Rad Racer / Outrun

Tell us about games you are currently playing. "Quick hit" reviews.
Greisha1
Posts: 707
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Rad Racer / Outrun

Postby Greisha1 » September 9th, 2012, 9:09 am

Soooo I just beat Rad Racer ... pretty good (for NES standards, cute and short) ending, although I have to give Square a big "thumbs-down" for not including your score in the ending *or* allowing you to go back to the title screen. If you reset the game, the ending just loops! Oh well. It's still a good game!

I'm looking to continue this "80s-style-arcade-racer" lovefest; however, I don't have any of the Outrun games and don't really know of any other games I could be looking for. Any suggestions as to the "Cream of the Crop" releases?

Herschie
Posts: 1183
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:44 pm

Re: Rad Racer / Outrun

Postby Herschie » February 16th, 2019, 3:43 pm

I really love "Rad Racer". Ever play these games with 80s music in the background? Yesterday I had "Rock N Roll Over You" by Moody Blues going during the San Francisco stage, and it was bliss. But I also like the in-game music as well.

Also, I got way better at this when I ditched the Framemeister and went to a CRT. The lack of input lag helps tremendously.

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Rad Racer / Outrun

Postby Retro STrife » July 26th, 2021, 3:12 am

I popped in Rad Racer tonight, so I figured I'd revive this old thread. It's been forever since I've played this game. I remember thinking it was so cool as a kid. The graphics, the sense of speed, and especially the 3D mode. Plus it had "Rad" in the title, so it had to be cool, right? Back then I'd never played Outrun, but now that's the most obvious comparison. Really, Rad Racer almost feels like a port of Outrun that they had to dumb-down from the arcade. But Rad Racer is a good game in it's own right- and definitely feels faster than Outrun. One annoyance though is restarting at the first race when you lose. The manual says there's like 8 tracks. It took me 30 minutes trying to beat the first race. Then I failed the second race.. and had to start all over! I didn't have the patience to try again after that. Anyone try the 3D mode? I had a pair of old-school 3D glasses lying around so I gave it a shot.. it doesn't seem to add any real 3D effect, and is very hard to play that way. I wonder if the official Rad Racer glasses were any better.

P.S. Critic, if you see this, the review screenshot might be worth switching up to an in-game shot.

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Rad Racer / Outrun

Postby Retro STrife » July 26th, 2021, 3:12 am

P.P.S. Next up, I tried to play the sequel, Rad Racer II, which I had never played before. But I couldn't get my cartridge to work after like 15 minutes and all the usual tricks! I learned from googling afterward that Rad Racer II is one of the few NES games that doesn't work on certain clone systems, which is what I use. Guess I'll have to break out the real NES next time. Anyone know how the sequel stacks up?

User avatar
Atariboy
Posts: 956
Joined: April 7th, 2015, 11:07 pm

Re: Rad Racer / Outrun

Postby Atariboy » July 26th, 2021, 3:08 pm

It's more of the same, so if you enjoyed the original, you should be pleased. It's basically Rad Racer with all new racetracks, new music, and new (and somewhat different handling) vehicles. They didn't try to reinvent Rad Racer, just refresh it with new content.

Just minor differences like one less music track, no 3D support, etc.


Return to “Now Playing”