We tested this fun racing game, a small sample of a more ambitious project in the middle of Kickstarter
In 1985, Sega launched a new board that would revolutionize arcade living rooms called “Super Scaler”, although it was also known as “the Hang-On board”, which was the flagship game and with which this technology was made known. It would be followed by a no less emblematic name: Space Harrier, which together with the motorcycle racing game would mark this year as one of special relevance for the position of the Japanese company in the arcades. The 16-bit motherboard had two Motorola 68000 processors, a luxury, and was specially designed to perform fast sprite scaling operations, a technique with which you could generate “depth” with sprites and thus achieve games with fast-paced sensations. speed and three-dimensionality, two characteristics that were difficult to combine at the time with known 3D techniques. In addition, Super Scaler would be the basis for creating the Outrun plate, made to order to accommodate Yu Suzuki’s aspirations with the great classic of arcade speed.
We’re dropping the definitive version of the VHR #kickstarter demo this Tuesday Oct. 20th! New SFX, art, bug fixes & more!
download all the VHR demos here – https://t.co/gQwSUQ3MM1
Back the game on Kickstarter! – https://t.co/kqhQBA9BGK# ド ッ ト #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/irDeRVTuNd
– Victory Heat Rally is on Kickstarter! (@VHRgame) October 18, 2020
Speed above all
35 years later, two brothers from Los Angeles, working with a team spread around the world, are cooking a game that not only recovers the name of Super Scaler, in clear tribute, but also seeks to recreate those sensations of frenetic arcade speed in a game rich in drifts and blue skies: Victory Heat Rally. The project is in the funding search phase on Kickstarter, with good feelings ($ 11,000 out of 21,000 with 19 days still ahead), but beyond that, the most relevant thing for the news at hand is that we can play for ourselves themselves an early demo that will provide us with a good time of fun.
The demo is well worked, with a careful presentation from the beginning. The atmosphere is happy and carefree, a day at the races on the beach, with the presenter Sally McRally inviting us to experience all the excitement of speed without complexes. Once at the controls of the vehicle, we find some of the virtues that drive the project. The sensations of playing a climbing racing title are effectively reproduced, albeit at a devilish and fluid speed, which fits like a glove to a very measured control that makes racing immediately enjoyable. Small details such as the way the camera tilts when we skid, sensorially emulating the sense of inertia of a real vehicle, contribute to the excitement and sense of speed.
The key is to skid, an essential mechanism both to control the vehicle in curves and to gain speed, although we can select different grip models to find the system that best suits our sensations. The musical range, which ranges from markedly nostalgic themes that evoke arcades to hard industrial techno sound more typical of Ridge Racer; the warm atmosphere with different times of the day that change the ambient lighting or the friendly characters, end up forming a certainly remarkable cocktail for all lovers of arcade speed.
With a view to the final game, obviously more worlds are being worked on, new game modes such as a continuous Rally mode of going from one point to another, more content in general, split-screen multiplayer and other additions that will give it the entity of a game full. But while we can fully enjoy this free demo and enjoy the sensation of speed and the raw fun that it offers us.
