Is Virtua Racing still good?
Virtua Racing is a racing game originally released in arcades in 1992 and on the Sega
Genesis in 1994.
As you all know, this was the only Sega Genesis title to be released with the Sega Virtua
Processor, or SVP chip.
This greatly enhanced the power available, boosting the 3D capabilities beyond what was
possible on the Super Nintendo and it’s Super FX chip.
The result was a hulking cartridge retailing for $100 when new.
While Virtua Racing is most known for it’s SVP chip, I want to take a look at the actual
game behind the tech.
First, the game was met with critical acclaim upon release.
GamePro magazine scored the game a 10 out 10 stating, “Virtua Racing is a supremely
thrilling experience, but a transient one, especially since there's no way to save your
best times.
Still, it's the best excuse you'll have this summer to break every piggy bank you have.
VR is a must have game.”
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 7.8 out of 10 noting, “Technically speaking,
this game's a masterpiece.
It looks and plays great.
Sega did a nice job on this one, but I wish their new chip did something with sound.
Still a cool cart.”
Finally, Mega Play Magazine score the game an 8.6 out of 10 proclaiming: “Holy polygons!
This game does a great job of capturing the look and feel of the arcade game.
Racing fans will love the multi-view option as well as the control and great graphics.”
So how does Virtua Racing stack up in 2017?
Let’s dive in.
Right away Virtua Racing shows off it’s polygon crunching power with a fully 3D animated
Sega logo, followed by an attract screen that would like right at home the arcades.
After soaking in the SVP wizardry we arrive at the menu screen.
After selecting an option, it animates towards the screen which is admittedly cool.
It’s also cool how the track select screen mirrors the arcade, with the wheel and pedals
replaced with the d-pad and buttons.
Sega did a nice job with the little details and the menu presentation is top notch.
Anyway, the heart of the game is of course the Virtua Racing mode.
Here, you select one of three tracks and then try to win the race.
There is no car selection or anything, as Virtua Racing has just a single open wheeled
racer.
The three different tracks offer three different race styles.
The beginner course is Big Forest featuring long straights, high speed banked turns, and
just one tight turn to give you problems.
It’s also worth noting you start in the pits, with a primitive pit crew changing your
tires before you enter the race in 8th place.
Next up is Bay Bridge, featuring shorter straights and more technical turning sections.
I also like how this feels like a road course, as you dive off and on ramps that feel like
part of an actual road system.
Still, each lap will take around 40 seconds to complete, the same as Big Forest.
Last is Acropolis, dubbed the expert course.
While the longest course by a wide margin, it only takes 10 seconds longer to get around,
adding just a minute to the total race time.
While dubbed the expert course, it is notably less difficult than Bay Bridge.
There is just a single hairpin turn while the rest of the course can be taken with minimal
lift-off.
While it is disappointing there are just three courses total, they are all excellent.
Sega had a knack for track design in the 90’s, and this is evident here with their first
attempt.
Though I would expect nothing less from Yu Suzuki, creator of some of my favorite arcade
racing games including Daytona USA, F355 Challenge, and OutRun 2.
None of the tracks are too short where they quickly become repetitive or boring, and none
too long where memorization becomes impossible.
While I would hardly call Virtua Racing a simulator, memorization is key to success
in Virtua Racing.
Thankfully, each of the three courses has the perfect flow you look for in track design.
It’s easy to mark sports for braking or accelerator lift-off, such as these arrows
on the course itself, trees and rocks, along with the ever changing direction of the turns.
Speaking of bends, a good track has turns that compliment each other, allowing you to
carry momentum from one apex to the next, and if there is one thing I’ve learned about
racing, momentum is everything.
So with the three courses out of the way, let’s get back to the actual racing.
Despite ‘Virtua’ being in the game’s title, I would hardly call the handling realistic.
This is very much an arcade racer.
Whether this was Yu Suzuki’s intent, or just a limitation of the processing power
available at the time, is anyone’s guess.
First, it does not feel like the front wheels are actually steering the car.
Instead it feels more like there is a pivot point in the center of the car, with the rear
wheels kicking out and the front diving in.
It isn’t awful by any stretch, and common for the era, but as I make my way through
more and more modern racers it’s something that sticks out to me.
What I don’t like is how inconsistent the grip is.
At times it feels like the front wheels lose grip completely, and a section of the course
you can usually take flat out, now punishes you with a trip to the wall and a flip.
Even worse, this lack-of-grip period seems to be on a timer, meaning no matter what is
actually happening of the course, you aren’t going to get your grip back until this phantom
timer is complete.
It can also happen occasionally with the rear tires, and the rear will slide wildly for
a set amount of time, but this happens far less frequently, and rarely causes you to
smash into a wall.
Generally speaking, these control quirks have never really bothered me.
This is an early 3D racer after all, and the fact it even runs on the Sega Genesis is quite
the accomplishment.
But for this review, I wanted to finally accomplish something that has eluded me for the past
20 years.
After winning a race on the normal difficulty, you receive a gold cup for the course on the
selection screen.
Completing this task on the beginner course, Big Forest, is rather easy.
However, accomplishing this on Bay Bridge or Acropolis is a different story altogether.
Unlike many racing games, the A.I. in Virtua Racing is not elastic, they won’t slow down
and let you catch up.
After racing a track enough times, you’ll also memorize the pattern of the cars near
the back, because it never changes.
This means for Bay Bridge and Acropolis, the first lap is of the utmost importance.
