Iron Draggon
11-16-2004, 06:16 PM
I'm having a rather hard time trying to figure out this game. I thought that it was just a very Japanese racing game, and it is, but it's very odd. It seems to be some sort of slot car racing game, but the weirdest thing about it is that I don't seem to have any control whatsoever over the car during the races! I can't control the speed, the brakes, or even what lane I'm in, so all I seem to be able to do is watch the race and listen to the announcer going nuts in Japanese, and hope that my car ends up placing high enough to move on to the next track. So if anyone else here has played it before, I could really use some advice on how I'm supposed to be playing it, because I'm just a bit lost.
From what I gather, the only control that I have over the car is what parts I use to customize it. But the problem is, I don't know anything about these cars or this hobby, so I don't know what all the parts are, much less how to navigate my way through all the menus, which of course are all in Japanese.
I found the track editor, which was a very pleasant surprise, and I figured out how to make my own track, but I'm not sure how to save my design, so a little help with that would be very nice also. I'm really getting to far into all these import games now, so I think I'm gonna have to learn some Japanese.
Anyhow, it's a pretty cool game, even if the graphics are very pixelated and they leave alot to be desired. I was told that it was more of a kid's game, which seems to be true, but it's still very cool, and I think it makes a very nice companion to Tactics Formula, which is kinda similar in some ways too.
I'm a bit disappointed with the model that came with it though. I thought that it was a complete model, but it's not, it's just a body and a set of labels for it, so if I ever wanna put it together, I'm gonna have to find a hobby shop that sells the chassis and the rest of the parts for these types of cars. That shouldn't be too hard to do here in Houston, but I'm probably better off just not putting it together, since it's supposed to be a limited edition. I do like all the different body styles of the cars though, so I would like to try to start collecting them. That shouldn't be too hard here in Houston either, or even online, if I knew what the heck these funny little cars were called.
So I guess that I'm gonna be trying to navigate my way through Tamiya's website and some of their catalogs soon. At least I know the name of the company that makes the models, and I'm familiar with them enough to have heard of them and seen alot of their kits in hobby shops before, so I'm not worried about having too much trouble finding the kits and the parts, or even a place to race them for that matter, if I want to. That's one thing that I have going for me here, I know there has to be several places in this city that sell the kits as well as the tracks for racing them on. And I'm sure there's at least one place that hosts regular races of their own, so I could get really into the hobby if I wanted to. We have alot of very large hobby shops like that here, and a huge Asian community, so all that is very easy.
But first I wanna figure out how to play this game. It seems to be a very good way to get introduced to the hobby, if you can figure it all out. It looks like it's based on a TV show or something too. The intro screen plays a really funky theme song while it shows what looks like the intro for a TV show, and all the characters look very much like they come from a TV show too. So I'm very curious about that also. It looks like it's probably a pretty funny show. The game is certainly funny enough, not knowing any Japanese and listening to the announcer going nuts about it. It's really quite hilarious.
So if you know anything at all about this game or this hobby, please help me out with it, if you can. And if you happen to live here in Houston, and know anything about where I can buy or at least order the kits and parts for these cars, or you know of a place that hosts races for them, please let me know. I live very close to new Chinatown, so not too far from Hong Kong City Mall. I'm pretty sure that they sell all that stuff in the hobby shop there, or they can order whatever I want for me, but I need to know what these cars are called. Otherwise I'm gonna have a hard time describing them to the clerk, and we'll have to go through the whole Tamiya catalog just to find them. I'd also like to know what the name of the TV show is, if it really is a TV show. We have tons of anime shops here, so I'm sure that I can get my hands on anything I want very easily and very cheaply, but I have to know it by name.
From what I gather, the only control that I have over the car is what parts I use to customize it. But the problem is, I don't know anything about these cars or this hobby, so I don't know what all the parts are, much less how to navigate my way through all the menus, which of course are all in Japanese.
I found the track editor, which was a very pleasant surprise, and I figured out how to make my own track, but I'm not sure how to save my design, so a little help with that would be very nice also. I'm really getting to far into all these import games now, so I think I'm gonna have to learn some Japanese.
Anyhow, it's a pretty cool game, even if the graphics are very pixelated and they leave alot to be desired. I was told that it was more of a kid's game, which seems to be true, but it's still very cool, and I think it makes a very nice companion to Tactics Formula, which is kinda similar in some ways too.
I'm a bit disappointed with the model that came with it though. I thought that it was a complete model, but it's not, it's just a body and a set of labels for it, so if I ever wanna put it together, I'm gonna have to find a hobby shop that sells the chassis and the rest of the parts for these types of cars. That shouldn't be too hard to do here in Houston, but I'm probably better off just not putting it together, since it's supposed to be a limited edition. I do like all the different body styles of the cars though, so I would like to try to start collecting them. That shouldn't be too hard here in Houston either, or even online, if I knew what the heck these funny little cars were called.
So I guess that I'm gonna be trying to navigate my way through Tamiya's website and some of their catalogs soon. At least I know the name of the company that makes the models, and I'm familiar with them enough to have heard of them and seen alot of their kits in hobby shops before, so I'm not worried about having too much trouble finding the kits and the parts, or even a place to race them for that matter, if I want to. That's one thing that I have going for me here, I know there has to be several places in this city that sell the kits as well as the tracks for racing them on. And I'm sure there's at least one place that hosts regular races of their own, so I could get really into the hobby if I wanted to. We have alot of very large hobby shops like that here, and a huge Asian community, so all that is very easy.
But first I wanna figure out how to play this game. It seems to be a very good way to get introduced to the hobby, if you can figure it all out. It looks like it's based on a TV show or something too. The intro screen plays a really funky theme song while it shows what looks like the intro for a TV show, and all the characters look very much like they come from a TV show too. So I'm very curious about that also. It looks like it's probably a pretty funny show. The game is certainly funny enough, not knowing any Japanese and listening to the announcer going nuts about it. It's really quite hilarious.
So if you know anything at all about this game or this hobby, please help me out with it, if you can. And if you happen to live here in Houston, and know anything about where I can buy or at least order the kits and parts for these cars, or you know of a place that hosts races for them, please let me know. I live very close to new Chinatown, so not too far from Hong Kong City Mall. I'm pretty sure that they sell all that stuff in the hobby shop there, or they can order whatever I want for me, but I need to know what these cars are called. Otherwise I'm gonna have a hard time describing them to the clerk, and we'll have to go through the whole Tamiya catalog just to find them. I'd also like to know what the name of the TV show is, if it really is a TV show. We have tons of anime shops here, so I'm sure that I can get my hands on anything I want very easily and very cheaply, but I have to know it by name.