What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[TransatlanticFoe]

Yep. Ground it out on a school friend's Mega Drive and it was so disappointing. It's such a great idea for an alternate mode and is great once you get past the early game grind - I can imagine a lot of people were put off by a bike that barely turns and any money you earn goes on replacing worn brakes/tyres. It's so good once you get a lighter frame and so annoying the ending is just the last rider's defeated quote!

[Sengoku Strider]

Yep. Ground it out on a school friend's Mega Drive and it was so disappointing. It's such a great idea for an alternate mode and is great once you get past the early game grind - I can imagine a lot of people were put off by a bike that barely turns and any money you earn goes on replacing worn brakes/tyres. It's so good once you get a lighter frame and so annoying the ending is just the last rider's defeated quote!

I know this game was part of various collections in Europe, I bet there were a lot of kids in PAL land with similar experiences. The beginning and the very end were definitely the toughest parts. The beginning because the battleship-like turning makes it so hard to avoid the collisions that end your race, the end because there are so many other riders on the track that it was basically rng whether I'd finish. At 6 laps you can basically survive one random bump per lap, there were multiple races where I got to the very end and an opponent randomly drifted across the lane, grazed me and my bike flew apart.

The thing that did make it easier was that you're racing a circuit in the original mode, so I could at least memorize the turns and maintain a decent racing line. The arcade tracks are...I don't even know what you call the type of races that are just one long road. I've been stuck on the North American track for a while because it's just a lot to memorize without pausing at every turn and writing it all down. I guess that would be faster though.

I do really like the game though. It suffers from being an early title that might not have had as much ROM space or time in the oven as it needed; the animation on the bike feels like it needs another frame or two, the frame rate isn't consistent, and the scaling on the track detail is janky. But the gameplay feels really good, it's been my wind-down game at the end of the evening for a while.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Yeah Mega Games 1 I think was a bundled title, plus it got a budget re-release in the early 90s alongside stuff like Last Battle (which is how my friend had both). Frankly a Master System felt like a better budget option in the early 90s! Felt like MD stuff was either full price or cheap crap. Super Hang On was definitely the pick of those early MD titles. I'm sure a lot of folks just picked up Mega Games 2 (Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi) and that sorted them for ages.

As you say original mode is nice because it's laps vs. the point to point style of arcade mode, but agreed the other rider behaviour can be obnoxious and pray to RNGsus you don't have one move across onto your line at a fast chicane or something. The AI is usually slow enough that you can properly get on the anchors to avoid carnage and still make up good time, even later in the game. I don't think I attempted the final course on arcade but did the rest - I could easily remember stuff without trying if I was interested. Different story 30 years later though! Too much else to play to get seriously into memorising all those turns, original mode is much nicer for a spot of casual play.

[Sengoku Strider]

I don't think I attempted the final course on arcade but did the rest - I could easily remember stuff without trying if I was interested. Different story 30 years later though! Too much else to play to get seriously into memorising all those turns, original mode is much nicer for a spot of casual play.

The first two are manageable, with 6 & 10 stages respectively. The original mode circuits seem to be equivalent to 1-2 stages of the arcade tracks. It's when you get to the 3 & 4th ones with 14 & 18 stages that you have a lot to deal with. For the most part they're signposted so you can adjust as you go, but the North American track 3rd one) gets really tight & twisty toward the back half. I think playing through original mode made me better at the game though, I just gave it a shot and made it to the 13th stage before running out of time, so I'm knocking on victory's door there with a bit more practice.

[samspot]

If you like this style then I highly recommend Horizon Chase Turbo. It’s not very difficult but the soundtrack is epic. I got this free on Epic so you may already have it.

[XoPachi]

If you like this style then I highly recommend Horizon Chase Turbo. It’s not very difficult but the soundtrack is epic. I got this free on Epic so you may already have it.

All rise for the Brazilian national anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdW4-uPGURs

[cfx]

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[Sima Tuna]

I like Outrun but did not care for Horizon Chase Turbo. Something about the physics and interactions with other racers felt off. I also don't like lap-based games as much as road trip-style games when we talk about this kind of scrolling. For lap-based racers, I vastly prefer full 3d with a proper physics engine. If it's a 2d game, something more in the line of Road Rash or Outrun is my speed. Just preference.

[cfx]

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[Air Master Burst]

I personally prefer Slipstream for a modern version of OutRun.

[Marc]

I personally prefer Slipstream for a modern version of OutRun.

Can't get on with the handling at all. Shame, as I really want to like it.

Anyway, I've done something that I think I haven't done in well over a decade. Just finished RE4RE and instead of moving on, instantly restarted on Hardcore difficulty. One of my favourite games certainly of the last decade, if not of all-time. If you're sleeping on it, don't. They haven't turned it into Gears of War, it's just a slicker and more controllable reimagining.

I tried to start the original last night. That camera...... no.

