Best TG16/PCE Racer?

sheath · 05/16/2011, 09:24 PM

I always like to have a few of the best racers on each system, but haven't gotten around to picking any up for mine since I got back in. In the US I've noticed Final Lap Twin, Moto Roader, Victory Run and Chase HQ chatted about and reviewed fairly well. I can't remember hearing of any other US racers talked about, HuCard or CD. Is there anything I missed over here?

For the PCE I've been watching for Outrun and Power Drift and that is about it. With this vast library I am very sure I have missed some great racers here.

Also, is there a racer for this system that anybody considers the "best" one for the system? I haven't seen that asserted about any of these, but it happens for all of the other systems.

-edit-

Most Recommended:
Final Lap Twin (Namco, Quest Mode)

Other Recommends:
Chase HQ (Taito)
F1 Circus
F1 Circus '91
F1 Circus '92
F1 Circus Special
F1 Triple Battle (Human)
Knight Rider Special (Pack-In Video)
Legend of Dekoboko
Moto Roader (NCS, Overhead Car Combat, Multi-Player)
Moto Roader 2 (NCS, Overhead Car Combat, Multi-Player)
Outrun (NEC)
Power Drift (Asmik)
Racing Spirits; aka Damashi/Tamashii (IREM, Motorcycle Racer, 2-Player),
Road Spirits (Pack-In Video)
S.C.I.: Special Criminal Investigations (Taito),
Victory Run (Hudson, Parts Wear, Unique Physics)
Zero 4 Champ 1+2 (Media Rings, Drag Racing, Role Playing) [video]

Avoid (?):
F1 Pilot You're the King of Kings (Pack-In Video)

grahf · 05/16/2011, 09:55 PM

This is a pretty good question. I used to love Racing Damashi on the Gameboy, but that was way back when. I'm not sure how the PCE version stacks up, but it's pretty cheap.

sheath · 05/16/2011, 10:05 PM

Racing Damashi has no Youtube video, we'll all have to talk like normal people! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll keep an eye out for it. I'm imagining a basic line scrolling racer with a few tweaks, is that what I should expect?

nectarsis · 05/16/2011, 10:08 PM

Quote from: sheath on 05/16/2011, 10:05 PMRacing Damashi has no Youtube video, we'll all have to talk like normal people! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll keep an eye out for it. I'm imagining a basic line scrolling racer with a few tweaks, is that what I should expect?

sheath · 05/16/2011, 10:16 PM

Quote from: nectarsis on 05/16/2011, 10:08 PM

Ah, the old change the "D" out with a "T" trick. Awesome, a motorcycle racer that's two player. Great video quality there too.

CrackTiger · 05/17/2011, 12:14 AM

I love both modes of Final Lap Twin, but it's not for everybody.

Moto Roader is a lot of fun with 3 or more players.

grahf · 05/17/2011, 12:17 AM

Oops, guess I misspelled that. That's actually the first time I've seen it in action as well. I'll probably grab that myself one of these days. You can't really expect much from that era racing games, but I still enjoy them too.

blueraven · 05/17/2011, 12:30 AM

I like Racing Damashi. I got it from Necromancer. It's a slick motorcycle game.

I'd guess it smokes the Gameboy version, although I've never that port.

nat · 05/17/2011, 02:42 AM

Final Lap Twin is damn good, IMO.

Tatsujin · 05/17/2011, 04:53 AM

Outrun
Victory Run
Final Lap Twin

also fun for its time:

Chase H.Q.
S.C.I
Power Drift
Road Spirits

Arkhan Asylum · 05/17/2011, 05:06 AM

F1 triple battle was neat.

then there was that other similar one that sucked really friggin bad.

F1 Pilot. Lol, it was like a bad Amiga game.

They shoulda made a motorcycle racing game. I thought they did but I must be on crack.

