the similarities and differences will be obvious.

There are 3 modes to choose from: Grand Prix, 24hr Race, & Time Attack. Grand Prix mode is just a catchy way of saying Arcade mode, 24hr Race is just a catchy way of saying Endurance mode, and Time Attack is what you'd expect it to be. There's also an Options mode that allows you to change the following parameters: class (novice, senior, expert) race time (12min, 24min, 48min) sound (stereo, mono) shortcuts (on, off) ghost (on, off) sound test, & key config (3 schemes) so it has about as many settings as you'd want too.

There are 3 tracks to choose from also: Short Course, Middle Course, & Long Course. Each of these can be raced either in forward or in reverse directions. Once you choose a track and a direction, there are 6 cars to choose from, and each one can be selected with either automatic or manual transmissions. Each race begins with a rolling start, and is commented on by your pit chief. Sound familiar? I told you all the similarities and differences would be obvious!

So far, so good. Not bad for a quick little arcade racer at all. Unfortunately, I've never played the original arcade game though, so I have no idea how this conversion compares. From what I've read on the net about it though, it doesn't sound like it compares very favorably. The general consensus is that the Saturn should be able to handle GT24 at least as well as it handled Daytona, but sadly this is not the case. The graphics look alot more like 16bit than they look like 32bit, and considering that this game came out near the end of the Saturn's life, this is simply inexcusable for most fans of the original. Jaleco was lazy and just whipped out a bare bones port as quickly as possible, when they should've taken their time and made a near arcade perfect port.

However, all that aside, it's still not a bad little arcade racer at all. The only thing that I really see wrong with it is the fact that it looks alot more like a launch title than it looks like an end days title. So if you are expecting to be blown away by a bunch of graphical flair that you didn't know the Saturn was capable of, it's not gonna happen in this game. There are a few of the usual trackside animation touches to give you something to look at besides the track, but they're all very basic and rather minimal for this sort of game.

Beyond that, the gameplay seems to be very good to me, and the tracks are gonna take me quite a while to master. So even with very little variety by today's standards, I think it's gonna prove to have alot of replay value. Between all the different modes, tracks, cars, and options, it should keep anyone who takes the time to get into it busy enough to enjoy it for long enough to appreciate it for it's many merits. There seems to be alot more good than bad to it as far as I'm concerned, so unless you're a hardcore GT24 arcade fan, you'll probably have just as much fun with it as I expect.

The sounds are all just average at best, but they get the job done, and I didn't notice anything that sounded really bad. The music is typical video game music, as you probably would've guessed by now, but it's not real bad either. Even the graphics aren't real bad, they're just not real good. It seems to be more of a budget title, and that would explain it's incredibly low price. I only had to pay $20 for it, including the shipping, so shop around. NCSX sells it for $33 plus shipping, but it's probably only worth that much if you can't find it anywhere else. I imagine that's why they still have it in stock.

Now about the 24hr race mode, this mode is actually pretty deep for such an otherwise relatively shallow game. In this mode, after you choose a car, you choose from one of 5 pit crews. The pit crews have various effects on your car's stats, as well as varying speeds at which they work. So there's alot of strategy to this mode, and it makes up a bit for not being able to do any tuning of your own on your cars. It would've been nice if you could control all their settings and upgrade all their parts and stuff, like you can in most of the modern racers of today, but since this is a classic from days gone by it's still not too bad for what it is. Of course you must make pit stops from time to time, and when you do, you can choose what to fix and what to ignore. This brings alot of strategy into play too, so it could get pretty exciting if you can immerse yourself in the experience enough, and that makes it promising.

Unfortunately there is no damage modeling, but your cars do suffer damage and the effects of wear as you race, so if you ignore the wrong things for too long when you make your pit stops, you may end up out of the race. There aren't as many cars on the track at one time as there is in Daytona, but there are enough to give you plenty of competition, and since you always start out at the back of the pack, you'll have to fight your way past every single one of them to cross the finish line first. And this won't be very easy to do, unless you're extremely skilled at racing games, because it seems to me that you can only make very few mistakes to stay in the lead. Just one spinout is probably gonna cost you at least one more car ahead of you in your position, and it's not very easy to catch right back up to that car either.

So overall, even in the novice mode, it doesn't seem to be very easy at all. It doesn't seem to be too hard either, but it will take alot of practice to get good enough at it to do really well, unless you're just a whiz at racing games like I said earlier. But even then, you'll still have to learn your way around all the tracks, so you should get a couple of days worth of fun out of it at the very least. If it was available for rent, I'd recommend it for a weekend rental for sure. That way you could call me a blind idiot without spending more than a couple of bucks, and I wouldn't have to listen to you whine for long. But it's not available for rental, so I suggest that you approach with caution. If you don't mind blowing $20 on a whim, go for it, otherwise stay away.

Finally, about all the hidden goodies, there are a few, according to this page:

http://www.allconsoles.com/saturn/games/gt24.shtml

Of course I haven't tried any of those codes yet myself, and I'm not going to anytime soon either, because I'd rather try to access everything like it's supposed to be done. No sense in buying a brand new game, just so I can beat it on the very same day, right? I'd rather be surprised by the mystery.

Next time I'll talk about Street Racer Extra, and after that will be Power Drift.

[evilmess]

I've read that GT 24 is mediocre at best and your review confirms this once again. Good work and thanks for the review, if the price it right I may snap it up but it's not real high on my want list. :(

Speaking of lists, here's a list I've compiled of US/JP racing/driving titles for myself and other Saturn race fans.

