| |||||||
| |||||||
Chrysler and Jeep News. Only The Auto Channel provides complete industry coverage by make.
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
|
 Lighting And Glares All Look Great! Check Out The Sun Pouring In And Gleaming Off The Fresh Snow
|
One of my good friends has a Ferrari Testarosa. Talk about a really nice car. He probably spends more time cleaning, waxing, and polishing that beast than driving it. But when he brings that bad boy out of the garage and onto the hot asphalt, everyone seems to gape in awe at its raw beauty and chiseled body. That car probably cost him a very pretty penny; I still do not know how much it actually cost him. None of that matters though, all I really want to do is get behind that demon and take it out but there was no way in hell I was going to get that opportunity using his car. I do not blame him though. Do I pout though? Of course, but not anymore now that Titus Software has released its new racing game titled Roadsters.
Most racing games today either have Formula 1 cars, NASCAR racers, or fictional automobiles. Roadsters, however, has nothing but stunning convertibles of both yesterday and today. Although it is obvious Titus could not get every manufacturer of convertibles, they just made up their own names but modeled the cars after actual cars. If you ever dreamed of getting behind a striking convertible than Roadsters seems like a must-buy. You know your car will be in there, even if it is just a copy without the real manufacturer behind it, but it will be in there. The real question is, "Even with great cars backing the title up, did Titus do a good job portraying the car's attitude on the road well enough to make it seem real?". My answer is, "Well, sorta.".
Luxury Convertibles that are super expensive, that is the name of the game in Roadsters. Whether it be the TVR Chimaera 500, the Ford Indigo, or my personal favorite the Toyota MR-Spyder, all types of company cars are available. Not all manufacturers are available in Roadsters. Titus Software knew that they had to give people a good roster of recognizable cars so they chose to go the fake route with manufacturers like Jagatsu, Ibella, Borato, and many others. To me this really does not hurt the overall quality of the game by having fake manufacturers. I would rather have a much larger selection of cars to choose from then a select handful. In all there are over 30 different cars to choose from.
Missing slightly on originality, Roadsters comes with the same basic racing game modes. There is a Quick Race mode where you can try your hand at any coarse available and do some arcade-like racing around certain landscapes. This is mainly for the casual, first-timer just trying to get their foot in the door.
What is interesting though is the fact that in Roadsters there are different "categories", or types of cars, to choose from. Instead of having a difficulty setting in the options menu, Titus opted to go with different categories that act the same as a difficulty option. Three categories are what you can choose from. Category C consists of "less then 250 Bhp" cars whose Bhp is less then 250 Bhp. As you progress to categories B (Cars between 250 and 350 Bhp) and A (Cars above 350 Bhp) the difficulty begins to rise considering the fact that the cars involved are much faster.
For longevity reasons Titus only lets you choose category C right off the bat. Only cars that meet its criteria are available to be played. Going through Quick Race mode will get one no where fast. In order to receive faster cars you have to compete in the Roadster Trophy season mode. This is where there is some simulation involved in the game. After choosing the category and driver you are then expected to purchase a vehicle to use throughout your season. I suggest the Toyota MR-Spyder, it's awesome. Anyway, after selecting your car an entrance fee for your first season is required. As you progress through each of the six circuits, depending on how well you did, you will begin to acquire money that you can use for the entrance fee for next season or on upgrading your car.
Although the game is limited to the amount of upgrade options compared to other games there is still quite a few add-ons that are needed in order to blaze into glory. The additions include turbo, racing exhaust, gear ratio modifier toolkit, suspension modifier toolkit, and a set of super tires along with a more powerful engine. While most of them do not come in varied styles they still help out. For instance, once you own a gear ratio toolkit you can set it for short or long ratios. These help with either faster acceleration but reduce speed or vice versa. The problem is that they are just something you work your way up to get. There is no strategy involved in the order one acquires certain upgrades which hurts a little to the person looking for a good simulation racer in the Nintendo 64's scarce library.
In all there are eight racers selectable. There is no difference between the way any race but each has his or her own gestures while driving. All the cars in the game are convertibles so the player sees the driver the whole time. What is neat to see is how the driver reacts to the different changes in position or the final run across the checkered flag. You will know if you are dragging behind, believe me. Each racer comes equiped with his or her sometimes humorous one-liners like "Major Downer Dude." or "Groovy Baby!".
There are only 10 tracks in Roadsters. That number is very meek and bare but some of the tracks are extremely well designed while others are not all that great. The tracks are from different spots around the world like in the jungles, ski resorts, temples, and oil fields to the more unique Tudor village, Chateau, Docklands, and Area 51. Probably the best track in the game is Titus Park. It is almost like riding through both Jurassic Park and a Six Flags theme park. First you pass a whole lake with a rainbow crossing through the center. Take a easy right turn and all of a sudden a giant dinosaur pops out of the water. Then the scenery changes to mud and dirt and huge electrified fences. All of a sudden a huge T-rex pops his ugly mug out of some trees and trys to distract you. Finally after racing through a nice dinosaur rampaged village you head down a straightaway and running around the track is a nice rollercoaster which flips all around the course. It is a sight!
For any car fan a nice automobile show at a local fairground with beautiful cars rotating around on the show floor is a car lover's dream. At the vehicle select screen one will be amazed at the detail of each of the racers. The cars rotate around just like at a show and gleam their mighty curves all over the screen. Titus spent a long time on this and it payed off. Once you get into the game the graphics are killed slightly but still run somewhat smooth. Cars and drivers all move in a fluent motion and the backgrounds are seamless. At points like during a good rain or snow the framerate drops slightly and at times can be incredibly noticable. Along with car graphics looking smooth there are also planes that fly above the race and dinosaurs that are all wonderful eye candy. One thing that was slightly painful to look at was the bland buildings on some of the circuits. But it is just a minor infraction. I forgot to mention that in rain there was a very nice glare on the road the reflects the gorgeous headlights; another nice detail that was not overlooked by Titus.
So far there have only been slight problems but a place where Roadsters falls off the deep end is when you hear the motor of the cars or the music in the background. It is honestly completely pathetic. Although the driver's one liners are fine and dandy the engines revs up like a bee. If we are driving some of the world's most popular cars we deserve to hear the real roar of the cars. Also, the background music sounds like the latest MIDI file on the computer.
In the gameplay department Roadsters is great. It is easy to pick up and just play. The manual is incredibly small as well so there is really not much to know. Each car basically feels the same when playing except there is a very small change when playing in snow or rain. That is what is odd because with my Toyota MR-Spyder I could ride on both snow and rain and have the same feel as if I was riding on a road out in the dry desert somewhere. But then with some cars there was a noticable difference. One fault I saw was that collision detection at particular places was screwed up and sometimes threw me off a lot. On one instance I was riding the wall and all of a sudden I see a giant explosion type thing on my door and a car in the distance boucing off air. Weird. Although it only happened once it was still noticable.
Most of my cons to Roadsters have been minor except for the sound. Roadsters does not really have that many downsides. I for one think it is probably one of the best racers for the Nintendo 64 today but that is not really saying much. Additional features I really did not go into much detail with were Time Trial mode and the Pit Stops throughout each race. The pitstops look just like the ones seen during everyone's favorite NASCAR race each weekend. Will these change people's opinion on whether they will pick it up or not? Probably not but I am going to close by saying if you own a Nintendo 64 and are looking for a new good racer then at least rent Roadsters, it is worth it. -Nick Steinhauer
Want more information? Search the web!
Search The Auto Channel!
The Auto Channel