Bernie · 05/17/2011, 08:07 AM

I really enjoyed Final Lap Twin, in quest mode. Kinda cool what they did with that one. Very unique, and I loved it!

sheath · 05/17/2011, 08:25 AM

Wow, okay, I'm going to start updating the original post with all of these recommendations, and some of these thumbs down ones. Racing Damashi/Tamashii/Spirits (IREM, Motorcycle Racer, 2-Player), F1 Triple Battle (Human), S.C.I.: Special Criminal Investigations (Taito), and Road Spirits (Pack-In Video), will be added shortly to the OP.

To the thumbs down list goes:
F1 Pilot You're the King of Kings (Pack-In Video)

roflmao · 05/17/2011, 08:59 AM

Quote from: bernielindell on 05/17/2011, 08:07 AMI really enjoyed Final Lap Twin, in quest mode. Kinda cool what they did with that one. Very unique, and I loved it!

Seconded. It makes for a great TurboExpress game as well - though those passwords are a royal PITA. I keep a little notebook and pencil in my Express carrying case and it's full of Final Lap Twin passwords!

sheath · 05/17/2011, 09:12 AM

Is Final Lap Twin the same in the PCE and TG16 versions or is the import heavy on Japanese text? The prices are close enough that I might just want to spring for the US release, but it'd be good to know.

Arkhan Asylum · 05/17/2011, 10:32 AM

Quote from: sheath on 05/17/2011, 09:12 AMIs Final Lap Twin the same in the PCE and TG16 versions or is the import heavy on Japanese text? The prices are close enough that I might just want to spring for the US release, but it'd be good to know.

You could play it if you were illiterate in English and Japanese, lol.

The quest mode doesn't require actual reading. its just story text (you battle champion racers and then get parts and upgrade and then destroy the world champion! Its like Pokemon!)

Once you read the text, you race your car. Rinse/repeat. Fun stuff. You can get either one cheap as hell. Get the US one, incase you really want to read cheesy text about racing champions.

Its a good game. And I hate driving games.

Nazi NecroPhile · 05/17/2011, 11:36 AM

Quote from: Psycho Arkhan on 05/17/2011, 05:06 AMThey shoulda made a motorcycle racing game. I thought they did but I must be on crack.

Like Racing Damishi? Thanks for reading other's posts.

JoshTurboTrollX · 05/17/2011, 11:50 AM

Racing Tamashii does look pretty cool, there is always Knight Rider Special as well.

That is if you really need to play as Micheal Knight! It's pretty cool.

sheath · 05/17/2011, 01:03 PM

Quote from: JoshTurboTrollX-16 on 05/17/2011, 11:50 AMRacing Tamashii does look pretty cool, there is always Knight Rider Special as well.

That is if you really need to play as Micheal Knight! It's pretty cool.

Oh heck yeah I need to play as Michael Knight! Awesome!

Final Lap Twin has been on my want list for too long, I'm going to pick it up at the beginning of next month first off. All of these look like fun folks, keep them coming! Does anybody have any anecdotes on the first time playing one of them, or favorites?

OldRover · 05/17/2011, 01:47 PM

+1 for Final Lap Twin. I wrote a walkthru for the quest mode long ago since it's the only driving game on the PCE I even like.

JoshTurboTrollX · 05/17/2011, 01:52 PM

Quote from: OldRover on 05/17/2011, 01:47 PM+1 for Final Lap Twin. I wrote a walkthru for the quest mode long ago since it's the only driving game on the PCE I even like.

Another +1 for Final Fap Twin! Best racing sim on Turbob.

Also avoid 'Victory Run' as it tastes like ass. RadRacer on NES is better.

sheath · 05/17/2011, 02:48 PM

Well, it seems like Final Lap Twin is definitely preferred, I also just noticed that it is 2-player splitscreen! Oh wow, I had no idea it had quazi RPG elements. Heheh, this one is really awesome.

Is Victory Run anything like Rad Racer or Outrun? It looks like Victory Run has different backgrounds, but that doesn't scream branching path cross country driving clone to me.

Hmm, has anybody noticed which racer has the best animated sprite scaling (think tech demo)? The PCE's speed from ROM would probably mean that there would need to be a larger HuCard for any racer to show more animated scaling. I suppose there isn't a good Super CD-ROM 2 or above racer for the system?

