Title: Top Gear (NA) Top Racer (JP)
Release Date: 03/27/1992
Developer: Gremlin Graphics
Publisher: Kemco
Happy New Year everyone. I am pretty proud of the fact that we made it through the redux section of the blog and am now onto the new entrants in Super FamiComplete. Capcom A to Z will be updated soon too (Apollo Justice is taking some time to work through, but I am compelled to finish it), as well as some new projects I'm thinking of starting. All said, 2021 should be an exciting year.
To start us off on our road to 100 games, though, is another racing game, this time by Gremlin Graphics and Kemco.
Background
Though released in Japan first by Kemco, this game is actually developed by a British development house called Gremlin Graphics (later Gremlin Interactive). This was a company that arose in the British Home Computer market of the 1980s, during the era when the "bedroom coders" would develop games for British PCS. After that market/development method gave way to actual game development houses, Gremlin Graphics pivoted to the console market. Gremlin is best known for its Actua sports series and other racing games, such as the Lotus racing series. This developer was eventually absorbed by a French company, Infogrames, before that tanked in 2003. Nowadays, most of the developers from Gremlin moved onto working for Sumo Digital, the developers of the recent Sackboy: A Big Adventure for the PS5.
Gameplay
The game is a racing game in the same vein as Outrun where the camera is placed right behind your vehicle and you follow it along a swerving track. Unlike F-Zero where you are really rotating the screen, in this you are directly controlling the car. Its likeness to Outrun is a good thing, though, as this is one of the more playable racing games that has been featured on this blog in quite some time.
You first start by picking your loadout for the races: you choose your control scheme (one of which is to hold the controller upside down (?!?)), whether you will drive manual or automatic, and which model of car you will use. You then enter the racing circuit, which features four races for each continent. For example, the first tournament takes place across North America, with races in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Races can vary from three laps up to six laps.
Racing is pretty simple: you can accelerate, brake, and use up to three nitro boosts per race, which end up being pretty essential to winning. You can't really crash, but there are some hazards that slow you down, such as hitting road work signs and other cars. One thing you have to monitor is your gas! If you ride the nitro too much, or hit too many other hazards, you might run out of gas. You can stop in your pit for extra, which might be necessary in the longer races, but this eats up precious time.
One interesting quirk in this game is the push for two-players. In the early days of the SNES, two player racing games were rare, which makes this a rather novel game. Even if you aren't playing with another character, though, there will always be a split screen with another computer racer playing the 2-player. This sets up a neat little rivalry mechanic for throughout the tournaments.
The game, overall, is not that difficult, but a breezy yet fun experience. I managed to beat it in an afternoon. The graphics, music, and locales are all varied enough to keep the game interesting from tournament to tournament. The game also approximates high speeds pretty well for an SNES game, making it one of the more thrilling racing games from this era. There were several "close calls" versus the computer racer that made the races pretty exciting.
Music
As previously mentioned, the music in this game is pretty top notch! Check it out.
