Some Racing Games Lack the Horsepower to Take Checkered Flag

From 98-cent Hot Wheels to $500,000 Shelby Cobras, boys love their cars. For those of us too old to play with Hot Wheels or too poor to play with Cobras, video game makers offer a steady stream of faster and louder racing games.

But faster and louder are not always better.

My thumb was ready for a retread after a recent weekend of blazing through a raft of titles for Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. Some landed in the winner’s circle. Others didn’t have enough horsepower to keep me playing.

In that latter category lands Cruisin’ USA, a port of the arcade hit for Nintendo’s 64-bit machine. Some players I’ve talked to love the game and the ability to split the screen for head-to-head racing. But others find it as flat as I did.

The courses are passable and the choice of cars is great, but Cruisin’ USA lacks that special something that makes a good game stand out from the crowd. Graphically, the game doesn’t deliver the kind of scenery the N64 has shown it can handle.

Then there are the limitations inherent in the N64’s cartridge technology, such as the annoying and tinny soundtracks that repeat endlessly. Granted, no one buys a game just for the music, but on some of the better racers, a digital blast of at least decent music adds to the fun.

Formula 1 for PlayStation suffers many of the same problems. There’s nothing painfully wrong with Formula 1, but there’s not enough right about it to justify adding it to a game library. Designed to appeal to technical race fans, Formula 1 boasts individual behavior models for different drivers and race teams.

Come on! How can the average video game players tell the difference? I found control fairly stiff and clumsy no matter which team or car or driver I chose. Even in the less technical arcade mode, control wasn’t nearly what it could have been. Pity, really, considering Psygnosis is famous for the top-notch Wipeout series, which combined control and grace.

Playing these two duds in a row made me long for a classic. So I popped The Need for Speed into my Sega Saturn and tooled around some familiar territory. Originally released on the long-gone 3DO Multiplayer, various versions have now made their way onto all of the major platforms, including the PC.

Sure, it’s old. Sure, it’s a little spare compared to what’s out now. But it remains among the best racers around, right up there with Ridge Racer and Sega Rally Championship. It’s everything a driving game should be: nice courses, smooth control and a wide choice of cars. The Saturn version loses nothing and demonstrates the kind of legs an intelligent game can have.

Equally intelligent--but twice as silly--is Motor Toon Grand Prix, a surprising title for PlayStation that offers a little something for both kids and adults. Kids will appreciate the wacky environments and the cool cars. But this is no kiddie game. The courses are tough enough to keep older players challenged.

Players pick a variety of tricked-out cartoon vehicles to race through 10 picture-perfect courses that snake around villages and amusement parks. A nice touch: As vehicles take tight turns, they actually stretch and lean the way they would in a Saturday morning cartoon. It’s as fun to watch as it is to play.

Staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every other Thursday. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.C[email protected]