Watch your step, for you’ve just entered theGraveyard. Inside, we’ll be digging up games that have long been without a pulse. You’ll see both good and bad souls unearthed every month as we search through the more… forgotten…parts of history.
The original Speed Racer was something of a legend in the anime world as it was not only a huge gateway anime for North American audiences, but it also had the cast working for next to nothing and Peter Fernandez doing a ton of voice work for free since he was already there doing translation for the theme alongside voice over direction, and they would be over-budget if he hadn’t made that sacrifice. It wound up leading to one of the most memorable dubs in anime history due to the overabundance of dialogue squeezed into the lip flaps and enabled the series to be such a part of pop culture that it has been parodied regularly for the past sixty years. In that time, it’s also had a few new TV series, but none of them really gained traction like the original. The franchise’s biggest original part of pop culture since the first series was the 2008 live-action/CG-blended movie from the Wachowskis.
A World Bathed in Color
Gaming-wise, there were a couple of releases based on the original, including a 16-bit version that blended a side-scroller and a racing game and a 3D PS1 game that fell short of what most arcade-style racers were delivering, but planted the seeds for what would come with Speed Racer on the PS2 and Wii. With a neon-soaked world from the movie alongside some areas inspired by the real world, it’s a visual treat in every way and remains a flashy trick-centric racer that hasn’t been topped fifteen years later.
Graveyard: Burnout Dominator
Go Speed Racer Go!
Sidhe’s prior game GripShift on the PSP and 360 via XBLA served as a nice foundation to work from and playing that this month is actually what led me to wanting to give this another go-round. I remember enjoying it a lot on the PS2, but the Wii version only having motion support was a killer when I rented it back in the day, so the PS2 version won the vote for a replay. The fast-paced racing action has held up remarkably well. There’s a ton of variety in the combat as a whole and it’s impressive to see just what you may chain together to create magic and get a first-place finish.
With a neon-soaked world from the movie alongside some areas inspired by the real world, it’s a visual treat in every way and remains a flashy trick-centric racer that hasn’t been topped fifteen years later.
Terrifying Tunnels
Car-fu returns from GripShift and enables the right stick to send the player soaring around the track, while the face buttons enable things like an F-Zero X spin attack with X that has a risk/reward system in place. It can cover a wide amount of track space at the expense of usually putting you at an angle – or even facing the wrong direction upon making impact. This means that you could be a sitting duck for enemy attacks or wind up driving in the wrong direction if you aren’t careful. Generally you will slow down a bit even with a proper hit, so using the spin attack is best-served as a last-ditch attack during an early lap to ensure you aren’t stuck in the last lap later in the race with no way to recover.
Crazy Visual Effects
The better attack strategy is to make use for the left-and-right shunt attack. Like Road Rash, Square sends you left and Circle sends you right, so you only have to keep in mind their directional location on the controller to easily remember how to deal out quick damage. You just have to be careful to only hit foes because you do have on-track allies and hitting them will strip points from you, and in grand prix mode, that could cost you a win and result in also getting nasty speech bubbles.
Vehciular Mayhem
One great thing with this title is that the franchise’s back and forth on-track conversations are replicated with top-left speech bubbles that do an impressive job at conveying what’s going on during the race. If you hit an ally, they’ll be rightfully angry with you and it’s up to you to right wrongs if you truly care as a player to have them aid you with things like taking out foes or giving you a slipstream to work with. Unlike most action-centric racing games, this has a Tony Hawk-style rick-centric focus allowing you to take out more foes at one time or flip in mid-air right into things like a speed boost pad on the track or flip to avoid enemy attacks. You can also do things like nail a perfect boost to start and get a jump on your rivals. There’s a ton of action on-screen and a lot to enjoy thanks to how well-crafted the core gameplay is and it’s a shame the game never got a higher-end console release beyond the 4:3 PS2 and Wii.
A Vibrant World
The neon-soaked and lens flare-covered world of the movie is nicely replicated in the game, with a ton of color at every turn. It’s interesting seeing this game after watching the recent UFC at Sphere because there’s a lot of shared design language for both. In each instance, the world is bathed in color and something is always happening. One stage may have you in a desert-themed area, while the next bathes you in a neon purple and blue track with purple shapes all around the artificial sky. It’s remarkable seeing the movie, then seeing that show and playing this game and seeing how much of what they were aiming for fifteen years ago applies to what’s in the world now.
Neon Nightmare
The look of the tracks themselves is very much akin to F-Zero X and GX, with gradients throughout the track alongside having a clear and brightly-colored barrier for the track. Some tracks feature a solid color throughout the racing surface, while others cover it in patterns and bold colors. It allows this game to stand out far more than one would think it still should, and it shines a light on how few games have really tried to push the boundaries visually like this did. It’s rare to think of a license helping a developer create a visual experience that’s more unique than something they could come up with on their own, but the visuals here trounce anything seen in GripShift and sticking to the movie’s visual style helped a ton when it comes to creating a world that stands out.
The soundtrack is a different kind of great than the original anime. That was more of a silly soundtrack with a bit of corniness thrown in, while this is more rock-centric with a fast pace to it that matches the on-track action. The on-track quips from your fellow racers help add a sense of this being a race that’s in their world. The impressive thing is that they’re all voiced, which aids the effect even more. You’ll see them shift as the race goes on and that goes double for allies you smack into trying to take out rivals – they’ll get annoyed and call you out for hitting them.
Speed Racer accomplishes far more than it should in theory thanks to the dev team taking their existing rock-solid foundation and using the license to make the experience better. Usually a license acts as a restriction on the gameplay, but that isn’t the case here. The license is used to add a ton of life to the world, with on-track antics like shunting and flip attacks ensuring that every race is action-packed. There’s also a steady stream of unlockables like new characters and mirrored tracks to keep things fresh and the amount of variety offered up is impressive. It’s a real shame the license means we’ll likely never get a re-release of it with HD-level textures and graphics, but it still looks great even given its limits being on older hardware and is a must-play for action-racing fans.
Graveyard: Shox
Shox was an EA BIG highlight and offers the kinds of racing thrills and excitement that are rarely seen today.
