For those of you who don't know who Mario Andretti is, you won't get very far in this review, or the game. Maybe you would be better off playing one of the newer racers (Mario Kart on the WIIU is excellent.) But for those of you, that want to try one of the greatest old school racers, this ones for you. First off, this is one of the very first EA sports racers, so think of it as the grandpa to NASCAR Thunder, and secondly for a game that came out in 1994 it still is fun as hell and addicting 20 years later.
The game itself is straight forward you have two modes Exhibition, and career. Exhibition is a great way to try out all three car classes ( SPRINT, INDY, STOCK), as you can choose any car, and any track and learn your skills. Whereas in Career, you start at the bottom class (SPRINT) and work your way up to the STOCK category. This in itself is quite challenging, because at first, the AI will hand your ass to you. (Don't feel bad, my first three seasons I didn't finish above last place.) Fortunately there are upgrades to your ride. You can upgrade your Engine, Tires, Brakes, and Pit-Crew. (pit crew only available in later race modes.) Now here in lies the problem, as when they programmed the difficulty they made one mistake as on the easy setting you get no starting money. But on veteran (hard mode) you get $100.000 which only gives you a slight improvement, as the higher the upgrade the more expensive it is. But fear not, before every race, you get training tips from Andretti himself, which for a newbie you should take advantage of.
Graphically for a 16 bit SEGA game that came out in 1994, the graphics are very well done. The cars look accurate, the tracks look great albeit there are only about 18. But they are all modeled after real life tracks and speedways. And for a game from the 16 bit era, the animation and frame rate is well done as well. All of the flag colors are accurate, and in the INDY and Stock, the Pit Crews are fully animated, which adds a real life feel to the racing experience. Even the early on tracks, have a hometown county fair feeling to them, as a few of them are recreations of dirt tracks. Another plus side is in Career, you can custom paint your car, which for a SEGA game was a first.
Sound wise if your looking for music, sadly there is only one BGM track. But the sound is excellent form the screech of tires, and the roar of the engines, the sound is great. A very accurate video game version of its real life counterpart.
Controls are very simple, making it a great plug and play game. Your D-Pad steers, the A button is Gas, The B button brakes, and C changes views. One of the easiest control setups I have ever encountered. And as I said the Andretti tips before each race will teach you the advanced moves (Sling shot passes, power slides, Drafting etc).
Difficulty wise though, that's another story. On easy the game is hard. On hard the game is actually a little more playable because of the above mentioned money you start with. But the AI is tough, almost all at once, the cars ar faster then you. And the AIS aggressiveness, is unbearable. The first few races the AI would slam me into a wall, to get ahead of me, and once you lose ground good luck trying to get it back. So at first it can be frustrating, but as you get better it becomes more tolerable. So be prepared to start over quite a bit. On the plus side though, it is very addicting. After playing a few race, its fun to try to beat your best time. And the multiple season modes adds to it.
Overall, for a retro game this is the best. A very solid fun game, that I highly recommend, try it out and you'll be hooked.
Matt
For those of you who don't know who Mario Andretti is, you won't get very far in this review, or the game. Maybe you would be better off playing one of the newer racers (Mario Kart on the WIIU is excellent.) But for those of you, that want to try one of the greatest old school racers, this ones for you. First off, this is one of the very first EA sports racers, so think of it as the grandpa to NASCAR Thunder, and secondly for a game that came out in 1994 it still is fun as hell and addicting 20 years later.
The game itself is straight forward you have two modes Exhibition, and career. Exhibition is a great way to try out all three car classes ( SPRINT, INDY, STOCK), as you can choose any car, and any track and learn your skills. Whereas in Career, you start at the bottom class (SPRINT) and work your way up to the STOCK category. This in itself is quite challenging, because at first, the AI will hand your ass to you. (Don't feel bad, my first three seasons I didn't finish above last place.) Fortunately there are upgrades to your ride. You can upgrade your Engine, Tires, Brakes, and Pit-Crew. (pit crew only available in later race modes.) Now here in lies the problem, as when they programmed the difficulty they made one mistake as on the easy setting you get no starting money. But on veteran (hard mode) you get $100.000 which only gives you a slight improvement, as the higher the upgrade the more expensive it is. But fear not, before every race, you get training tips from Andretti himself, which for a newbie you should take advantage of.
Graphically for a 16 bit SEGA game that came out in 1994, the graphics are very well done. The cars look accurate, the tracks look great albeit there are only about 18. But they are all modeled after real life tracks and speedways. And for a game from the 16 bit era, the animation and frame rate is well done as well. All of the flag colors are accurate, and in the INDY and Stock, the Pit Crews are fully animated, which adds a real life feel to the racing experience. Even the early on tracks, have a hometown county fair feeling to them, as a few of them are recreations of dirt tracks. Another plus side is in Career, you can custom paint your car, which for a SEGA game was a first.
Sound wise if your looking for music, sadly there is only one BGM track. But the sound is excellent form the screech of tires, and the roar of the engines, the sound is great. A very accurate video game version of its real life counterpart.
Controls are very simple, making it a great plug and play game. Your D-Pad steers, the A button is Gas, The B button brakes, and C changes views. One of the easiest control setups I have ever encountered. And as I said the Andretti tips before each race will teach you the advanced moves (Sling shot passes, power slides, Drafting etc).
Difficulty wise though, that's another story. On easy the game is hard. On hard the game is actually a little more playable because of the above mentioned money you start with. But the AI is tough, almost all at once, the cars ar faster then you. And the AIS aggressiveness, is unbearable. The first few races the AI would slam me into a wall, to get ahead of me, and once you lose ground good luck trying to get it back. So at first it can be frustrating, but as you get better it becomes more tolerable. So be prepared to start over quite a bit. On the plus side though, it is very addicting. After playing a few race, its fun to try to beat your best time. And the multiple season modes adds to it.
Overall, for a retro game this is the best. A very solid fun game, that I highly recommend, try it out and you'll be hooked.
Matt
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