In today's gaming society, racing games are classified as either "realistic" or "arcade." The former term is what we use to describe games like Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. They try to provide the most immersive and realistic interpretation of actual driving, with actual cars and physics.
The latter, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, throwing almost or all sense of realism out the door in exchange for high-octane thrills and fast action. Stuff such as the Burnout, one of my favorite racing games BTW.
But there's just one question: Whatever happened to the REAL arcade racer?
Despite the same term, it can mean a whole different thing if you compare the arcade racers of today, to that of the 80s and 90s.
Infact, just recently visiting an old arcade last weekend I was reminded of the times I enjoyed sitting down in an arcade cabinet with gas & brake pedals, a gear shift, and a steering wheel. I was much younger when I first experienced, and since I obviously sucked at it, I still had fun thinking I was driving an actual vehicle.
Not only was the cabinet in the arcade a big contributing factor, but so was the game mechanics applied to be sure that everyone got a turn, and would also encourage you to use your skills well.
Once you got your vehicle and course ready, you would always be prompted to choose which driving mode you would want, essentially separated the men from the boys. Automatic, where the game handled your shifting and would help you get back up to speed if something slowed you down. And there was Manual, where you had to not only keep your eyes on the game and where you were going, but also had to be ready to move the shift in order to increase your speed. Just going up to shift four after getting stopped kills your acceleration, while staying in shift one the whole race won't get you very far either.
Also, a big difference from the racing games of today and yesteryear was in how racing around the track was handled. Nowadays, we get the standard "race 3 laps around the track for first place." Now, with these racing games in the arcade, you'd be timed (to ensure you didn't hog up the entire game). Most games would have you drive through as many laps as possible until the time limit expired, but you were given extra time if you made it to the starting line at the end of each lap. Many of these games didn't care whether or not you made first place. You just had to get the fastest lap record, and also try and get your record at the top of the high score records. These games followed the same principle of other arcades, requiring you to hone your skills and perfect them. So, all you needed to perfect was how to handle and maneuver your car inorder to get the fastest time.
So, whatever happened to it? Well, it's pretty easy to answer it I guess, but it died out, along with many other arcade genres (fighters being the only main survivor, really)
Playing games like Cruis'n (back when it was awesome before being VERY outdated) and other fun games in the genre have made me wish for some sort of revival on a console, any console (unless I'm horribly misinformed or right, I have not seen any of the gameplay fundamentals I've listed above continue to exist in today's racing games). I've always thought the right analog stick on the 360 or PS3 console would be excellent as a little gear shift (on a smaller scale). On the other hand, the Wii Remote on it's side can make a good steering wheel. Add the Balance Board to simulate gas and brake pedals, and you pretty much got an imaginary racing cabinet.
Atleast one genre seems to be atleast making a comeback, and it's very much home on the Wii. On-Rail Shooters. You may not like them, but I do, and plenty of others do as well. Compared to todays shooters, on-rail shooters are all about perfection, just like everyother arcade game. I'm glad to see the genre making a return for this generation.
If those type of games are doing well, than I think the arcade racer deserves another chance.
Does anyone agree?