[Air Master Burst]

If you're sleeping on it, don't. They haven't turned it into Gears of War, it's just a slicker and more controllable reimagining.

Have they finally turned it into a Resident Evil game?

[Steven]

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run and other Sega arcade racers? I've seen a few of them, but I'm not sure which ones are good/the best.

On topic, SMT V Vengeance. It's the same as the original version, except different.

[guigui]

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run and other Sega arcade racers? I've seen a few of them, but I'm not sure which ones are good/the best.

Haven't found a really convincing clone of Out Run yet. Though I can say that Rise Race the Future is pretty nice as a Sega Rally alternative, with more futuristic settings, more tracks, more car, and about the same satisfying gameplay. Also steady 60 FPS on the Switch, which is always good.

[Marc]

If you're sleeping on it, don't. They haven't turned it into Gears of War, it's just a slicker and more controllable reimagining.

Have they finally turned it into a Resident Evil game?

It is what it was, but a lot less goofy and gorier.

[Marc]

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run and other Sega arcade racers? I've seen a few of them, but I'm not sure which ones are good/the best.

On topic, SMT V Vengeance. It's the same as the original version, except different.

There seems to be talk of Over Top Rally potentially being picked up by Sega. It looks tremendous.

[Sengoku Strider]

My wild hot take is that I might like Super Hang On better than Outrun...even if the late game opponent RNG is kinda bs. I like Hang On GP '95 a lot too.

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run

Not sure if you're just asking about clones, but if not the Sega AGES version of Outrun on Switch is probably the definitive version. I haven't played the JP Saturn version though, so I don't know if the arrange soundtrack puts that version over the top. But if not, Driver's Megamix on the M2 port actually sounds like what the modern internet seems to think Outrun sounds like.

[Air Master Burst]

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run and other Sega arcade racers? I've seen a few of them, but I'm not sure which ones are good/the best.

On topic, SMT V Vengeance. It's the same as the original version, except different.

Slipstream is as close as you're likely to get if you want an actual sprite-scaler; I think it handles ok with my hitbox but don't have a wheel to test it for real.

As far as Daytona-style racing, the best updated take I've played is probably Split/Second on 360. While the stage destruction gimmick got most of the attention (and rightfully so because it's dope!), I absolutely adored how the drifting felt in that game.

For technical arcade racing there's Forza Horizon I guess. Project Gotham 4 is still the champ, although Driveclub was sadly underappreciated.

[Sengoku Strider]

Driveclub was sadly underappreciated.

Yes it was! It was a tragedy when the dev was dismantled and that game EoLed. I did the platinum on it, it really felt like a Dreamcast golden era racer with PS4 bells & whistles. Was the motorbike dlc any good? I

[Marc]

Driveclub was sadly underappreciated.

Yes it was! It was a tragedy when the dev was dismantled and that game EoLed. I did the platinum on it, it really felt like a Dreamcast golden era racer with PS4 bells & whistles. Was the motorbike dlc any good? I

Absolutely. Pick a track. Pick a car. Race.
It bugs me that Sony don't do what MS do with BC, because that gane deserves a patch to the now gen.

[Lander]

Maverick Hunter X made me so fucking mad when I played it. If I were a wordsmith like BIL, maybe I could try to put into a massive shitpost just how annoyed I was by every decision that game made compared to SNES MMX.

Nothing Maverick Hunter X tries to do differently works. It all left me saying, "SNES got that right the first time. What did you have to go and fuck it up for?" It's been some years since I played last, but I remember the game feeling a fair bit laggy too. Not as bad as the mega man x legacy collection, but not good. If a perfect 10 is the snes version, mega man x legacy would be a 2 and Maverick Hunter X a 4.

My memories of MHX are pretty unremarkable; I don't recall hating it, but do recall a disappointing sense of "that's it?" after going through the X and V playthroughs. Very little to go back for, unlike MMPU's challenge mode and enormous pile of unlockables. The Z-Saber might not have been invented yet, but a Zero skin wouldn't have gone amiss.

Going for ~X4 WHATMIFITINFORE anime presentation was a misstep too, I think. Segmented as it is, the MM universe is essentially antithetical to elaboration; putting out any genuinely meaningful lore nugget means shuffling an adjacent subseries slightly closer to death, so they'd likely have been better served doubling down on the mysterious WARNING! THIS IS NOT YOUR BIG BROTHER's MEGA MAN! tone of the original.

[Sengoku Strider]

I rented Mega Man X when it came out, I thought it was okay but I didn't like what they did with the character sprite, the original was one of the most perfect ever made. I got Maverick Hunter X when it hit the PSP, I ended up really liking it. I didn't have super specific memories of the SNES game for it to violate.

----

I picked up a copy of Lotus: Turbo Challenge for Genesis. I remember really being impressed by the original on my friend's Amiga as a kid. Playing this coming off Super Hang-On so far it seems...kinda enh. It does the Amiga thing of having no music in game, which feels kinda cheap here. The title screen says the port was done by two guys, which confirms the suspicion. The driving physics feel too easy, but I guess the focus is more on maintaining a perfect line, the time limits seem extremely tight even just on the first track.