WIP--------------------------------------------------------
US/ Andretti Racing
US/JP Choro Q Park
US/ Code R
US/ Cyber Speedway
US/JP Daytona USA
US/JP Daytona USA CCE
/JP Deka Yonku -Tough The Truck = US TNN Motorsports 4x4 Hardcore.
US/ Destruction Derby
/JP Drift King 97 / Syutokoh Battle '97
/JP F-1 Live Information
US/ F1 Challenge
US/ Formula Karts SE
/JP Full Cowl Mini 4-ku Super Factory
/JP Gale Racer/Rad Mobile
/JP Gran Chaser
/JP GT 24
/JP Hang On Gp
/JP Hang On Gp '95
US/JP Hi-Octane
US/ High Velocity = JP Touge: King the Sprits
US/ Highway 2000 = US release of Wangan Dead Heat, racing only, no girls/videos.
US/JP Impact Racing
/JP Kashiramoji D AKA Initial D
/JP King The Spirits 2 succesor to High Velocity
US/JP Manx TT Superbike
US/ Micromachine V3
US/ Nascar 98
US/ Need For Speed, The
/JP Nissan Overdrivin' GT-R is the Japanese version of Need For Speed
US/JP Off World Interceptor Extreme
/JP Outrun (Sega Ages)
/JP Power Drift
/JP Race Drivin
US/JP Road Rash
US/JP Scorcher
US/JP Sega Rally
US/JP Sega Rally Championship Plus
US/JP Sega Rally Championship Plus Netlink Ed.
US/JP Sega Touring Car Championship
US/JP Sonic R
/JP Street Racer Extra
/JP Tactics Formula
US/ TNN Motorsports HardCore 4x4 = JP Deka Yonku -Tough The Truck
US/ Tunnel B1
/JP Touge: King the Sprits = High Velocity
/JP Touge: King the Sprits 2
US/JP Wipeout
US/JP Wipeout 2097
/JP Wangan Dead Heat
- a single disc released in 1995, featuring 10 girls
- a 2-disc set released in 1996, featuring five more girls (no duplicates from the first version) and a video-only disc with clips that play on
Saturns with and without an MPEG card. Features the five girls up-close as well as some behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the game
(or rather, its video). Other than that, the actual racing games are 100% the same.
/JP Wangan Trial Love
/JP Vatlva
US/JP Virtua Racing
/JP Zero4 Champ DooZy Type-R

OTHER
US/JP Courier Crisis
US/JP Crimewave
WIP--------------------------------------------------------

[Iron Draggon]

COOL! Hey, can you put what systems all of those games are for, and which ones are Japan only, with no domestic equivalent? I'm thinking about trying to collect all the Saturn import racers, now that I have a few of them, but I don't wanna get any that are pretty much the exact same thing as the US version. Like Overdrivin' would be different because it's Need for Speed but it's all Nissan, but alot of those are all just the same thing as the US versions.

Also, if you know very much about all those, I wanna talk to you. I've been looking at quite a few things lately, but I have no idea what all of them are, and I haven't been able to find very much information on most of them. I'd like to see screenshots if possible, and read reviews, but usually all I can ever find about them is page after page of cheats for them. I need information. Knowing they have cheats is nice, but it doesn't tell me if they're worth it.

[evilmess]

I'll see if i can sort out the list as you suggest, might take me a couple days to gather the needed info. Meanwhile check you ICQ and we can discuss further there. :)

[Iron Draggon]

Well, unfortunately my Street Racer Extra shipment was cancelled because it turns out that the seller didn't really have it in stock after all. BUMMER! So, it's time to move on to the next game in my Saturn import racing collection.

Power Drift:

Boy, does this game ever show off the Saturn's scaling & rotation abilities! I never played it in the arcade, so I have no idea how this version compares to the original, but I must say that I was completely blown away by the effects in this one. I wasn't prepared for this at all. I always thought that it was just sort of an offshoot of the Out Run series, and in a way it is because there are alot of similarities, but it's quite a bit different from any of those games.

There are two modes to choose from: Arcade Mode and Grand Prix Mode. The Arcade Mode is presumably exactly what the game was in the arcade. You choose from one of 5 courses consisting of 5 tracks each, and you also select from one of 12 drivers to steer your buggy. Strangely though, you don't get to choose a buggy. Each course begins with a different one, and they change with each new track, so it's curious why they were done this way. I don't know if there's any difference in their performance anymore than I know if there's any difference in the performance of the drivers, but at least there are different buggies and different drivers in the game, so they don't all look alike. They still look very similar though, so there's not alot of difference in their appearance, and probably not much difference otherwise, if there's any difference at all. So you have alot of buggies and alot of drivers and alot of courses and alot of tracks, so at least there's some variety to it.

The Grand Prix Mode is exactly the same as the Arcade Mode, but this time you run through all 5 courses instead of just one, which means that you'll be racing through all 25 tracks before you get a final score instead of just racing through only 5 tracks before you get a final score. And boy, does this game have some crazy tracks! Some of them are very easy, but some of them are very hard. Naturally, each course begins with the easiest track, and finishes up with the hardest track. You have to place at least 5th against the other 11 racers to progress to the next track, but don't worry, there are unlimited continues if you don't place high enough. You start the first race out in first place, and if you place first you'll start the next race in first place too, but if you place lower than that you'll start the next race in the same place that you finished the last one in, provided that you placed high enough to move on to the next track, of course. So the better you do, the better off you'll be. Each race consists of 4 laps, but all the tracks are very short, so they'll go by very quickly. The buggies are pretty fast too, so the pace is kinda frantic.

Overall the game is just a very quick and rather mindless arcade racer, so it's probably pretty well suited for children. It has lots of colorful graphics, and alot of cute animations complete with voices for the drivers, so most kids would likely really enjoy it. There's also an announcer who calls out which lap you're on as you complete them, and he will encourage you to hurry up and get back on track when you wipe out, which you'll probably be doing alot of on some of the harder tracks. And this is where alot of the scaling & rotation comes in. You can spin your buggy around in any direction when you wreck, so you may see it tumbling end over end in a number of ways. Sometimes it's just the sprite that rotates, and it often scales as it does so, but other times the whole screen will rotate. Each track begins with a flyover of the circuit as well, and these flyovers are also very heavy on scaling & rotation.

So it's pretty easy to see why none of the 16bit versions of this game that were announced for earlier Sega consoles ever saw the light of day. It was supposed to be released on both the Genesis and the Sega CD, but I guess the game was just too demanding on those systems to do it justice, so it didn't appear on a Sega home console until the Saturn, and it hasn't been seen since. I was told that it required the 4MB RAM cart, but this is not the case. It runs just fine without it, but perhaps it runs even better with it. I don't know yet, because I still don't have a 4-in-1 converter for playing my imports. I just use a standard converter with no extra features right now.

