Rage Racer (PlayStation)

It's a real toss up for me as to which Ridge Racer game I like the best.  My opinion tends to seesaw between Rage Racer and R4.  As polished as the latter is, and as fantastic of a soundtrack as it may have, I still find myself playing the former more.  Between the track designs, and the cars, it has an appeal that is hard to quantify.

Rock n' Roll Racing (SNES / Super Famicom)

There was a time before Blizzard made games like Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.  There was also a time before Blizzard was called "Blizzard".  It was a time when the company was called Silicon & Synapse, and they made games like Rock n' Roll Racing.  It was a wacky, crazy time full of bad art, cheesy MIDI 70s rock, and intergalactic combat racing.  Still, it wasn't a bad game, and an interesting title to look back on when we consider where Blizzard is now.

Super Monaco Grand Prix (Genesis / Mega Drive)

This is the last of the Sega racing game posts for today.  I hope that satisfied some nostalgia among the Genesis fans out there.  For our last game we're taking a look at Super Monaco Grand Prix, which is probably one of Sega's more serious racing games from this era.  While it did get its start in the arcades, to me it always felt a lot more like a simulation compared to the likes of Hang-On, and even more so in comparison to Outrun.  Still a really fun game, though.

Outrun (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Another Yu Suzuki classic that gave us branching race courses, and a song called "Magical Sound Shower".  Outrun first came out in the arcades, then made its way to the Master System, and finally to the Genesis a few years later.  This is probably the game I most associate with arcade racing during this era, and you can see how it influenced a bunch of other arcade racers down the road, like the Rush series for instance.

Super Hang-On (Genesis / Mega Drive)

Going with a bit of a Sega Genesis racing game theme today.  Gonna start out with some Super Hang-On screenshots.  Played this a plenty in the arcades, and even more so on the Genesis.  Used to love the courses in Asia and Europe.  Stay tuned for some screens from Outrun and Super Monaco Grand Prix later in the day. ^_^

<3 Sega

Beetle Adventure Racing (N64)

Remember when Volkswagon brought back the Beetle, and everyone was seemingly scrambling over each other to get one?  There was even a snazzy N64 game showcasing the car, and it was actually a pretty darn good game.