RC de Go!
Score: 85% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Taito Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Racing/ Simulation
Graphics & Sound: The graphics in RC de Go! are bright and colorful. The tracks look true-to-life, and some of them, while not stunning, are certainly pretty. One thing that takes a little getting used to is the fact that the camera perspective never chases the car; instead, it stays at one location and simply turns. This simulates a person actually controlling an RC car, and is certainly more realistic than, say, the old-school RC Pro-Am. Nothing’s really impressive in the graphical department, although some of the vehicle bodies are pretty cool -- it’s just a matter of taste. The sound in the game is very similar. The music fits the game, properly pumping and action-filled, but it’s nothing you’ll remember post-game. There’s an announcer who has a few useful things to say (his phrases for the number of laps that have been completed are handy since you don’t have time to look at the numbers on the screen), but most of his banter is more flavor and less useful information. It’s not irritating, but it’s not particularly impressive either.
Gameplay: On the other hand, RC de Go! is an impressive little title. Sure, it’s way too short for its own good, but as a little RC racer, there’s more than enough gameplay here to satisfy the fan. In RC de Go!, you drive a radio-controlled car around a closed track. There are two types of tracks, on-road and off-road, and a half-dozen tracks of each type. (There are also a couple of bonus tracks that can be had.) Before each race, you have the opportunity to visit a store and buy new parts for your racer, and then adjust the racer itself. You’ll want to use different tires and suspensions for the two different types of tracks, but everything else will probably stay the same. And in the end, that’s all there really is to the game. You add any new parts that you buy, you race, and you get more points to buy stuff. You’ll probably start running out of things to buy when you hit the last few tracks, especially if you’ve been trying to get first place in every track before you advance to the next one. But that’s a minor flaw. It would have also been nice to be able to select both on-road and off-road types, and have the game itself pick which ones to use -- it’s a little artificial difficulty, and something that wasn’t necessary. But the racing itself is highly enjoyable. You drive around, through, and over seven other cars as you try to finish first. You can dash (turbo, whatever) every few seconds, but you lose most of your control when you do so. The first four or so tracks can be won without using the brakes at all, but the last few require precision control and braking. And therein lies the few problems with RC de Go! The controls end up not being precise enough. Combined with the odd camera angles, the last few tracks (especially in on-road) are harder than they really should be, simply because it’s so hard to time. There are other game modes as well, such as a Quick Race that throws you onto a track without needing to set up, a Time Attack mode that lets you race as fast as you can in an attempt to win, and a Practice mode that lets you learn the basics of racing. The latter is obviously a one-time deal, and the others are fun, but none are as entertaining as the pure race mode. And with only a smidge of more than a dozen tracks, RC de Go! just doesn’t last quite long enough.
Difficulty: RC de Go! goes from trivially easy in the first few races to damned difficult in the last ones. Careful tweaking of your RC racer’s stats with parts can definitely improve your chances -- remember that the fastest speed does not always make the winner. Nonetheless, the difficulty of the game is not insurmountable, and if you’re finding it too easy or too hard, you can tweak the settings in the Options menu to change the raw difficulty level.
Game Mechanics: The controls are perhaps a little too sensitive for their own good, but I can’t imagine them being any less sensitive for some of the tracks, so I’m not sure there’s a better way of doing it. The track viewpoint, while perhaps more realistic in the long run, ends up being a little more irritating than it is innovative. The core mechanics of the game itself are fine, however, with adjustments in grip, acceleration, speed, and braking immediately apparent in the next race. The menus are easy to navigate and understand, with little helpful reminders at the bottom of each one telling you pertinent information. PS2: RC de Go! works fine with both the Smooth graphics setting and the Fast disc speed on the PS2. The graphics look a little better in Smooth, but not so much so that you’ll be impressed. And RC de Go! already has pretty trivial load times, so the few moments that the Fast loading shaves off are almost unnoticeable. In the end, the PS2 tweaks the game experience a little, but not much. RC de Go! is an enjoyable little racing game, with decent graphics and sweet gameplay. But like too many sweet things, it’s over before you know it -- a single evening will have you beating the Championship mode -- and you’re left with a desire for more. While this game runs loops around many other recent racing titles, in the end, it’s merely good instead of great.
-Sunfall to-Ennien, GameVortex Communications AKA Phil Bordelon
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