The graphics are classic Sega arcade graphics, circa 1988, when this game first appeared in arcades. It's a shame that this game didn't appear on the American version of the Sega Ages series, but I guess it just wouldn't fit on one disk with 3 other titles, so we didn't get it here. I don't know why they chose to release that series on one disk here, as opposed to releasing each title in the series on a seperate disk as it was done in Japan, but that's the way they did it for us and unfortunately Power Drift got lost in the process. There's also another neat feature that I haven't mentioned yet. The whole screen will tilt to the left or right as you go around the curves, to simulate the tilting of the seat in the sitdown version of the arcade game. It sure would be nice if the home versions of other early Sega racers had used this feature, because it's pretty neat to watch it, and it makes the game feel faster. Not that it really needs any help with creating an illusion of speed though, because the framerate is very fast with no trace of slowdown at all.

The sounds and music are also classic Sega arcade sounds and music, so it's not gonna blow your ears away at all, but with so much else going for it, you probably won't really care. If you prefer the classics, you're gonna be in hog heaven with this one, and even if you don't you still should have alot of fun with it. It's very wacky and very offbeat, so it's quite humorous to play, even when it gets a little frustrating on the harder tracks. I'm enjoying it alot, and I'm glad to finally have it in my collection. I've been waiting for it a long time. By the way, you can play it with either the regular or analog controllers, or the arcade wheel, so you have plenty of options for controlling it as well.

So there you have it, classic Sega racing goodness direct from the arcades of yesteryear imported from Japan into your home with the help of the Saturn. It doesn't get much better than this for us retro gamers, so if you don't have it yet, you probably should add it to your wishlist, especially if you're into racing games. This is probably about as advanced as the genre got before the arrival of digitized graphics with photo-realistic cars and scenery, so it's kinda like the swan song of an era. No wonder Sega decided to finally bring it our homes for it's 10th anniversary, even it it was only released in Japan. Now it's had it's 15th anniversary, and it's still a total blast to play. I expect that it'll be just as much fun when it has it's 20th anniversary too.

[Iron Draggon]

Well, I finally managed to get a copy of Street Racer Extra, but for some reason it doesn't seem to be compatible with my Sega Satellite converter!

The converter hangs up at "please wait" with this game loaded, but no other game has ever given me this problem before. Is it possible that this game needs a RAM cart or thinks that my converter is a RAM cart, and that's why it's not proceeding to the screen where I click to start the application?

I don't understand why this game won't let my converter do it's job for me!

[Azazel]

If it needs a ram cart it will say so on the CD case. A few small number of games don't work with those converterd although I have no idea on the referenced game your talking about.

[davidleeroth]

Just booted up the game with a CD Plus adapter and my Saturn in US mode and it works well. :/ I think you need to ditch your adapter and region-mod your baby.

[Iron Draggon]

HMM... Maybe I need a CD Plus... But first I wanna try a 4 in 1, I've been wanting to get one of those... Oh yeah!... I have a Game Shark!... Maybe that will work... At least I know it's not the game... Thanks for your help!

Region modding my baby is out of the question, I've had her ever since the first year of the Saturn's release, so she can't be violated with any mod chips.

[dj898]

there is switchless country mod... you wired up so hitting reset button will cycle the country setting...

i went easy way and put two switches since it's my working saturn... :D

by the way country moding has nothing to do with the mod chip since on Saturn the mod chip doesn't bypass the country lockout...

[Iron Draggon]

Well it turns out that it was just my funky Satellite acting up. Apparently it had loosened itself just enough that it couldn't get past the waiting screen. Very strange, but then that converter always has been somewhat wonky. I still need to get myself a 4-in-1 cart, whenever I can finally afford to do so.

Anyhow, does anyone know if there's a difference between Street Racer and Street Racer Extra? And if so, what's the difference? I've never played Street Racer before, so this is my first experience with it. Also, I'd like to know if the American Saturn version was ever actually released in the US? I haven't been able to find it, just pics of it that look like typical unreleased game pics, trying to fool you into believing that it was actually released.

Also, is there any difference between the SNES version and the MegaDrive version? I assume that the SNES version uses Mode7 and the MegaDrive version is at least graphically different, but otherwise are they the same? I'm just wondering if I get another Street Racer game which system I should get it for and what makes it better than one of the other versions would be. I'm considering getting all the others, but if they're all basically the exact same game and just graphically different, or basically the exact same game as the version I already have and just graphically different, I may not want more.

So what's the deal with these games? I know the cars and characters are always the same, but I dunno if the tracks are always the same, and I know that graphically they're always different depending on which system you get it for, but beyond the visual differences, if they're all exactly the same and exactly the same as the one I have, then this one will probably do just fine. But if any of them have different tracks or something else that makes them unique, then I might want one of the other versions also, even if it isn't as good as the one I have now, which looks like it's probably the best version.

I can tell this much, this is the best looking 3D game I believe I've ever seen on the Saturn. So nice and crisp and colorful, and so much better looking than the typical PlayStation game. Although that reminds me, there's also a PlayStation version of this game too, so I'd be interested in more information about that version also. I think it pretty much showed up for all the most popular systems of the time, although curiously it only seems to be available as an import for all the Sega systems, unless I'm mistaken about that as well.

[vulcanjedi]

Yo

I have street racer for the PS1 and I don't know if the saturn version I have is the 'extra' or not. I think it is. I'll have to double check later.
The graphics are superior on the saturn version. The scaling is much better on the saturn. It is a really fun kart type racing game.

The first time I played power drift in the arcade back in 1990 I had a zen like experience. Actually it was a flashback to a year earlier when I had played Galaxy Force II in the sit down space ship version for the first time. It seemed I played for hours without dying. I'm sure it was only 10 minutes or so but it was intense. Oh yeeah Power drift, the first time I played I got through 4 courses. I was one with the car. I was unstoppable. Until the 5th course that cost me about $5 in quarters that I could not beat.
Needless to say this is one of my favorite Saturn games and perfect played from my desk with the arcade racing wheel suctioned down.

