Top Gear was released for the SNES in 1992. It was developed by Gremlin Graphics, who were previously famous for the Lotus series on Amiga, and published by Kemco.
This is a game I never knew existed as a kid, and I only discovered it as a teenager. I still remember it, since me and a friend were looking around for multiplayer SNES games to play on an emulator, and somehow came across Top Gear. We didn’t expect much but ended up getting quite impressed with it, playing through the whole game.
Top Gear is a racing game with no relation to the BBC show with the same name. You get to race on 32 tracks in places like USA, South America, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Scandinavia, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Some races are longer than others though, not just in the length of the track but also how many laps the races are. The shortest races are only 3 laps, but some races are as long as 7 or 8 laps.
There’s four cars to choose from, each with their own statistics, such as top speed, acceleration, grip and fuel consumption. That’s right, you have to watch your fuel when racing. On some of the tracks it is impossible to run out of fuel, but on some of the longer races this is crucial. This gives the game some strategy. If you choose a car with lower fuel consumption but that is slower, you might be able to do many races without even going into the pits to refuel which is good for some of the longer races, while choosing a faster but thirstier car is a better choice for the shorter races. You can’t change cars from race to race however, the only time you can change car is if you quit the game and use a password. Personally I tend to go with the slowest but most fuel efficient car, since that one also has the best grip. You also get three nitros to use in each race.
After every four races, you will move on to the next part of the world, and get a password, if you manage to finish in the top of the standings. It did let me continue to the next four races even when I finished second in the standings in total, so I am not completely sure how well you must perform to be allowed to continue.
The races themselves are similar to the Lotus games, but unlike those, in Top Gear you are on a race track and must drive laps around circuits, unlike in the Lotus games where you go from point A to point B. Also, here you race against 19 other cars, without a time limit, while in Lotus you race against the clock mainly.
While this game is possible to play with two players, if you choose to play alone, you must still play it in split screen mode. The bottom part of the screen will show a computer player who can be seen as your rival in this game. This is somewhat annoying, but is easy enough to get used to. Your computer rival will never use his nitros, but there is some severe rubber banding going on at times. Sometimes he is driving really slow and is easy to catch up with, while at other times, when he is far behind, he will reach insane speeds even without using a nitro.
Top Gear has four different control styles to choose from, but personally I see no reason to choose any other than Type D, since then you accelerate with the B button. Type A have you use X to accelerate, which is strange. Type C also uses X to accelerate and the Start button to use nitro, while Type B requires you to hold your controller upside down (and also uses the start button for the nitro). I really wonder who the madman was who came up with some of these control schemes?
When it comes to the difficulty, there are three difficulty levels to choose from. I did find the easiest one slightly challenging but could win most races even if it has been a long time since I last played this game. I must say that the level progression is a bit uneven though, since the courses in France are much harder than the ones in Italy and United Kingdom that you get to afterwards.
Unlike games like F-Zero and Super Mario Kart, who used Mode 7 graphics to create a pseudo-3D feel to their games, Top Gear goes for a more traditional 2D-style in the vein of Out Run, Rad Racer and the already mentioned Lotus series. In fact, the graphics looks a bit unimpressive for SNES standards, but there are shifts in elevation on the tracks that affect the gameplay. You do really notice if you drive up or down a hill, and I must say that this game managed to create a genuine sense of speed that games like Out Run and Rad Racer lacks. There’s also some interesting designs on the levels, such as the rain forest course containing dessert sections with signs saying “save the trees”, or the Bordeaux course containing giant grape vines. The backgrounds in the levels are also good at indicating where in the world you are. Something else that I could imagine being impressive for its time is the fact that some levels have you start the race at night, with the a transition to day, as well as other races starting in day time and gets dark by the last lap.
As for the music, it is actually a conversion of the soundtrack from the first Lotus game for Amiga. That said, however, this is easily one of the better soundtracks on the SNES. There are four different songs for the races, so it never gets too repetitive either.
Overall, Top Gear is a great game, and personally I find it to be the best racing game on the Super Nintendo. The graphics might not be the best, but the courses do look different enough. The music is awesome, and the sense of speed is pretty impressive for an early SNES game. The only real fault I can find with this game is the fact that you are forced to play split-screen even in single player. But I don’t think that stops me from enjoying the game.
Is it worth Playing?
Top Gear is absolutely worth playing if you are looking for a racing game for the SNES. It has actually aged surprisingly well, and is also a fun multiplayer title. It might look a bit dated, but it is a fun game with a great sense of speed.
Final score: 9/10
Screenshots via MobyGames: http://www.mobygames.com
Retro Viking Reviews 