VestCunt · 05/17/2011, 03:04 PM

Quote from: sheath on 05/17/2011, 02:48 PMIs Victory Run anything like Rad Racer or Outrun?

I'd say it's more challenging than either Rad Racer or Outrun. Some strategy is involved replacing parts as they wear out and learning how to drive in a manner that puts as little wear and tear as possible on the transmission, breaks, tires, and suspension (slowing before the crest of hills, shifting correctly, etc.). It's a good game and the colors are nice and vibrant, but it's not the brainless fun of Outrun.

sheath · 05/17/2011, 03:20 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/17/2011, 03:04 PM
Quote from: sheath on 05/17/2011, 02:48 PMIs Victory Run anything like Rad Racer or Outrun?
I'd say it's more challenging than either Rad Racer or Outrun. Some strategy is involved replacing parts as they wear out and learning how to drive in a manner that puts as little wear and tear as possible on the transmission, breaks, tires, and suspension (slowing before the crest of hills, shifting correctly, etc.). It's a good game and the colors are nice and vibrant, but it's not the brainless fun of Outrun.

That's good stuff actually, I like knowing that a game has more nuances right off the bat. Thanks for this. It seems like Victory Run gets touted as a good graphical presentation more often than not, having more in depth gameplay in the long run can be good too.

Arkhan Asylum · 05/17/2011, 03:31 PM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 05/17/2011, 11:36 AM
Quote from: Psycho Arkhan on 05/17/2011, 05:06 AMThey shoulda made a motorcycle racing game. I thought they did but I must be on crack.
Like Racing Damishi? Thanks for reading other's posts.

woops.

At least I'm not on crack!

They should have made MORE of them!

Theres too many frigging F1 car games.

and F1 cars are pretty lame when you get right down to it.

sheath · 05/17/2011, 03:40 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/17/2011, 03:31 PM
Quote from: guest on 05/17/2011, 11:36 AM
Quote from: guest on 05/17/2011, 05:06 AMThey shoulda made a motorcycle racing game. I thought they did but I must be on crack.
Like Racing Damishi? Thanks for reading other's posts.
woops.

At least I'm not on crack!

They should have made MORE of them!

Theres too many frigging F1 car games.

and F1 cars are pretty lame when you get right down to it.

Back then Stock Cars and Street Cars were easily the minority. It was F1 all the way, or specific high end manufacturers. For some reason motorcycle racing was almost as popular as F1 racing in the Arcades.

VestCunt · 05/17/2011, 04:00 PM

Quote from: sheath on 05/17/2011, 03:20 PMIt seems like Victory Run gets touted as a good graphical presentation more often than not, having more in depth gameplay in the long run can be good too.

Yeah, it's quite a departure from traditional racing games where we've been taught to put the pedal to the metal and learn how to deal with all the hazards at high speed. Try that in Victory Run and the car will be too wasted to make the next check point. Exercising restraint can be frustrating in a racing games, but VR requires that you take your eyes off the timer, slow down frequently, and make short-term sacrifices hoping they'll pay off.

Arkhan Asylum · 05/17/2011, 04:42 PM

Quote from: sheath on 05/17/2011, 03:40 PMback then Stock Cars and Street Cars were easily the minority. It was F1 all the way, or specific high end manufacturers. For some reason motorcycle racing was almost as popular as F1 racing in the Arcades.

F1 cars are bleh. We got enough other car games too, but not enough motorcycle games.

Bari Bari Densetsu sucked hard. So that leaves what, one motorcycle game?

and like 49811 different F1 games.

nat · 05/17/2011, 09:06 PM

Don't be fooled by Final Lap Twin's bland/simple/poor title screen and menus; the actual racing graphics look pretty good and the RPG mode is tons of fun. The overhead world view in RPG mode leaves a bit to be desired, though.

rag-time4 · 05/17/2011, 11:28 PM

Quote from: nat on 05/17/2011, 09:06 PMDon't be fooled by Final Lap Twin's bland/simple/poor title screen and menus; the actual racing graphics look pretty good and the RPG mode is tons of fun. The overhead world view in RPG mode leaves a bit to be desired, though.