Speaking of import Saturn racers I have this game called Vatlva which I think is kind of a cross between twisted metal and micro machines. It's an OK game but I never really got into it. It is one of the MPEG games. Has anyone with an MPEG card played this? Is it only the cut scene's that get video enhancement?

seeya
VJ

[vulcanjedi]

Yo

I have street racer for the PS1 and I don't know if the saturn version I have is the 'extra' or not. I think it is. I'll have to double check later.
The graphics are superior on the saturn version. The scaling is much better on the saturn. It is a really fun kart type racing game.


seeya
VJ


My street racer is Extra :)
The characters are the same as the PSX version I have but there are more tracks and the first noticible difference is this movie at the beginning.

It is much easier to play with the saturns analog controller than it is with the PSX's dual shock in analog mode.

VJ

[Iron Draggon]

I just got Vatlva recently. I'll be posting my review of it here soon, along with my reviews of Gunbluster XTO Super Factory and Street Racer Extra. I've gotten alot of great imports recently, but I've been so busy playing them all I haven't had a chance to sit down and start writing down my thoughts on them all yet. Still a few on the way also, and some that I still have yet to play as I have no converter for playing them. I need to fix that!

[Iron Draggon]

HOORAY! Chase HQ + SCI & Night Striker S are both finally paid for and on their way to me! So I'll have a review of these Taito driving games for the Saturn posted here soon! I know they aren't really racing games, but these are some very well known classic driving games, so they should be alot of fun!

[Tron 2.0]

HOORAY! Chase HQ + SCI & Night Striker S are both finally paid for and on their way to me! So I'll have a review of these Taito driving games for the Saturn posted here soon! I know they aren't really racing games, but these are some very well known classic driving games, so they should be alot of fun!
I have that game seems like a pretty good port to me.

It's fun to play just kind of werid hearing those (japanese voices) while in play.

[fishsandwich]

Speaking of import Saturn racers I have this game called Vatlva which I think is kind of a cross between twisted metal and micro machines. It's an OK game but I never really got into it. It is one of the MPEG games. Has anyone with an MPEG card played this? Is it only the cut scene's that get video enhancement?

seeya
VJ

Yes, only the cutscenes take advantage of the MPEG card... they are full-screen as opposed to letterboxed. That's it.

I love Vatlva. It's the Shiznit, and super-cheap!!!

:D

[Iron Draggon]

YAY! Chase HQ + SCI & Night Striker S are finally here! My review of them will be posted here shortly! But first, I have alot of driving and shooting to do!

[Steven]

But first, I have alot of driving and shooting to do!

"Driving and shooting" - heh, heh. Only in the video game world my friend... only in the video game world. ;)

[Iron Draggon]

OK, here's my reviews! I'm not gonna go real in depth with these, because there really isn't a whole lot to explore in them, but they're still great classics!

Chase HQ + SCI

This one is definitely best suited for the true hardcore classic gaming fan. I see now why both of these games were included on one disc. Each one only consists of 5 stages each. SCI does include a 6th bonus stage at the end, but even with that added in, it's still as painfully short as Chase HQ is!

So I'd say that it's best if you're a real fan of the Chase HQ series, or similar classic driving games like OutRun. In Chase HQ, you drive a Porsche 928, and just ram the bad guys until they pull over and surrender. In SCI, you drive a Nissan 300, and either ram or shoot the bad guys until they pull over and surrender. So SCI has just a bit more depth than Chase HQ, but otherwise they're both nearly identical. And I wish that you could shoot in both games!

It does seem to be a very good port of the originals though, and it seems to be 100% accurate, except for the fact that all the voices are in Japanese. That makes it even more entertaining though, because you have no idea what they're saying, but you can tell that they're very excited about it!

Most of the text in the game is in English, but some of it is in Japanese. You can still play it without knowing any Japanese without any problems though. And as far as I know, this is the only way that you'll ever play both of these games on a home console. Chase HQ 2 on the Genesis and Super Chase HQ on the SNES are both different games from either one of these two games, which is why I got this game. I had to have it to complete my collection!

Night Striker S

This game is really more of a 3D shooter than it is a driving game. Besides being able to drive on the road, you can also hover over the water and fly through the air at will. It plays exactly like Super Thunder Blade, except you pilot a futuristic Spy Hunter type vehicle instead of a helicopter. And the enemies even look like they were drawn by the same team of artists too. So imagine playing games like AfterBurner or Space Harrier or Galaxy Force in something like a car, and that's what this game is. It's just another variation on Sega's classic 3D shooters. But oh man, is it ever an awesome variation!

The thing that really strikes me the most about it is the trance music. It's very trippy, and so are the visuals. The whole thing is very much like playing Blade Runner, if that movie was ever made into a game, and it's obviously inspired by that movie. Another thing that's really cool about it is that you progress through the stages similar to the way you progress through the stages in OutRun. After the first stage, each stage is arranged in a pyramid fashion like the stages in the Darius series. Stage A leads to stage B or C, which in turn lead to stage D, E, or F, and so on, all the way through to Z. Or wherever it actually ends. I didn't really notice, because I couldn't get that far in it yet. So there's quite a bit of challenge and replay value in it.

It also has 2 different modes. The Arcade mode appears to be an exact port of the arcade game, and the Extra mode seems to be designed to help you practice your skills. It only consists of 6 stages, arranged in a straight line. So it's good for getting a quick fix, or just honing up for survival in the arcade. There's also a bonus CG intro movie on the disc, which plays when you first start up the game, or you can watch it from the menu. And everything is in English too, except for the voices. So you won't have any trouble playing it either, except for the fact that it's pretty challenging, even on easy setting.

