I decided to go for a change of pace last week and jumped into 2 racing games I haven’t touched in a while: Stunt GP and Race Driver: Grid.
Stunt GP
It’s an RC car racer from 2001 developed by Team17 (guys behind Worms series). It’s a pretty simple game with surprisingly heavy(ish) controls - nothing too crazy but every time I get back to it there’s a second of “oh right, that’s how it feels” flashing through my mind. The game also has 20 or so cars specialising in various styles of driving and an upgrade system (when playing championship).
It’s a neat little title which still feels and look great.
Race Driver: Grid
I started this one multiple times in the past but never really played for long - not because I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just that every time I touched it something else grabbed my attention soon after. This time I’m planning to stick around.
Getting used to normal racing was pretty straightforward, drifting on the other hand can still be a challenge (I dunno, might have something to do with playing on keyboard). It’s not bad or unreasonably hard but it’s definitely a bigger departure from other games I play (unlike normal driving).
I have a few small gripes with this titles that don’t necessarily affect my enjoyment but are noticeable enough to warrant a mention. Those being:
Extremely short seasons - they consist of only 4 events, regardless of their length.
Number of tracks feels a little on the low side - maybe it’ll improve once I unlock everything but there’s been quite a bit of repetition already.
Overly aggressive opponents - I was hoping for more… sportsmanship in these races but these guys are a little too contact happy (I literally got bodied into a wall on a wide straight section of a race one time).
Very fast progression - I’m a weirdo who (almost always) prefers early game. Experience when you’re a nobody, surviving on scraps and luck. Having tons of money and sponsors thrown at you just for not sucking for a bit doesn’t feel right.
Other than that? I love the presentation, both in terms of menus and art style (except of constant orange), and I really enjoy the gameplay. I wish vehicle customisation would be a little bit more involved but I realise that’s not the focus here so I’m not too unhappy about it. The game itself is great and that’s the important part.
Both of these titles feel quite different from my usual picks (Ridger Racer 2 for PSP and Colin McRae Rally 04) so I needed a little bit of time to adjust but after that I was ready to have some fun. Man, I love old racing games.
Finally, I got in the mood for Halo: Reach so I jumped into that for a bit. Probably won’t be playing the whole thing again this time but I’ll at least zoom through a few levels, trying to get some achievements. Oh, I also took the time to customise my spartan beyond gender and colour like before - finally feels more… “mine”.
I decided to go for a change of pace last week and jumped into 2 racing games I haven’t touched in a while: Stunt GP and Race Driver: Grid.
Stunt GP
It’s an RC car racer from 2001 developed by Team17 (guys behind Worms series). It’s a pretty simple game with surprisingly heavy(ish) controls - nothing too crazy but every time I get back to it there’s a second of “oh right, that’s how it feels” flashing through my mind. The game also has 20 or so cars specialising in various styles of driving and an upgrade system (when playing championship).
It’s a neat little title which still feels and look great.
Race Driver: Grid
I started this one multiple times in the past but never really played for long - not because I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just that every time I touched it something else grabbed my attention soon after. This time I’m planning to stick around.
Getting used to normal racing was pretty straightforward, drifting on the other hand can still be a challenge (I dunno, might have something to do with playing on keyboard). It’s not bad or unreasonably hard but it’s definitely a bigger departure from other games I play (unlike normal driving).
I have a few small gripes with this titles that don’t necessarily affect my enjoyment but are noticeable enough to warrant a mention. Those being:
Other than that? I love the presentation, both in terms of menus and art style (except of constant orange), and I really enjoy the gameplay. I wish vehicle customisation would be a little bit more involved but I realise that’s not the focus here so I’m not too unhappy about it. The game itself is great and that’s the important part.
Both of these titles feel quite different from my usual picks (Ridger Racer 2 for PSP and Colin McRae Rally 04) so I needed a little bit of time to adjust but after that I was ready to have some fun. Man, I love old racing games.
Finally, I got in the mood for Halo: Reach so I jumped into that for a bit. Probably won’t be playing the whole thing again this time but I’ll at least zoom through a few levels, trying to get some achievements. Oh, I also took the time to customise my spartan beyond gender and colour like before - finally feels more… “mine”.