[Air Master Burst]

I rented Mega Man X when it came out, I thought it was okay but I didn't like what they did with the character sprite, the original was one of the most perfect ever made.

That's funny, because original recipe Mega Man's derpy sprite is what kept me from getting into Mega Man until X showed up.

Going for ~X4 WHATMIFITINFORE anime presentation was a misstep too, I think. Segmented as it is, the MM universe is essentially antithetical to elaboration;

The anime cut scenes started with X3, but I actually mostly enjoy the storyline through X5.

[Sima Tuna]

My wild hot take is that I might like Super Hang On better than Outrun...even if the late game opponent RNG is kinda bs. I like Hang On GP '95 a lot too.

Actually, what options are there for modern versions of Out Run

Not sure if you're just asking about clones, but if not the Sega AGES version of Outrun on Switch is probably the definitive version. I haven't played the JP Saturn version though, so I don't know if the arrange soundtrack puts that version over the top. But if not, Driver's Megamix on the M2 port actually sounds like what the modern internet seems to think Outrun sounds like.

The two best scrolling racers in my opinion are Sega Ages Outrun and Sega Ages Super Hang-On. Your post addresses both of those games, so thumbs up there. Third place would probably be the original Mario Kart or F-Zero for me. Those games *are* lap-based but I don't mind them for whatever reason.

I haven't found any new scrolling racers I like better than those... Or even really any that I like.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Can't get on with the handling [in Slipstream] at all. Shame, as I really want to like it.

The automatic drift mode works decently and makes it feel like Outrun / Outrunners. It's just the manual drift mode that tries to emulate OR2 / 2SP that feels very wonky and stops the drift if you so much tap on the brake, seems to struggle to initiate drifting, and so on. Also, I don't like how the Slipstream mechanic is implemented. When it kicks in it abruptly slingshots you forward dangerously, easily resulting in a crash. Much less smooth than OR2SP. Shame, really. It feels like with a few mechanical tweaks it'd be pretty solid.

I picked up a copy of Lotus: Turbo Challenge for Genesis. I remember really being impressed by the original on my friend's Amiga as a kid.

The PC /Genesis / Amiga versions that have the RECS construction kit where you make tracks that are then saved via passwords aren't too bad. The neatest thing about them was having a split screen racing game, but agreed that the game itself simply wasn't as good as Outrun, Super Hang-On, or even Rad Racer. It's hard to find good console sprite scaler games that lived up to the sheer number of good ones we had in arcades. I'm still baffled that Sega hid a complete, very well done port of Super Hang-On in the game gear version of "GP Rider" labelled as World Tour mode.

Outrunners arcade is probably my fave sprite scaler. I recently got to play it in an arcade and man was I ever stoked. I'm still annoyed we haven't got a proper arcade port to consoles.

[Air Master Burst]

I'm still annoyed we haven't got a proper arcade port to consoles.

Part of the problem is that most sprite scalers also had stupidly expensive huge deluxe cabs with amusement park gimmicks like spinning you upside down and shit (yes I got to play G-LOC in the orb once and it was glorious). The home version was never gonna live up to those anyway, so I can understand why they might not even bother to try. I'm sure there's an alternate timeline where I learned mechanical engineering and figured out how to emulate Riding Fight using a Tony Hawk Ride board as a controller.

Also, poor Outrunners was just too late to the game. 3D had already arrived, and it never had the nostalgia factor its older siblings did.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I actually played in an Outrun cab that had a tilt function when steering. It felt very odd and jarring and I would've rather it not tilt since it didn't feel at all like an actual car and was more distracting than anything. O_o

The thing is we've had a million quality ports of Outrun of varying degrees of arcade accuracy, but nobody's bothered to even try and port Outrunners aside from the ambitious but flawed (due mainly to technical limitations) Genesis port.

[Air Master Burst]

It actually kind of amazes me that nobody in our ridiculous niche hobby has made a modern amusement ride style cab that works with a bunch of the old sprite-scalers. I realize it would be hilariously expensive, but that's never stopped the most dedicated of us before.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Yeah, it's unusual it's not a popularized thing. Surely the parts and technical know-how are out there for this! Now that I think about it, even the Outrunners cab I played on had a motion element, the stering wheel would rapidly vibrate back and forth like a pistol if you went off-road or crashed! Something I never realized was a standard thing on the cab.

[XoPachi]

I got hooked to Zelda 1 this weekend. Aside from some cryptic elements, that game is SO good. Earlier NES titles really are some masterpiece blueprints.
But, I guess I really can't even put down it's cryptic nature because I'm assuming that part of the experience was in line with the culture of the time. I would love another game this tightly made with more storied theming to it's levels. From anyone. Not just Zelda. Closest is Tunic.