I never played this game before, and I was pretty blown away by it. It's a very cyberpunk game for its time, and it has alot of trippy qualities to it too. So I was totally surprised to find out what it's all about after all these years. I'm not sure why it was never released on the Genesis or the 32X, or why it was never released in the US on the Sega CD or the Saturn. It doesn't look like it couldn't have been done, but it definitely looks way better on the Saturn than it does on the Sega CD. And if you have all the other games that I've mentioned in my review of it, then you just have to have it in your collection. So of course that's why I had to have it, because I have all those other games myself. Now if only there was a Genesis version of this game!

Well, that pretty much sums up both of these games. Both true classics, and both a must-have addition for any truly dedicated classic gaming fan, for sure!

[Iron Draggon]

Well, I just got Gale Racer, so here's my review of this one:

Not alot to say about it, really. It looks like it was as rushed as Daytona USA was, being the 3rd game released for the system in Japan, but it did turn out better than Daytona. There isn't any ugly pop-in like Daytona had, but there are some obvious glitches and things that just a little bit more time could've fixed up. Overall it's reasonably solid for a 1st generation Saturn game though. Not bad at all for $10 new.

OK, on to the gameplay. This game was supposedly known as Rad Mobile in the arcades, but I don't remember ever seeing it in an arcade, so it's an all new experience for me.

You race across the USA from Los Angeles to New York, so in that respect it's very similar to Turbo Outrun, in that each stage is a different location in the USA. But there are several differences. First of all, there are no HI & LO gears, just accelerate and brake. But you drive from an in-car perspective instead of a chase view, and you have a button for lights and a button for wipers. During night stages, you have to turn on your lights for better visibility, and during rainy stages, you have to turn on your wipers for better visibility. This makes for a neat gimmick, but personally I would've preferred a chase view. I find it very difficult to drive well with the in-car perspective. But it's not too hard.

Also of note is the interesting appearance of Sonic the Hedgehog, hanging from your rear view mirror! He's a little annoying, constantly spinning and swinging and swaying around up there, and not even realistically in relation to the motions of your car, which would've been alot more cool, but it's still a neat touch. So if you're interested in any games with a Sonic cameo in them, you need to see this!

Anyhow, back to the gameplay, you start out last in the pack behind a number of rivals scattered throughout the stages amongst other cars that you must avoid. So the challenge is that in addition to beating the clock to each checkpoint in each of the stages, you must pass as many of your rivals as you can before the final stage, because your ultimate goal is to be the fastest car across the USA!

That pretty much sums up the gameplay, so let's move on to the graphics and sounds. The graphics are a bit crappy, but you have to remember that this is a 1st generation Saturn game. And with that in mind, they really aren't too bad, although they definitely look alot more like 16BIT than 32BIT. So don't expect much in the way of graphics, but even with all things considered, I don't think they're too bad. The weather effects are very neat, and they do a pretty good job of showing off what the Saturn can do, which is probably why this title was chosen to be a launch title. Not to mention, it's very interesting how it all turns out so much better than Daytona USA did overall. There's alot of very good CGI cinemas throughout the game, so I imagine that even with the few rough edges around it here and there, this game probably helped to sell alot of Saturn systems in Japan. It is kind of curious why it was never released here though, but I guess after the fiasco over Daytona USA, Sega of America wasn't about to release another less than perfect rushed arcade port over here.

The sounds are probably the worst of the overall package. The music is decent enough for this type of game, but the sound effects are a little annoying, and they too sound more like 16BIT than 32BIT. It does have some voices though, and it's not really too bad for an arcade racer from this era. I didn't have enough continues to beat it on the first try either, so replay value is very reasonable. You can always try to beat your best times through each of the stages, and there's several different modes to choose from, including a 2 player VS mode. So it's a fair challenge.

So, for only $10 new, it's hard to pass it up and complain about the few areas where it's lacking. It's not quite as good as GT24 in some ways, but it's better than GT24 in other ways. So I'd recommend it if you like racers, and you want something really cheap. For what it is, it's pretty good.

[Iron Draggon]

Hello again Saturn import racing fans! I'm expecting several new additions to my collection in this genre within the next week or two, so I will have several new reviews here for you all shortly! I won't say what all the games are until they get here, but I will say you won't want to miss these reviews if you're reading this, because I've heard they're all hot titles!

[dj898]

i'm in the school of thought that when something is truly awful it bounds to be good so with that saying have yourself a favour and pick up Initial D for Saturn and see how long you can stand it... :p

for the variety try those wangan series...
not saying they are good but are different...

[Steven]

I played RACE DRIVIN' today. I can see how it may appeal to one but my overall impression was... "its fun for a short while but then... ugh." Clunky controls, bad graphics, too bad... it could have been really fun too. There are crazy loop-de-loops and high jumps... but I just couldn't bear to play it for more than 15 minutes...

[dj898]

you know what! after playing Initial D you think that game is much better... :p

[Iron Draggon]

LOL I've been tempted to get Race Drivin' for the Saturn, but I already have Hard Drivin' and Race Drivin' on Genesis.

I know the Saturn version of Race Drivin' has some extras that aren't in the Genesis version, and it's been enhanced too, but I still just can't justify buying it just for all that.

So I have to say, my money is much better spent on better games. Or at least, if I'm gonna spend my money on a bad game, then I'd rather get one that I've never played before!

Some of the games that I have on the way now may turn out to be duds too, but that's alright with me. All I know is they were never released here, so I wanna check 'em all out!

BTW, I can usually stomach a bad game for a long time, especially if it's in a genre that I really enjoy, and racing games are definitely one of my favorite genres of games!

So don't worry, I will still love any and all the duds in my collection for their own merits, however few there are, and when I review them I will mention why I think they're worth owning or at least playing, in spite of whatever their flaws are. Yes, I guess I must've gone to the same school as DJ!

Trying to wait patiently...

They should all arrive this week or next...

My lead foot is itching to pound the pedals...

And drift away in a bunch of shiny new import cars!

8-)

P.S.: About those Wangan games, I know that some of them were released here without all the girls in them under different names, but I don't know which ones were never released here at all. Those are the ones I would want to get first if possible, but I would probably go for all 3 of them eventually, since even I have to admit Asian girls are HOT!

