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Sometimes, a developer’s creation is too ambitious for the hardware for which it’s created. The result is usually game full of lost potential, and players almost always sum things up with a collective “this could have so much more on better hardware.” Sega’s Racing Aces falls into that category. A game with lots of good ideas, it fell victim to a release on hardware too under-powered to fill its potential. The game is still playable, but one never ceases to wonder of what could have been.
The range of computer ports Electronic Arts brought to the Genesis was quite broad, and everything from RPGs to platformers and action games made the jump. Even racing titles found their way onto Sega’s wonder console, and among the franchises that saw success there was the Lotus series of games. Featuring real cars and a ton of courses, the Genesis port of Lotus III was redubbed as RECS when it was ported. How did it fair against Sega’s own OutRun and others?
Genesis racing fans know that the Micro Machines series can always be relied on for quality. This shines through quite brightly in Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament, which featured excellent multi-player action through its J-cart functions. It was eventually eclipsed by a sequel a year later, but that takes nothing away from this excellent game.
How do you make a great game better? You slap a CD soundtrack and full-motion cut scenes on it! Err…. wait, that’s not it… Well, how about if you add more modes and better visuals? Yeah, I though that might work. Road Rash for the Sega CD does exactly that, and it tosses in the soundtrack and FMV for good measure. Bitter sweet or just plain tasty?
When you think of the Sega CD, you don’t immediately think of racing games. There aren’t all that many, and not all of what’s available is worth looking into. That’s unfortunate really, because a few, like JVC’s Jaguar XJ220, are quite playable. We have a full review for you, so read up and see if this one’s worth tracking down.