OK so this is a game I
want to talk quiet a bit about, I wanted to talk about it a long time
ago but I figured that I had to hold some things back, I also clearly
needed to talk about it after StarWing/Star Fox, I also wanted to
talk about Dirt Trax FX. So with those out of the way and quiet a
long gap since them here I am talking about Stunt Race FX, or Wild
Trax as it was known in Japan. To sum it up quickly Stunt Race FX was
a 3D cartoon-style racing game developed by Nintendo EAD with
assistance from Argonaut Software, it was of course published by
Nintendo themselves
Nintendo originally
wanted to make a franchise out of stunt race FX but this idea was
dropped, a sequel on the Nintendo 64 called Buggie Boogie was planned
and I think work even began on it but it was cancelled, which I
honestly think is a crying shame a this game had a flavour which in
my opinion made it very different from other racing games this is
part of the reason for e being eager to review it.
The story of Stunt race
really starts back in 1991, Nintendo began developing a custom 3D
cartridge chip called the Super FX chip with Argonaut Software so
that it could be used in Super NES games to create polygonal 3D
graphics. The first game that used the Super FX was StarWing/Star
Fox, which obviously became a big success and birthed a whole
franchise that still exists to this day. After the release of Star
Fox/Star Wing, Nintendo and Argonaut began experimenting with what
else they could do with a Super FX chip. A title began to take shape
originally refereed to as FX Trax a polygon based 3D-animated racing
game featuring both stunts and racing. This was the title that would
go on to become Stunt Race FX.
In Stunt Race FX at first
you would think you have a pretty standard racing game, there are a
number of circuits there are time trials and there is a selection of
vehicles but stick with me and I will talk about the game what it has
to other and why I think it is more than just a standard racing game.
Ok so lets starts with the vehicles themselves. The vehicle roster is
not that big in fact in some ways its more like the selection you'd
expect from a walk along beat em up in the way that each choice is
strong in one trait while being a little weaker in another. You have
the monster truck with massive tires, high acceleration, and the
ability to drive through patches of water without it effecting you
but with the disadvantage of having a low top speed. Then there is a
little yellow coupe which in all honesty can be described as the nice
average vehicle, an average rate of acceleration and an average top
speed. Last but not least there is a red formula one type of car
this car has the highest top speed but has slow acceleration. OK I
guess this is a spoiler but its not exactly a big one but there is
also an unlockable vehicle, a motorcycle which breaks the above rules
in that it is just basically good at everything, it could be
criticised for being over powered but it is an absolute blast to play
with. There is also a large semi-trailer this is driven from a fixed
3/4 perspective. It is obviously slow to move and turns slowly as
this kind of vehicle would but dont worry your not racing with this
its used for a sort of bonus level so its kind of a nice bit of
something different thrown in to break up proceedings.
One of the problems with
early 3D games like this was that they never looked very realistic,
sure they tried to look realistic but with very square cars and such
built from obvious wire frame style shapes, quiet frankly it was
pretty much a waste of time trying to be too realistic back then and
thats why I love Stunt Race FX it sods realism and makes itself in to
a giant cartoon. Yes the cars are made of basic shapes and its
obvious but the game embraces this by putting large eyeballs on all
of the cars roughly where the headlights would usually go, and I am
not talking about painted on flat lifeless eyes no these are active
cartoon eyes which blink and look around, they are so active and full
of emotion that they bring the cars to life. I know it might sound
silly but this really made me warm to the game, maybe its the fact I
grew up on things like Tomas the Tank Engine and Tugs so I have been
pre-programmed to like vehicles that have been given eyes and
personality who knows.
OK
so the game itself consists of three championships which consist of
four races and a bonus level each. Now you would think that for each
race you get given a certain number of points and then where you come
in the championship and if you can progress on to the next one or not
is determined by your points total, well this is not how it is done
at all nope basically your finishing times are all added together
with the quickest/best total time winning.
Now
the courses are split up into different areas, there is a mountain
area, a city area, etcetera and they are filled with changes in
elevation, and the odd hazard things like falling rocks for example.
Then you have halfpipes, which if you hit wrongly can send your car
flying over the edge of the course, on top of this there are a few
which have pieces missing out of them, which make you have to ride
along the side of them to stop yourself falling off. You have a
damage meter and if you take enough damage from hitting walls or
other cars or hazards then your car will explode but don't worry
there are red crystals that you can drive over to refill your meter
(if you do take to much damage and this happens though you will be
forced to restart the level). There is also a boost meter, which
works just how it sounds press your boost button and you go faster
but the meter drains,if your skilful you use this carefully to
maximise its potential. There are also blue crystals which appear on
the track and if you manage to collect these you can refill your
boost bar.
The
game controls well, everything is nice and simple you have one button
for acceleration, a button to brake, you steer with the dpad and the
shoulder buttons help you to perform tighter turns, then there is the
boost button and a button that both toots your horn and makes you
hop, used correctly at the right moments this can be used to help you
bounce over the opposition.
