The Great Sega Saturn Racing Game Extravaganza! If you enjoyed this video, you might also like my retro-infused Sci Fi(ish) novels available here: www.amazon.co....
I rarely comment on RU-vid comments, but after enjoying all your content over the past weeks I have to stop and say- you 100% are not getting the attention you deserve. Your clips, music choices, editing and especially your commentary and delivery are top notch. I’ve enjoyed every minute. I’ll do my utmost to pass your channel along to the likes of Resetera etc to get you some more attention- you deserve it 100%. Loving the Dreamcast videos, and looking forward to the next one. Would love to see lists like this on other genres, even on Dreamcast also. Keep up the great work, you’ve got yourself a fan.
Once you started using that piano part of the Sega Rally desert replay music on the red countdown numbers, I knew it would be #1 on the list. Great Video!
I'm very happy to see you praising sega rally. A rare occurrence of a game truly being blessed. I have nothing against that game. NOTHING. I draws me in regularly, just to try to shave a few 0.1secs off my best times, just to hear the voices, the music, the jingles, just to see the vibrant colours, to rush through the 4 iconic tracks, their every curves and turns masterfully laid out, just to watch these handful of polygons move so organically....and to try and tame that beastly, RWD stratos
Nice video. Of course I don't always agree, but more often than not, I do. I would say you particularly undervalued Road Rash and had Sega Touringcar much higher than I would put it.
The cyber speedway clip blew my mind. The game's whatever but I remember that music track playining in the Bootleg Sampler AMV. It's been like 30 years and now I finally know where it's from
Sonic R started off as an F1 game, which explains the vehicular control scheme. It makes more sense when you treat it as a driving game instead of a 3D platformer.
Only had WipeOut and SEGA Rally from this list. I was shit at WipeOut but played SEGA Rally to death. It was either that or NiGHTS which was the first Saturn game I stuck in a CD player and played all the music over and over. Including the first track which was raw game data which scared the shit out of me
Amazing video. I agree with you for most part. I love sega rally too, its the game i most played in my life, i was 12 in 96 when i got my saturn an it was the game i bought for the system, the rest was rented. I love it to this day. Now with saroo i can try all these games once again
Sonic R starts being enjoyable after you accept the character movements for what they are, undeniably the hardest part of the game. The learning curve isn't even that strong. It's just telling yourself "Okay, this is how it is. It's not the 3D Sonic game that I wanted and I just have to accept that." Once you do, you start exploiting the character strengths and make all kinds of shortcuts. Yes, it's annoying that the AI can move the characters in a way that you can't. BUT, you see, you're better than that! You're smarter. The AI follows the track but you don't have to. You can fly, glide, jump, open doors, swim, and bypass all the parts that at first frustrated you. Then, your expectations were turned upside down. You thought were accepting a limited game with poor controls when at the end it felt unlimited. Excellent list, though. I was thinking "Number one better be Sega Rally." Wipeout XL deserved to be a little higher, although I could see why you'd rank it lower because it's better played on other systems (I prefer the Mac version of Wipeout 2097). And I guess I'll be the first guy to correct your pronunciation. It's TOH-OH-geh (峠) which means "mountain pass" and is a metaphor for the most difficult part of something. Once you cross the 峠 of Sonic R's character controls, it's all downhill.
I absolutely love Hang On GP with the arcade racing wheel. It’s a whole new game - it controls and animates smooth as butter. Add on the fact it’s got unbeatable 90s arcade game vibes and its one of my favorite racers on the system.