I found the unbalanced difficulty infuriating in Final Lap Twin. The quest was really cool to play through, but it was a breeze. The GP mode, particularly the 16 race marathon mode, was extremely frustrating.

The racing games I'm most excited about playing next are the Zero 4 Champ games (1 and 2)... and of course F1 Circus.

RuninRuder · 05/18/2011, 05:07 AM

Reviews of many of the games mentioned and some others...

Final Lap Twin
Victory Run
Power Drift
Moto Roader
Moto Roader II
Legend of Dekoboko
Chase H.Q.
S.C.I.
Knight Rider Special
Out Run
Road Spirits
Racing Damashii
F1 Circus
F1 Circus '91
F1 Circus '92
F1 Circus Special

RR1980 · 05/18/2011, 05:33 AM

F1 Circus has to be amazing right seeing that it's the highest selling PCE game eva!?

sheath · 05/18/2011, 12:25 PM

Holy crap, can Zero 4 Championship even be considered a racing game? The F1 Circus games look interesting, I think I've actually tried to play one of them in emulation and that just didn't work out for me. I'll need to give them another shot.

Arkhan Asylum · 05/18/2011, 01:24 PM

Quote from: nat on 05/17/2011, 09:06 PMDon't be fooled by Final Lap Twin's bland/simple/poor title screen and menus; the actual racing graphics look pretty good and the RPG mode is tons of fun. The overhead world view in RPG mode leaves a bit to be desired, though.

kinda like the Tennis quest mode. Its all derpy.

I love the "THIS IS CHICAGO" text, on an island.

I didn't know Chicago was an island.

blueraven · 05/18/2011, 01:31 PM

Quote from: sheath on 05/18/2011, 12:25 PMHoly crap, can Zero 4 Championship even be considered a racing game? The F1 Circus games look interesting, I think I've actually tried to play one of them in emulation and that just didn't work out for me. I'll need to give them another shot.

Yeah you're in the cockpit. It's a drag racing game.

(reminds me of Dragster 2600)

sheath · 05/18/2011, 01:43 PM

It seemed like Zero 4's action occurs almost exclusively in the menus, the overhead and first person racing scenes don't seem like there's much "playing" going on.

Moto Roader II looks like a good one to me, I'm still thumbing through the games runinruder posted. I didn't expect a barrage! ;)

awack · 05/25/2011, 06:02 PM

QuoteHmm, has anybody noticed which racer has the best animated sprite scaling (think tech demo)? The PCE's speed from ROM would probably mean that there would need to be a larger HuCard for any racer to show more animated scaling. I suppose there isn't a good Super CD-ROM 2 or above racer for the system?

I cant think of anything better than Outrun, it has 2 more frames per car than the genesis port, but 2 less on many road side objects.

sheath · 07/18/2011, 02:13 PM

Just to follow up, I've landed complete Turbochips for Victory Run and Final Lap Twin now. I've played them both briefly and they both seem to have enough going on that I would need to sit down with them to get a thorough experience out of them. I like that, plus I can play Final Lap Twin two player if anybody ever wants to.

I haven't even seen Outrun PCE on ebay since I started looking last year, I hope it doesn't go for too much when it does show up. I've almost bit the bullet on Power Drift a couple of times now, but it went for a buck or two more than I want to spend on it. I'm eyeing Racing Spirits too, that one looks great.

-edit-

I just finished about an hour of quest mode in Final Lap Twin. I'm really enjoying it so far. I like how your dad gives you $300 every time you lose. Also, I saw a video review of this before I bought it that said the jumps didn't do anything. The jumps speed the car up and are the only way aside from turbo fuel that can get the car to break top speed, but it actually stays at a higher speed with the jumps. I bought all of the upgrades from the first town and wrote down the password. Now it's time to see if I can beat the first champ, that dude just took off the first time I raced him!

VestCunt · 07/18/2011, 08:09 PM

Outrun is cheap. If you're getting antsy, japangamestock and other online stores usually have copies that aren't excessively expensive, IIRC.