Now
you have probably noticed that for a game called Stunt Race FX I
haven't actually made much mention of stunts well as well as the
racing there are stunt tracks, there are four of them to be precise.
Each of these stunt tracks begins with you in the back of a semi and
has you running through segment of the course collecting stars. There
are a bunch of obstacles ranging from simple mounds to elevated
platforms that you have to deal with. You have to manage to collect
every star before the timer counts down in order to unlock the next
course. This can be quiet hard as to reach certain stars you will
need to be travelling at the right speed and at the right angle to
make a jump that will take you to an otherwise unreachable platform
which has a star on it. There is also a bit where your in a sort of
mini demolition derby with the goal being for you to ram three other
cars until they blow up in the quickest time possible
Now
I guess I have been going on about the game in quiet an excited
manor, this was after all a game I got nice and early I got a US
import copy before it was even out here and I played the living heck
out of it, but I am not completely blind to its faults, I will admit
that it does have some, after all I hate people who deny the faults
of any company or product so even though I love this game lets talk
about them.
I
said that I like the cartoon way the game looks but it has to be
noted that it is a bit of a slow game at least as far as frames per
second goes the game only floats at around 15 frames per second, I
guess this is because the graphics and what's on show actually
required a lot of grunt work from the both the Super Nintendo itself
and the FX chip, and it is noticeable.
Now
when you grew up playing games in the pal region you kind of get used
to the idea that your game is not going to fill all of the screen but
Stunt Race FX's main viewing area is very small, in fact it only
accounts for about half of your full screen, its also important to
mention that even though this game has a two player mode but
obviously your playing area is stupendously small during this well
unless you have a TV big enough not to care, but no matter the size
of your screen you are going to notice that the already slow frame
rate drops even more in two player mode. Given this I don't think it
makes a very good two player game really. I also think this game is a
little bit disappointing in the sound department, its not like the
music or sound effects are like nails on a chalk board though its
more like they are just a bit plain, a bit average, fit for purpose
but ultimately forgettable.
OK
before I give a rating I want to just talk a little bit more about
Nintendo and Argonaut. So with the Team of Nintendo and Argonaut
hitting gold again even if not commercially this team must have gone
from strength to strength right? In short No. Argonaut and Nintendo
had done some good business together true, Star Fox had been huge
even if Stunt race was not quiet as big but unfortunately it was not
a team which would go the distance. Argonaut pitched a 3D game
starring Yoshi to Nintendo even going so far as to mock up a
prototype for it. However, Nintendo did not accept the pitch though,
one Argonaut employee speculated that this was because the company
did not want to let third-parties use its characters, which might
have been the case but if it was then this is something that has
clearly changed with Nintendo entrusting the likes of Retro with the
Metroid series. Rather than accepting defeat though and simply
putting there idea to bed Argonaut decided to retool the prototype
turning it in to an original game, this game would go on to become
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.
Bad
blood seems to have originated between Argonaut and Nintendo over two
issues one was Nintendo's refusal to pick up the Yoshi pitch
the other was the cancellation of the nearly completed Star Fox 2
which Argonaut had done a lot of work on and were apparently not paid
a penny for. Members of Argonaut have claimed that the Yoshi Game
prototype influenced Super Mario 64, with claims that Shigeru
Miyamoto actually made some form of apology for ripping there idea
off, add to this that it has been claimed a bunch of StarFox 2's
ideas and even code were implemented in future Nintendo games both
StarFox and none StarFox related all without any acknowledgement or
payment. Lets just put it this way if even a fraction of this is true
Nintendo were basically being dicks, lets remember at this time they
had agreed to do business with Sony to then back stab them and run to
Philips which I think kind of does make this all sound believable. I
think this whole situation is a real shame as I think together they
could have done so much more.
OK so
I would have to give Stunt Race FX 8 out of 10, yes it is not without
its faults, I would have liked to have seen a sequel which addressed
some of these but alas it was not to be. The game has its limitations
but it is a darn fun game full of charm and this would make me
strongly recommend it. One of the best things about it if you own an
actual SNES is that if you want to get yourself a copy of the game
then it doesn't actually cost very much at all, if you look around
you can get Cart only copies for prices starting around £6, heck
sometimes you can even find a complete copy for around £15, and the
truth is usually games this cheap on the Super Nintendo now days tend
to be ones that are either sports titles or just general piss poor.
Now I also have to admit that it is good to have a game like this to
get my teeth into as yes the SNES has a large library of games but
not all of them have stories or facts around them which are worthy of
conveying, trying to review a large library of SNES games can be a
very hard task especially when there is so little to say about some
games and this has really been one of the factors which has held me
back in my challenge to review 150 games, lets hope that I can find a
few more like this to give me the strength to carry on.