So by all means, tell us all about the Wangan series if you know anything about it. I know someone back on page 1 gave us all some very helpful information about them, but we could always use more information if any is available!

[dj898]

the import Racing title only worth just for its omake key ring pack... :p
http://img92.exs.cx/img92/805/dsc000654fr.jpg


and here's the some of wangan import series I think of among others...

http://img138.exs.cx/img138/2372/dsc001300vq.jpg

[Iron Draggon]

LOL Yeah, I'd like to get Over Drivin' someday, just for that cool keychain and all those Nissan cars in place of all the US cars in US Need for Speed. But for right now, what's that game to the left of Code R? Is that what Wangan Trial Love looks like, or is that something else? So far I've only seen Wangan Dead Heat and Wangan Dead Heat + Real Arrange.

[dj898]

that one's wangan trial love... similar to code r though haven't played much...

it was one of title that came in a bundle I got and frankly no idea whether this is good or not nor rare... since haven't seen this one often even on Yahoo Japan...

[Iron Draggon]

Well at least now I finally know what it looks like! I don't recall seeing it on ebay before, but maybe I just missed it.

Anyhow, I think that I'd be the most interested in that one as far as the Wangan series goes, since I understand that one features anime girls instead of real girls. Sounds cool!

I've heard that it's a horrible game, but like you, I believe if it's that bad then it has to be good in some obscure way.

So it may be the worst game in the Wangan series, but that just makes me want it that much more, if I can find it!

[dj898]

I've heard that it's a horrible game, but like you, I believe if it's that bad then it has to be good in some obscure way.



welcome to the club mate :D
on of my hobby other than video game has been collecting obscure and often crap euro trash/exploits on DVD... :p

[Iron Draggon]

Well after an unexpectedly long shipping delay, the games that I ordered are finally here, so I will try to get them all reviewed sometime this week. But first I have to play them!

Anyhow, the games that I will be reviewing for you all are:

Code R
Initial D
Zero4 Champ Doozy J Type R
Drift King '97 Syutokoh Battle

I hope I enjoy them all as much as I think I'm going to! 8-)

So give me a few days to get into them all and see what I think about them, and then I'll post my actual reviews of all of them. I expect to have alot to say about each of them!

[Steven]

Drift King is alright.... especially if it's a $5 purchase, which is how much a used copy goes for. I liked it enough to keep it, but don't like it enough to play it often...

[Iron Draggon]

Well out of the four games in my latest batch of import racers, Drift King is definitely the best one. And really, out of all the import racers that I've reviewed here so far, I think that Drift King is the best one overall. I wish that I could compare it to all the Wangan series games, but I can compare it to all the American racers on the Saturn, and to me it's one of those games that really should've gotten an American release. It has a good arcade feel to it, and the control feels just right. The graphics aren't bad either, the sound is up to par, and to me the FMV in it is really good. So I would say that it should be worth alot more than $5!

Anyhow, I will go more in depth with my opinions of it as soon as possible, as well as the other three games in this batch. I'm still getting into playing all of them, but my initial opinions of all of them are very good. I'm extremely happy with my purchases, and they were well worth the prices I had to pay for new copies, as far as I'm concerened. Yes, some of them are pretty horrible in that they control very poorly, the graphics could be better in some of them for the time that they were released, but overall I think they are all reasonably up to par, so I'm impressed with them.

BTW, while I'm on the subject, I might as well go ahead and list what I had to pay for each of these games new:

Code R - $20
Initial D - $30
Zero4 Champ Doozy J Type R - $20
Drift King '97 Syutokoh Battle - $30

I think that I got my $100 worth out of them all already, but of course I'm one of those crazy collectors who will pay just about any price for any game that I want, as long as it's in factory sealed mint condition. I know that I'm in the minority here, but considering what all of these games sold for brand new when they were first released, I still got a big bargain on them all, because none of them used to be this cheap when they were first released, so I think I got a deal.

Anyhow, of course I'm rounding off the actual prices, and I'm not including any shipping costs, but I will advise you to shop around for these if you're interested in getting new copies like me, because they can be found for considerably more than I paid in some places, and there's no need to spend more than you have to, even if you're crazy like me!

[dj898]

$30 for Initial D??? O_O
if someone pay me $30 still I won't get that stinker... :eek 2:

btw nice score for code R...
I paid almost 1000 yen for my mint but used copy...

[Steven]

Iron, you certainly pay a premium on these games since you have to get them factory sealed, and hey that's your decision. But honestly, you could put $100 to much better use, but maybe that's just me.

[dj898]

yep! l scored Final Fight Revenge 4MB RAM cart box set brand new for 14000 yen ($124) which is imho not a bad price for a brand new copy... (probably I will never play it since I already have preview copy for testing.)

[Lemmy Kilmister]

yep! l scored Final Fight Revenge 4MB RAM cart box set brand new for 14000 yen ($124) which is imho not a bad price for a brand new copy... (probably I will never play it since I already have preview copy for testing.)

Heh. Telling Iron Dragon that Initial D was a stinker then saying you got a copy of Final Fight Revenge two post later. :D

[dj898]

ha ha

there's difference between rare stinker and common stinker... :p
yes I do get stuff purely for my collection knowing well that I will never touch the thing... thankfully there weren't that many...

[klausien]

Does anyone have GT24? I know it isn't a drift racer (as most of what we have here are), but I can't find all that much good info on it. Is it worth it if you like Daytona & Sega Touring Car?

[dj898]

isn't that touring car racer?
what's the full title?

[Steven]

Does anyone have GT24? I know it isn't a drift racer (as most of what we have here are), but I can't find all that much good info on it. Is it worth it if you like Daytona & Sega Touring Car?

Avoid GT-24 at all costs I've been told. I respect my friend's opinion too.

[Iron Draggon]

LOL GT24 is the first game I reviewed for this topic. It's a fun arcade racer as far as I'm concerned, but it doesn't have alot of cars to choose from or alot of different tracks.

Funny thing about GT24 is that if it had been released in the US, everybody who collects for Saturn would want it because they'd have to have it to complete their collection.