I tried out Road Spirits via emulation and was bored to tears. It's by far the easiest PCE racer I've played. Never having played the game before, I was cruising through level after level undefeated until my computer crashed (better take a look at that graphics card!). I don't know how many levels there are, but I wasn't detecting much of a difficulty curve.

sheath · 07/18/2011, 08:30 PM

I'll have to take a look at japangamestock, I haven't bought from them before, their prices do look reasonable. I haven't seen Road Spirits, I was referring to Racing Damashi/Tamashii/Spirits the 2-player motorcycle racer. Road Spirits looks like it has some decent animation for the car scaling but it doesn't look like anything special.

Thanks for the heads up on the game store. It also turns out that I haven't seen Outrun come up because it's being spelled Out Run.

Tatsujin · 07/18/2011, 11:31 PM

When it comes to racer ports, especially arcade super scaler stuff like out run, power drift, H.Q. and stuff, I have to recommend to go on with any available 32-bit ports. As funny some 8-/16-bit ports may have been back in the days, most of 'em are not nearly up to the awesomeness later 32-Bit systems could provide.

But nevertheless, out run, victory run, final lap twin are must haves on the PCE.

nat · 07/19/2011, 01:15 AM

Quote from: sheath on 07/18/2011, 02:13 PMI haven't even seen Outrun PCE on ebay since I started looking last year, I hope it doesn't go for too much when it does show up.

That's, uh, odd considering there is almost always multiple copies of it for sale at any given moment. Right now that doesn't seem to be the case, but there is still one available from everyone's favorite seller, hit-japan.

SignOfZeta · 07/19/2011, 04:02 AM

Final Lap Twin is the winner, no question. Spring for the US ver. (assuming its not going for $900 or some shit now) since the RPG mode is the really fun part of the game.

I also like Victory Run. I think the JP victory Run is worth it for the cover alone.

So much action there.

Tatsujin · 07/19/2011, 04:31 AM

Right there with Victroy Fun. And it's also cheap (in price) as hell, as well.

Dyna138 · 07/19/2011, 03:43 PM

I love OutRun for the branching paths which give the game some replay its also quite a good conversion on the PCE. Final Lap Twin is also one of my favorites thanks to the RPG mode.

sheath · 10/17/2011, 05:49 PM

Okay, I've managed to collect Victory Run, Final Lap Twin (Complete) for TG16, as well as Racing Damashii and Power Drift (Complete) for PC-Engine. I need to spend a lot more time with each of these, as they are definitely solid racers.

I wish I could play Racing Damashii 2-Player with somebody, maybe once the kiddo ages another year or so.

I really need to land Out Run sometime soon.

GohanX · 10/18/2011, 01:16 PM

True story:

I actually found an Outrun arcade machine to play the other weekend and dropped a few quarters in it. I then wished I could control it with a TG16 pad since I was much better at the home port.

DragonmasterDan · 10/18/2011, 03:10 PM

Quote from: JKM on 10/18/2011, 01:16 PMTrue story:

I actually found an Outrun arcade machine to play the other weekend and dropped a few quarters in it. I then wished I could control it with a TG16 pad since I was much better at the home port.

Did the shaking function work?

sheath · 12/25/2011, 12:02 PM

I was given Outrun and Knight Rider Special today! These are both great, though Knight Rider is a bit strange in gameplay. Letting go of the gas and pressing it down again is the only way to go faster and hitting 200KPH causes the car to fly for a very long time. I also can't figure out whether I am supposed to destroy cars or avoid them.

All the same, yeah Christmas!

sheath · 12/26/2011, 01:10 PM

I just noticed that the route one second track exposes something I never saw in emulation. The pillars that cross the road horizontally above the car reach the sprite limit and flicker quite badly when they fill the screen. Overall I love the way the game looks an plays, it is very fast and very challenging an the animated sprite transitions are smoother than the Genesis game. I think the Genesis game is higher resolution though, I'll have to check that, and I might prefer the music in the Genesis game. Since it is a 4Mb versus 8Mb comparison though seeing the games so comparable is excellent.