I really enjoy this writing. I owned Rad Racer. I have always been bad at it. I'm bad at OutRun, too. The game has such an awesome vibe, which your writing captures. And yet I feel like I can only half-participate in it because my race is always cut so short. In both Rad Racer and OutRun, it feels like the only way to play and to fully enjoy it is to make zero mistakes. And in both cases, avoiding mistakes is very hard compared to a more traditional racing game (at which I generally display middling competence) because of how treacherous the other cars are. The right way to play these games has just never clicked with me.
Zanac: you didn't comment on this box art. I know for a fact I spent long periods of time staring at it. Maybe I saw it as an advertisement somewhere? I'm not even sure if I have played the game. But I'm noticing a trend where top-down NES SHMUPs of this era have fascinating box art, and Zanac might take the cake. Added to that is the mystery of what an "exclusive power play game" would be. I suppose it's just meaningless marketing-speak, the Blast Processing of its day?
Yeah, Rad Racer's vibe is perfect. For some reason, I've always found it easier than OutRun. I stink at OutRun, despite also loving it as well. The other cars are definitely annoying. For me, OutRun's timer has always felt too short, whereas Rad Racer's seems a bit more forgiving... until the later stages.
Totally forgot to comment on the box art! Woops. I could see why you'd stare at it. What the heck is going on here? Large metallic space hands are coming towards you and they appear to be attached to what looks like a ship? I dunno. Weird stuff.
You didn't miss much with Zanac. "Exclusive Power Play game" is definitely marketing jargon. I did not feel more powerful as I played this game. Not a whit.
You're probably right about the difficulty difference. I'll admit I've played OutRun much more recently (as in, probably in the past year) than Rad Racer. Though I still played RR enough as an adult to see that I'm still bad at it.
I do think Rad Racer would have a key frustration difference, even if the difficulty isn't any different, because of the way your car still coasts forward after you run out of time and can still trigger the checkpoint. There's nothing quite like the feeling in OutRun when you're about 2 yards away from the checkpoint going full speed when you run out of time. Instant game over.
I remember getting Rad Racer as a kid. We were on vacation but we'd have to wait until we were home to play it. And then the box got lost in our van amongst my dad's tools! I felt so bad! I was so relieved when it was found! I played hours & hours on this, but never *quite* finished level 8. I made up lyrics for the music & I can still hear it in my head.
I really enjoy this writing. I owned Rad Racer. I have always been bad at it. I'm bad at OutRun, too. The game has such an awesome vibe, which your writing captures. And yet I feel like I can only half-participate in it because my race is always cut so short. In both Rad Racer and OutRun, it feels like the only way to play and to fully enjoy it is to make zero mistakes. And in both cases, avoiding mistakes is very hard compared to a more traditional racing game (at which I generally display middling competence) because of how treacherous the other cars are. The right way to play these games has just never clicked with me.
Zanac: you didn't comment on this box art. I know for a fact I spent long periods of time staring at it. Maybe I saw it as an advertisement somewhere? I'm not even sure if I have played the game. But I'm noticing a trend where top-down NES SHMUPs of this era have fascinating box art, and Zanac might take the cake. Added to that is the mystery of what an "exclusive power play game" would be. I suppose it's just meaningless marketing-speak, the Blast Processing of its day?
Thanks Thomas!
Yeah, Rad Racer's vibe is perfect. For some reason, I've always found it easier than OutRun. I stink at OutRun, despite also loving it as well. The other cars are definitely annoying. For me, OutRun's timer has always felt too short, whereas Rad Racer's seems a bit more forgiving... until the later stages.
Totally forgot to comment on the box art! Woops. I could see why you'd stare at it. What the heck is going on here? Large metallic space hands are coming towards you and they appear to be attached to what looks like a ship? I dunno. Weird stuff.
You didn't miss much with Zanac. "Exclusive Power Play game" is definitely marketing jargon. I did not feel more powerful as I played this game. Not a whit.
You're probably right about the difficulty difference. I'll admit I've played OutRun much more recently (as in, probably in the past year) than Rad Racer. Though I still played RR enough as an adult to see that I'm still bad at it.
I do think Rad Racer would have a key frustration difference, even if the difficulty isn't any different, because of the way your car still coasts forward after you run out of time and can still trigger the checkpoint. There's nothing quite like the feeling in OutRun when you're about 2 yards away from the checkpoint going full speed when you run out of time. Instant game over.
I remember getting Rad Racer as a kid. We were on vacation but we'd have to wait until we were home to play it. And then the box got lost in our van amongst my dad's tools! I felt so bad! I was so relieved when it was found! I played hours & hours on this, but never *quite* finished level 8. I made up lyrics for the music & I can still hear it in my head.
I can't imagine how nerve-wracking that must have been, thinking your brand new game was lost!
Yeah, I've never beaten Rad Racer either. It's that special brand of 8-bit hard....
So cool that you made lyrics for the music too, haha.
Rad Racer looks awesome, not a game I'd heard of before
If you play, I recommend putting on some good house music or whatever your preferred uptempo electronic genre may be. Really enhances the game!