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DEVELOPER
Boss Game Studios
PUBLISHER
Kemco/Midway
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
Cartridge
PLAYERS
Two
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 ell,
it's been about a year. In all that time, only two really good racing games
have been released for the N64, both of them in the early stages of its
life. Ever since Mario Kart and Waverace, N64 owners have had to look on
in envy as their PlayStation counterparts have enjoyed a seemingly endless
stream of top quality racers, while all they had was Cruisin and MRC. It's
for this very reason that Top Gear Rally is a very highly anticipated release.
Top Gear was one of the only racing series I really enjoyed on the SNES.
When Kemco released those very early screenshots of Top Gear Rally what
seems like an eternity ago, it immediately found a place on my most wanted
list. In retrospect, we all knew those pictures were too good to be true,
and while the graphics in TGR are quite good, they're nothing compared
to the promises made. While this is a small complaint, I do have to say
that I'm a little tired of magazines and publishers passing off these lush,
SGI rendered images as the final product. Anyway, on with the review…
Top Gear Rally really doesn't have too much to do with the original
series. You start out with two cars and two tracks; more vehicles and courses
are earned by completing a 'season'. On the up side, TGR has some of the
most extensive options to date on an N64 racer. You choose the handling
sensitivity, type of tires and strength of spring each time you race, and
make no mistake, these do affect your performance noticeably. Use the wrong
spring on a certain track and you'll end up in the air more than on the
ground. You can also choose to race in the rain, fog, snow, at night or
in sunny conditions. Naturally, racing in snow is a rather slippery experience,
and racing at night dramatically decreases your vision.
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The cars all have active suspension and roll with
each turn and impact. The fog is actually there through choice, not necessity.
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TGR includes a paint program as well. Any cars you get can be altered
to fit your tastes, and if you're like me, you'll spend hours in this screen.
I can't say how much I like being able to personalize my cars like this.
TGR's paint option is probably the best one I've seen in a console game,
unlike Rage Racer you have complete control over the color, design and
lettering of every panel on the car. Custom paint jobs can be saved to
a memory card, which leads me to a big complaint. Where's the memory manager?
Much like MRC, I simply could not find a way to delete old save files in
my memory card. This is especially irritating after you've just spent two
hours creating the most kick-ass color scheme in history, only to be told
you can't save it. Aarrgghh!
The graphics in TGR are above average for an N64 game, as it's possible
to play with no fog in the distance. It seems developers are finally starting
to get over this hump, as 007 was like this as well. The frame rate is
silky smooth and only suffers slight slowdown when two cars slide through
a turn at the same time. Even then the game is playable. The textures on
the roads are standard N64 fare, very solid and very fuzzy.
Ever play San Francisco Rush or Super GT? Notice how the cars have distorted
reflections of their surroundings dancing along the surface at all times?
Well, TGR has the same effect, although not quite as impressive, it still
looks great on a home console. The cars also retain whatever damage they
suffer, and headlight effects much like the ones in MRC are used in night
and rain racing. The really impressive aspect is that the lights actually
illuminate only in the direction they're shining during night races.
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Each car sports a beautiful, high res paint job which
looks especially impressive as the sun dances off it.
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Unfortunately, the sound doesn't live up to the lofty standards set
by the visuals. The music sounds worse than most SNES tunes of times past.
Thankfully they can be turned off, though that doesn't help the somewhat
muffled engine noise.
Boss has come up with the best control option in an N64 driving game
to date; the ability to use the digital pad to steer rather than the analogue
one. I know that the whole point of the analogue stick was to make games
like this easier, but what can I say? While the overall control of TGR
is fine, and there are a lot of options available to refine it, I have
one major gripe. The walls almost feel like they have magnets on them,
once you get near one it's almost impossible to separate yourself without
coming to a complete stop. This usually results in a flip, which in turn
causes you to lose precious seconds. The other problem is gravity, or a
lack thereof. Basically, the cars seem to float, which can make it extremely
hard to maintain control on some of the courses. Maybe they should have
added a weight option.
While Top Gear Rally has many redeeming features, beautiful graphics
and a good selection of cars, courses and options, I just can't seem to
get into it. Although it's easily the best racer of it's kind on this system,
it doesn't hold a candle to the recent releases on other systems, and doesn't
offer the same realism as the two year old Sega Rally. If you own an N64
exclusively, by all means buy this title. If you own multiple systems,
I suggest renting it first.
-- Greg Sewart
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