On Bay Bridge for example, it is possible to reach first place on the very first lap.
I’m not sure if I have recorded footage of this feat, but I have managed to do it.
Realistically, you need to reach 4th or 5th place on the first lap to have any chance
of actually winning the race.
And even then, if you mess up, or one of those little control issues rears it’s head, you
effectively have zero chance at winning the race.
If you mess up at all, you’ll need to hit pause, and the three action buttons, and just
restart the course.
On my quest for the three gold cups I restarted races dozens of times after learning victory
would be impossible without reaching certain benchmarks in terms of passing, time, or mistakes.
Additionally, the grip inconsistencies always leave a lingering doubt in the back of your
mind.
You know you can take a turn flatout, but you blip the accelerator just to be safe.
I find the lingering doubt to be a distraction, causing me to make mistakes in other areas,
like running into opponents or missing break points.
Now, I can handle the brutal racing challenge, it’s the one genre of videogames I excel
in.
But damn, Virtua Racing is hard.
Despite Bay Bridge being the medium course, it is easily the toughest of the three.
The tight and medium turns with narrow roads, can be absolutely brutal, and mastering the
final third of the track is the toughest challenge offered in the game.
Even after mastering the course, victory is far from guaranteed.
You also need memorize the line your opponents take.
While blocking is dishonorable, in Virtua Racing, being in a spot where your opponent
wants to be can be the difference between winning and losing.
In fact, I was finally able to take victory because of this.
Near the end of the race, my opponent smashes into me losing all of his momentum, sealing
my victory.
Acropolis is far more forgiving.
Generally speaking, the race track is very wide, offering plenty of passing opportunities
in addition to being more forgiving to minor mistakes.
That’s not to say it’s easy, and smashing into a wall due to grip issues is still a
real possibility, but as a whole, finally earning a gold cup was a far less strenuous
task.
It’s also worth noting you can’t cheat either.
Lowering the difficulty to easy and winning the race won’t award a gold cup.
Needless to say, I did finally conquer this gaming challenge and earned a gold cup on
the normal difficulty on all three courses for the very first time.
It took a few hours longer than I anticipated but I do feel a sense of accomplishment.
I just wish Virtua Racing had a save feature, so I could stare at my hard earned trophies
whenever I wanted, and also revisit the game to try and beat my best laps.
Sadly, once you power down the Genesis, all progress is lost.
Surprisingly, beating all three courses does add another tile to the title screen, giving
you the chance to race all three courses in a mirrored mode.
It’s a neat touch and I’m glad there is a reward for all of the hard work.
Moving on let’s take a look at the game from a technical standpoint.
Graphically Virtua Racing is definitely a step above something like Star Fox.
There are significantly more polygons on the screen at any given time, and the frame rate
hums along at 15 frames per second with few hiccups whatsoever.
Still, there are notable deficiencies, such as the low color count and a heavy reliance
on dithering.
For your composite video purists out there, here is your argument.
There is noticeable pop-up, though it’s always far enough away to never impede the
actual racing.
It does make the replays a touch less appealing however.
Overall, the graphics are impressive for what they are, and there is an inherent charm to
the simplicity.
But even an old jaded gamer like me can recognize Virtua Racing for the Genesis is showing it’s
age.
On the flip side, the sound presentation is outstanding.
The engine hum is front and center, and does a nice job smoothly changing pitch as you
make your way through the rev range.
The high pitch whine does a reasonable job sounding like an open wheel race car engine,
and despite the high notes, it's never grating on the ears.
The music on the other hand, is pretty catchy.
The synthesized instruments aren’t the best and there is some Genesis twang here, but
the catchy jingles playing every time you complete a lap or clear a checkpoint are fantastic,
and it won’t take long until each and everyone is stuck in your head.
Unfortunately, the voice clips are pretty scratchy, and the “S” is missing from
the announcer saying Time Bonus, which amuses me in a childish sort of way.
So with the technical bits out of the way, we arrive back at the question asked at the
beginning of the video: Is Virtua Racing still good?
Let me start by saying I absolutely love this game.
Even though the other ports are better, I still get a real kick out of Virtua Racing
for the Genesis.
The track design is awesome, and the controls are good if you can train yourself to dial
it back just a touch.
The simple act of chasing the apex of each turn, flowing left to right, and getting it
just right is an intoxicating experience, and everything you could ever want from a
racing game.
And then being rewarded with some of the catchiest video game jingles out there, is just awesome.
I’m also the type of racing game fan that can sit there on the same track for a couple
of hours running hot laps and chasing fast times.
But even I become annoyed with having to constantly reset to the track select screen over every
little mistake, chasing those gold cups.
And when you combine this with the dated graphics, I’m not sure how many folks out there would
give Virtua Racing the same patience I showed it.
The low resolution graphics, masked with a black border, can make it very difficult to
make out anything not in the immediate foreground.
This makes planning your turns a real challenge, and things can creep on you quickly as a result.
At the end of the day, Virtua Racing’s technical limitations do hamper the gameplay.
When you combine these limitations with the inconsistent controls, you’re left with
a game that very much feels like it was released in 1994.
Don’t get me wrong, Virtua Racing is an amazing achievement, and pushed the racing
genre forward in a dramatic way.
It’s historical importance cannot be diminished.
But this Genesis port is definitely not a 10 out of 10 game, or even a 7.8.
It’s still a fun romp for an old racing fan like myself, but there is no doubt this
iteration of Sega’s classic has seen better days.