As for my recent purchases and still forthcoming reviews, it's been a busy week for me, so I haven't had time to get them all done, but hopefully I'll get them posted next week.

And yes, I know that I could've spent $100 on ONE way better game, but now I have FOUR more games that the majority of people in the US will never own, including most of the people who collect Saturn imports, so stinkers or not they are still worth the money to me. I'm still happy.

I like collecting the obscure or relatively obscure imports that most of the rest of the import collectors here would never bother with, and I like having ultra mint unscratched disks. What I don't like is having to pay $100 or more for just ONE game. Of course I do it alot, but I don't like it.

Anyhow, I don't really care if they're common or rare, I just collect what I like or what looks interesting to me. And as for my "must be factory sealed" quirk, I've been looking for a factory sealed Initial D for almost a year now, and I didn't think one was ever gonna show up, so I would've paid alot more than that for it to get it if I had to, and I'm very glad I didn't have to. It doesn't even show up used that often, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm very lucky that I found it.

[dj898]

my Initial D was factory sealed when I got it years ago...
naturally I opened and got very disappointed after I was big fan of the manga... :(

hope you don't get disappointed with yours...
it's real shocker let me tell ya... :p

[klausien]

LOL GT24 is the first game I reviewed for this topic.

Bonehead am I.

[Iron Draggon]

Well, after several months of computer problems and other unforseen difficulties, it looks like I may finally get around to writing my reviews of all my new racing games pretty soon. I'm just waiting for my new copy of Wangan Trial Love to arrive, because I wanna compare it to the others. It should be here sometime this week or next. It cost me $50 for a new copy of it, but I guess it's worth it for a chance to see some anime girls with strange colored hair while I'm racing. And as DJ said, it doesn't seem to come up very often, even used, so when I found a new copy of course I jumped all over it. I hope I'm not too disappointed with it. Segagaga recently added a very unfavorable review of it, but I don't care. Y'all know how I am about hoarding obscure titles that most people say are crap, and yet I still find something to enjoy about them, so bring on the girls!

BTW, here's what Segagaga had to say about Wangan Trial Love. It's a pretty hilarious review, but not very informative:

"I can imagine the office meeting when Victor were producing this game.

Designer - Well we have this game ready but it handles like shit plus it's got loads of graphical errors.

Company President - So ? We have a dead line to meet !

Designer - Couldn't we just have a little more time to tighten the controls at least.

Company President - Do you want to loose your job ? I want that game finished by next week otherwise you're out on your arse !

Designer - Well....... We are also working on a dating simulation so it's not going to be easy.

Company President - A dating simulation you say. Hmm... Why not put both unfinished games together as a special dating driving game. We all know the younger generation love to drive when dating.

Designer - yes, but both games are unfinished.

Company President - I don't give a shit. Just do it. Add a few panty shots and a pair of big tits and it will sell.

Designer - Wanker !

　

So as you can see I don't like this game. The controls for the cars steering as bloody L & R for Christ sake ! Luckily they can be changed but that didn't help matters. The dating sections are also dull. Avoid this crap at all costs.."

Well, we'll see. I kinda can't believe that I bought this game myself, but it is one of the few racers that I didn't have yet.

[Iron Draggon]

OK, I know it's been a looong time since I said I'd review these games, but I finally have enough free time to do it now. I've also gotten a couple more new racing games in the meantime, so bear with me, this will take several posts!

[Iron Draggon]

Zero 4 Champ Doozy J Type R:

This is the most complicated name ever for a racing game attached to the most straightforward type of racing ever. It's just pro stock drag racing with Japanese car models.

You can choose Story Mode or VS Race. Story mode is in Japanese. VS Race can be VS Com, VS 2P, Time Attack or Speed Attack. There's 14 different cars to choose from.

The controls take a little getting used to, as you have to shift gears manualy with the D-pad, but once you get the hang of it, it makes sense, and it isn't too hard to learn.

Not much else to say about it really, the graphics are decent and so is the music, but if you aren't into drag racing then this is definitely not a racing game for you.

[Iron Draggon]

Drift King '97 Syutokoh Battle:

This is easily one of the best import racing games ever made for the Saturn, if you're into arcade style racers.

You can choose Scenario, VS Com, or Practice. In Scenario mode you can only choose from 3 different cars, but in VS Com mode or Practice you can choose from 6 different cars in 2 different race classes for a total of 12 different cars to choose from. You can only choose from 3 different tracks to race on in either mode though, like most arcade racers.

The graphics are excellent and the music is excellent too. It looks and plays like a Sega game, but it's not a Sega game. We definitely got cheated when this game wasn't released outside of Japan, but luckily that's why we have importers.

Not much else to say about it, except if you only get one import racing game, I highly recommend you get this one.

[Iron Draggon]

Initial D:

This game is a must-have title, if you're a fan of the anime series, even if it isn't the greatest racing game ever made.

You can choose Scenario, Time Attack, Battle, or Try Drift!! (The exclamation marks are the game designer's not mine.) Scenario mode is in Japanese. Try Drift!! is a practice mode.

You can only choose one car, which of course is Takumi's Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. (AKA: Toyota Celica Supra)

The graphics are decent and so is the music. The gameplay is very hard to get used to though, because somebody got the bright idea that in this game drifting means that you drift all over the road no matter what you do to stay on it. So in other words, Takumi's car is very difficult to control. Beyond that, it's not too bad, but if you can't master the way oversensitive controls, you'll be crashing into stuff alot.

Not much else to say about it really, you weave all over the road, and you wish that the controls were alot tighter, so you could feel like you're actually controlling Takumi's car, instead of being controlled by it. Wretched, awful controls!

[Iron Draggon]

Code R:

This is a yellow label racing/dating game along the lines of Wangan Dead Heat, with anime girls instead of real girls.

You can choose Story Mode, Time Attack, or Battle Mode. Story mode is in Japanese. No Practice mode is available.

You can only choose one car, a Nissan Fairlady 280 Z. (AKA: Datsun 280 Z)

The graphics are decent and so is the music. Unfortunately I can't comment on the girls, as I still have yet to see any.

