This Top Racer Collection review is based on the Steam (PC) version of the game. It is also released on: Nintendo Switch, XBox Series S/X version and Playstation 4 and 5.
Do you remember the Top Gear racing games from back in the 90’s? Originally released for the SNES, they delivered an amazing sense of speed. Especially in Brazil they made a big splash and as such it’s no surprise that the Brazilian developer QUBytes breathes now life into these classics with Top Racer Collection!
4 in 1
This bundle contains four games in total: Top Racer, Top Racer 2, Top Racer 3000 and Top Racer Crossroads. Now you may be wondering what’s up with the name. I can only imagine the rights to that name would potentially lead to some issues with the BBC. But it’s not a completely new naming convention either, as in Japan the first two games carried this name already.
Something to keep in mind for this bundle, is that these games are old and the games function pretty much the way they used to. In fact, you’re basically playing emulated versions of the games. Which will be great for purists, but newcomers might have a harder time getting into these. What’s great though, is that each game manages to feel quite different, with the exception of the added ‘new’ fourth game.
Top Racer
The first Top Racer is, unsurprisingly, the most basic, but offers a fun strategic element in fuel management. When do you hit the pit and how long are you willing to spend on refueling? Misjudging this can easily cost you a race. Unlike the other 2 games, this one also sees you select one of four cars for some variations in speed, grip, fuel economy and of course aesthetics.
Something that is sort of weird in the first game, is that it’s permanently in split screen mode, even during single player. The bottom part will always be devoted to either a second player or a CPU driver. This was no doubt a solution to get around some technical limitations at the time, but it does mean you lose half the screen and showing one of your CPU rivals doesn’t really hold any value.
Still, it was an amazing first outing for the series and its actual gameplay feel as great as ever. It offers great sense of speed and with responsive controls. And while all three games have good soundtracks, this first one is still the clear winner in that department for me!
Top Racer 2
The second game drops the forced split screen and provides a general graphical upgrade to boot. Unfortunately, it also kind of does away with fuel management. Technically you can still run out of fuel, but you’d have to intentionally set this up. The ability to choose your ride has also been scrapped.
Instead there’s an upgrade system, which allows you to alter the performance of your vehicle in a more free form way and give you an incentive to place as high as possible for some extra cash. You can even find some money just laying around on the road sometimes! Investments will be crucial too, as the CPU drivers will be upgrading their machines, leaving you in the dust if you don’t. The new weather effects will also be very unpleasant with the wrong tires!
It also introduces body armor, which will help mitigate slowdown and prevent complete spin outs when bumping into stuff. Quite interesting and a most welcome addition, as it’s often neigh impossible to avoid everything coming at you at full speed, in part due to the framerate not being able to keep up with the incredible pace these games provide.
Top Racer 3000
Speed reaches even higher limits in the third game, as it will sling you into the future! Mostly offering an upgrade over the second game, but adding some extra utility items, other than the nitro boost found in all three games. For example the ability to jump or even warp for small distances. Tracks even have alternate routes, which is quite impressive for what is basically an SNES game.
Some routes may be shorter, others may offer some extra goodies. To help with fuel and armour management this time around, there are certain areas on the track that recharge them respectively, sort of similar to F-Zero. There are also some special conditions to aim for during the race for some bonus cash for further upgrades.
Potential for replayability
All three games feature a long and eventually pretty challenging campaign mode, as well as single race, time trail and custom cup options. Each game can also be played in multiplayer, in Top Racer 3000 with up to 4 players. This works just fine locally, but as of the 9th of March, I have not been able to find any game online via Steam to test out, unfortunately. The global rankings for the 143 tracks do work, so there is plenty of potential for competition regardless.
The whole bundle is fitted with a menu system, which is shared across all titles and replacing the respective original ones. While this consistency is nice, it also takes something away from those originals. The menu tunes for one, which are replaced by rather generic tracks. You are able to listen to the originals through the sound test though. The clean, modern presentation of the menu’s also doesn’t really fit these games well in my opinion.
Limited additions
This new packaging does allow for some new features, such as save states. These can make running through the games a lot more forgiving. It allows you to save whenever you want, instead of in between each cup. And of course there’s some screen customization, all the way from an integer scale with original sprites, to a wide screen fill with a wobbly and tacky CRT filter for those who prefer to make their games worse on purpose.
Now I did mention a fourth games at the start, which is called Top Racer Crossroads. This is a bit of a letdown though, it’s basically a ROM hack of the first game with 4 new vehicles to choose from. A neat addition… but a bit of an oversell to advertise as a fourth ‘new’ game.
With the recent resurgence of arcady racers, this collections comes at a great time. These games can still teach what fun and fast paced racers look and sound like. The somewhat jerky visuals can be jarring for newcomers not familiar with this older style of games. It’s a shame the online play doesn’t seem to function yet, but there’s plenty of content for fans to get hooked on again. The bundle is fairly light on added content and updates, which makes the asking price of €/$ 20 a little hard to swallow to be honest and really only worth it for the headcore franchise and genre fans.
Pros
- Still great games!
- Lots of content
Cons
- Style menu doesn't fit
- Online racing didn't work yet
- Disappointing 'new' game in Crossroads