I wouldn’t say that GT24 is a top 5 racing game but I do enjoy it. The controls look weird but once you know how to handle your car you can enjoy the 24 endurance race 😅
@@retromuel please look it up. It's nearly 5 hours, but his documentaries are the best in all of youtube imo. Also check his virtua cop one where he interviews almost the entire japanese staff
I agree with most of the ranking actually, at least for those games I have played. My biggest bone of contention is The Need for Speed; though I haven't played the Saturn version, only the PS1 version, and they do differ in a few details as I heard. But still. Played it for the first time only a few months ago, and was struck ultimately by how primitive it was. On multiple fronts. The sequel wasn't much better. It wasn't until the 3rd Need for Speed that they started to adopt a more modern formula and the 3rd and 4th games continue to be very playable even today; albeit they were never released on the Saturn. Similarly I've never played the Saturn version of Wipeout 2097. I understand that it's slightly inferior, sure. But in my mind the game is a masterpiece, and 2nd on this whole list only to Sega Rally. As for Daytona, yeah, loved it when it first came out, and it's still a good time, can't argue. But ultimately you're better off not playing it on the Saturn either, instead play the Dreamcast version which is a lot closer to the Arcade. Yeah the handling differs a bit compared to the Saturn version, but it's analogue there, and that's better by default. The graphics are far superior, the framerate, and there is a lot more content too. Only thing is you'll want to play it on an emulator so that you can adjust the sensitivity of the analogue inputs. As they're a bit wacky and on the actual console your options for adjusting it are limited. The original Wipeout I loved when it first came out, but have found it has aged a little (but not its soundtrack and interface, which are still killer). It's just inferior in every aspect to its sequel, although still a decent game. I'd have put it a little lower. Whereas Destruction Derby I'd probably put on the no. 4 spot - it's whole load of fun even today. Just below Outrun. Haven't played Manx TT, or Kart Racers, or Touring Cars, or any of the Japanese-only games, so can't comment on them. Don't apologize for your opinion on that Sonic game. Gosh forgot the name. Sonic R, right. Yeah, never clicked for me either. It's as if it can't decide whether it wants to be a racing game, or a 3D platformer. Not my thing, I'd have put it lower than you did.
Great video and now I have some good choice games to track down! I did want to ask why Delisoba Deluxe wasn’t included on here? I know it is really rare but still I thought I might see it make an appearance some place.
Thanks very much. Hope you enjoyed it. Yeah that one wasn't on the list of games I was working from, probably because it wasn't actually officially released I believe, but yeah it should be in here somewhere really. Thanks for watching.
The Saturns high res mode just means the video output is 480 interlaced, the internal resolution of the polygons and textures is not necessarily 480 I think
Yeah it's a strange choice on those particular couple of games. Given how flickery unfiltered 480i was on a CRT I'm not sure why they thought it was preferable.
@@liamconverse8950 Sure but Virtua Fighter 2 actually used hi Res elements so that makes sense. These ones here use 480i for no particular reason it seems.
Thank you very much. I used 4 audio clips - one from Need for Speed, then F1 Challenge, Sega Rally, then Destruction Derby. Don't remember the individual track names sorry. Thanks for watching.
Atleast the Sega Saturn Choro Q/Penny Racers game looks visually impressive, although the series in general was still finding it's niche at that time. I don't think Choro Q's racing games really took form until Takara decided they should be Car-PG affairs (like a Gran Turismo lite) which didn't happen until some years later with Choro Q HG on PS2.
Yeah I was probably too harsh on it here. I was actually looking forward to this one. I like the graphics and the concept, I was just frustrated from struggling to navigate the menus and I found the race structure a bit overcomplicated. I just wanted to race! I will try some of the later ones. There are at least two nascent subgenres on this list that developed into some really cool games during the PS2/Dreamcast era but struggled a bit the first time round. Interesting times. Thanks for watching.
Excellent video, thanks. Personally I'd put Sonic R at the very bottom of the list, it's an abomination of a game that controls horribly. I'd rather play that racing game where you steer the car with the shoulder buttons. Also, 'Wangan' is a fun word to say out loud.
I totally disagree with that assertion. Sonic R is a very ambitious game with a very complex level design. Very open world and ambitious for its time. Nonlinear track designs. If you press B and use the shoulder buttons left an hour and play the game like a drift car racer, and not a platformer, it’s one of the best racers on the system hands-down. The graphics are incredible for the system.
@@costumeninja1914 It's a nice tech demo for what was probably going to be a proper Sonic game, but then got released anyway. It just controls so poorly, probably on purpose so you didn't blaze through the entire game in 20 minutes.
Thanks! I don't remember the individual tracks but the first one is from Need for Speed, the second from F1 Challenge, then Sega Rally and finally Destruction Derby.