If you're into this sort of game, I guess it's alright, but it probably helps alot to be able to read Japanese to play it.

Not much else to say about it without seeing any of the girls, but somehow I get the feeling that I wouldn't know what to say to any of them if I got to talk to them anyway.

[Iron Draggon]

Wangan Trial Love:

This is a yellow label racing/dating game along the lines of Wangan Dead Heat, with anime girls instead of real girls.

You can choose Scenario or Race. Scenario is in Japanese. Race can be VS Com, VS 2P, or Time Attack. You have 9 different cars to choose from, and 7 different tracks to race on, but only the first 3 tracks are available at the beginning.

The graphics are decent and so is the music. Unfortunately I can't comment on the girls, as I still have yet to see any.

If you're into this sort of game, I guess it's alright, but it probably helps alot to be able to read Japanese to play it.

Not much else to say about it without seeing any of the girls, but somehow I get the feeling that I wouldn't know what to say to any of them if I got to talk to them anyway.

[Iron Draggon]

Touge King The Spirits 2:

This is the sequel to a game that's known in the US as High Velocity Mountain Racing. Unfortunately it wasn't released outside of Japan though, so the only way to play it is to import it. I think it's well worth importing though, so blame Sega of America for not releasing it in the US for us.

Like the original, you can choose King Battle, Free Battle, VS Battle, or Training. You have 5 different cars to choose from, and 3 different tracks to race on in both directions.

Unlike the original, you're now free to choose from various times of year, various times of day, and various weather conditions, without being limited to the default settings for each race. You can still let them be chosen at random too.

But the changes don't stop there. This game improves on the original in almost every way. The graphics are better, the music is better, everything is better. Not alot better, but just enough to make it a very worthy sequel for sure.

I'd say that this game is a must-have title, if you own the original, and if you don't then you'll surely want them both. Whether you get the original in the form of High Velocity Mountain Racing or Touge King The Spirits is up to you, but if you own one, you're gonna want the other one too. The sequel is better, but not so much so that you won't want the original also. They both go together very well.

Not much else to say about it except it's a real shame that Sega of America didn't see fit to release it here in the US.

[Iron Draggon]

Choro Q Park:

This game is based on Choro Q, which are also known as Penny Racers in the US and the UK. If you don't remember them, they're little superdeformed autos that did stunts when you put a penny into the slot on the back of them.

Unfortunately though, figuring out how to play with the real cars is alot easier than figuring out how to play the game in Japanese. I still haven't figured out how to race yet. There's a map with an island that has various points of interest that you can select, but none of them seem to lead to a place where you can race and be in control of a car.

So, if anyone here knows how to race in this game, please enlighten me. It promises 300 different cars to collect and race, on the back of the case, but until I can figure out how to race, I'm never gonna unlock one car, much less 300!

Not much else to say about it except it looks pretty cool.

[Iron Draggon]

OK, that's it for now. My collection of Saturn import racers is almost complete, and so are my reviews of them all too.

BTW, I paid $40 for a new copy of Touge King The Spirits 2 and $30 for a new copy of Choro Q Park, if anyone wants to know what they cost. I wish I could play Choro Q Park though. I hate spending that much on a game I can't play!

[davidbrit2]

As I recall, Initial D isn't too bad if you're using the Sega wheel controller. It's still a bit sloppy, but quite playable. And in any case, the Saturn got a MUCH better Initial D game than the PS1 did. Heh.

[klausien]

I forgot to mention that I picked up GT24 and it is ass-tacular. The control is all over the place and the frame rate is very poor. Probably my worst Saturn racer, but still worth having as someone who is into obscure imports.

I also want to urge everyone to get the Japanese version of Sega Rally Championship if they want the best version. The differences are small, yes, but it is worth it considering how cheap it is.

[fishsandwich]

I forgot to mention that I picked up GT24 and it is ass-tacular. The control is all over the place and the frame rate is very poor. Probably my worst Saturn racer, but still worth having as someone who is into obscure imports.

I also want to urge everyone to get the Japanese version of Sega Rally Championship if they want the best version. The differences are small, yes, but it is worth it considering how cheap it is.

Indeed, GT24 is one smelly game. I never saw the arcade game (running off Sega's Model 2 hardware, but not produced by Sega. Odd.) but I imagine it was LOADS better than the Saturn port. I know the Saturn did decent Model 2 with a lot of compromises, but GT24 is plain crap. Pop-up Hell. Terrible control. No wonder it never made it here.

[davidbrit2]

Just out of curiosity, have either of you tried playing GT24 with the Sega wheel? I wonder how it plays with that...

[Steven]

-I always liked High Velocity more than KtS2... just something about the atmosphere of HV that I particularly liked which I felt KtS2 failed to capture

-Choro Q was frustrating to me too, only b/c I expected a great sleeper hit type Mario Kart-ish racer I could "pimp" and recommend to my fellow Saturn gamers, but it turned out to be one of my first 'disappointments' in the field of "obscure games." Back in 2002 or 2003... yeah, I ended up trading it away straight up for US MegaMan 8... :D

-for some reason when writing about choro i had a flashback of Ninja Jajamarukun, heh. I suddenly have a strange urge to break that title out. did anyone here else buy it after reading my impressions on it? I know a couple of you went on record to saying it was going on your want lists

-Drift King 97 is cool, but a little cut and dry. For $5 though, hey, you can't go wrong... cool nighttime driving

-Iron, read your 10/2/05 post... so thats why you disappeared for that span of time, oh ok gotcha. i sent you a pm on hissatsu! at the time you vanished. btw did you or anyone else ever get hissatsu? i'm curious on others' opinion of it.

[Iron Draggon]

Steven,

No, I still haven't gotten Hissatsu yet. It's a bit too expensive, even for a used one. One of these days though, and hopefully along with Psychic Assassin Taromaru. Talk about an expensive used game! I saw a sealed one on ebay last year for something like $800 and I nearly had a coronary. I was gonna try to save up for it and believe it or not it sold to somebody else out there before I could even start saving up for it. It's just as well though, I'm not sure that even I could open up an $800 game just to play it.

Monroe