Y2K Game: Metropolis Street Racer

Metropolis Street Racer

I did not play this game growing up nor did I play any of the Project Gotham Racing games either. For that matter, I don't think I played too many racing games growing up. The only ones I remember playing where Top Gear on the Super Nintendo, the Cruis'n series of arcades, Outrun, Midnight Club 2 on the Xbox, and San Francisco Rush 2049 on the N64. Those games where all fun and enjoyable, but they didn't leave a long lasting impression upon me. They where the type of games that you pick and play for a few hours and think "Cool!" and then pack it in to go on about your day.

Ready to Drive

Metropolis Street Racer does indeed have pick up and play mechanics, but it's the first racing game I've played that directly challenges you. It's not even the fact that it's a harder racing simulator with arcade tendencies; it's how it challenges you. Beating the stopwatch and reaching the finish line first presents a problem on its own. However, it is not enough to be the fastest; you must drive fast, cleanly, and with style.

The biggest attraction of this game is the kudos system. Kudos functions almost like a kind of currency. You earn kudos by completing races. You also earn kudos by drifting, powersliding, and increasing the challenge on each race. You will also lose kudos if you bump into other racers and collide into barriers. It's entirely possible to earn kudos by completing and even winning a race, only to lose almost all of them because your driving was sloppy. It happened to me a few times.

Checkpoints

You progress through the game by completing chapters that each contain several races, these include challenges where you must record a fastest lap, complete a course within a time limit, beat another driver one-on-one, and win a race against multiple competitors. Because of the kudos system, it's entirely possible to complete an entire chapter of races and not be able to advance to the next chapter because you haven't collected enough kudos.

It might seem unfair to prevent a player from advancing upon completion of a series of races. Indeed, I felt this way initially. However, I quickly embraced the manner in which the game was wanting me to play. It's not about simply going fast: it's how you go fast. The game challenges you to drive smooth, clean, and with style. It forces you to master every corner, each car, and overtaking rivals. I actually found myself practicing courses in order to prepare for the actual race in order to carefully plan each turn and commit the track to memory. Once I made this commitment, the kudos started piling on.

Scuff Marks

There are some flaws that I do want to point out. The race tracks take place in a limited number of locations. For this reason, it can start to feel repetitive as you progress through the single player mode. It's basically the same scenery throughout. It would be nice to drive through a greater number and wider variety of locations.

The graphics, even though they may have been great for the time, have definitely not aged well. There's definitely some jagged objects, no doubt because of aliasing. This makes it difficult to see when you're driving during the night time. Sometimes I would crash into a fence because I couldn't see where I was supposed to turn.

Prime Racer

This is a very unique and entertaining racing game. I was not expecting to commit so much time and effort into it. I have mentioned before that my experience with racing games is very limited. Nonetheless, Metropolis Street Racer has been the most fun one I've played so far. I very much look forward to playing the Project Gotham Racing series of games. They are the spiritual successors to Metropolis Street Racer.