Why Burnout Paradise is the Best Arcade Racer Ever
By AndrewGaspar 10 Comments
I posted a story on Facebook from Kotaku about how EA may be shutting down the Need for Speed series and I made the comment that I was happy because maybe EA would put some actual marketing into Burnout now. Some of my friends claimed that Burnout sucks too and that Mario Kart is the best racing franchise ever. Here is the discussion. You can decide who won. I'll update it as this conversation continues.
AS: Why the Need for Speed Hate? It's just as viable a franchise as Burnout.
Me: Have you seen the past couple games? At least Burnout is getting better. I'm hoping this will get Burnout the marketing it needs from EA since it's clearly not getting it.
ZM: All racing games are terrible.
/discussion
ZM: EDIT: Except for Mario Kart.
Me: That's just because you're a noob. And Mario Kart is totally lame. It's so SLOW.
AS: Apparently you don't know how to snake.
Me: You can't snake in Mario Kart Wii. Also, snaking is LAME.
And you shouldn't have to exploit the game to go fast. Burnout Paradise: that game is genuinely fast. Also, it feels far more rewarding when you're weaving in and out of traffic and then slamming your opponent into an oncoming van than just getting a blue shell and magically putting yourself in first place.
AS: Does Burnout Paradise have a battle mode?
I didn't think so.
Me: It has Road Rage AND Marked Man. And guess what? You're still moving fast, following your target towards an objective, and not driving in circles on top of a square, over-sized Gamecube.
ZM: Does Burnout Paradise not suck?
I didn't think so.
Me: ZM, if you aren't going to say anything intelligent, just don't post at all.
AS: The way you described Mario Kart's battle mode makes me want to play Mario Kart 64 again...
And going towards an objective? Sounds pretty linear to me, as opposed to the amazing battles you can have in Mario Kart.
Me: Well, seeing as you're playing in a huge open world, basically allowing you to use any path and tactic you want, it is far from linear. All you do in Mario Kart is give your DS a blow job, drive as fast you can towards a weapon box, spam all of the green shells/banana shells, and then rinse and repeat.
And seeing as neither of you have played the game while I have played every Mario Kart ever made and I'm the only one to ever play Burnout Paradise, I'm really the only one with a valid opinion on the subject.
AS: Actually, I have played Burnout Paradise, along with watching you play it...
Me: Metacritic for Burnout Paradise (PS3): 87. It's 88 on 360, if you must know.
Metacritic for Mario Kart Wii: 82
And the only reason it's that high is because there is barely anything decent on the Wii anyway.
AS: We're not judging Mario Kart Wii. We're judging Mario Kart games as a whole, or Mario Kart 64/Double Dash, if you want specifics.
And let me ask you... have you played Mario Kart: Super Circuit for GBA? Burnout 3: Takedown? Burnout: Revenge? You don't seem qualiified to have an opinion at all, let alone a valid one.
Me: When did you ever play it? And when you watched me play it, you even said it looked cool and you might consider getting it. I only have two beefs with the game: no split-screen (which is understandable due to the open world) and the fact that you can't just restart a race when you lose (which is coming in a patch once they get all the bugs worked out).
This is why Burnout Paradise is one of the best arcade racing games ever made:
1. It's fast. That's the most important part in any racing game, which some developers don't seem to understand. *cough* Nintendo. *cough*
2. The open world is very well designed with plenty of distinctive areas that the player can memorize pretty well in just a couple hours of play.
3. About eighty vehicles, all of which play differently. Each car isn't just a slight tweak of another car. Every car feels different when you're controlling it. This is another problem with a lot of racing games.
4. Customization. Almost every car has multiple paint jobs and a multitude of colors for each finish. (about twenty different color options for each paint job). There's no mechanical customization, but thanks the wide variety of cars and their drastic differences, this isn't a problem.
5. Probably the most extensive DLC I've ever seen for a game. Not only that, but it's all free. Also, the game will continue to be expanded in 2009 with five more game packs including some "legendary cars" (inspired by the likes of the car from Back to Future) and an entirely new island which fleshes out what Burnout Paradise is all about: Going where you want and doing what you want.
6. Intuitive online. You just tap right on the D-pad a couple times and you're online playing with people. There are 490 online challenges in the game which ask the players to work together to complete a variety of objectives like jumping through the fuselage at the airport or hitting each other mid-air or driving 1000 yards in reverse into on-coming traffic. These challenges change based on the number of players in the game and, especially when you have eight players, can end up being extremely hilarious, especially when you're trying to pack eight cars onto a small platform. Also, all of the staples of a racing game are in there. There's the standard race. You know, be the first to the finish line. But Burnout racing is unique in the fact that you can choose your own route to get to the finished line and not depend on a pre-determined course set by the game. Also, modes like Marked Man (take down a selected target before he gets to an objective) or Road Rage (take down all of the cars on the other team in a certain amount of time) are distinct Burnout game modes that work perfectly with the title. Add in online Stunt Run and the fun of just driving around Paradise City and goofing off with the people in your game, Burnout Paradise's online is simply the best online of any racing game.
I never said I played the first three Burnout games. I'm talking about Burnout Paradise.
And Mario Kart Wii is just Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart: Double Dash... and that's it. Oh, and there's motorbikes.
And yes, I did play Mario Kart GBA.
AS: I need to go buy a new TV, but I'd like to mention that you're acting overly biased against Mario Kart, especially in this statement.
And Mario Kart Wii is just Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart: Double Dash... and that's it. Oh, and there's motorbikes.
If we go like that, I can say the same thing about Burnout Paradise:
Burnout Paradise is just Need for Speed Underground and every other one up until the end of the series.... Oh, and there's motorbikes.
Me: Uh... not really at all. Need for Speed is all about feux serious stories that nobody really cares about combined with boring licensed cars that all more or less behave the same way set in an uninteresting world with people who are extremely over-obsessed with street racing. Unless you're Need for Speed: Prostreet, which is all about driving down straight roads through the boring desert. Also, Need for Speed puts no emphasis on stunts or anything. Also, all of the flag-girls are retarded for pre-pubescent kids who need something pretty to look at.
Burnout Paradise wins because it doesn't rely on a cheesy story, licensed cars, and gimmicky mechanics like being the cop or fake car damage.
Burnout Paradise shares very little with Need for Speed except that they both have cars and an open world. Mario Kart Wii is literally Mario Kart DS with some new tracks and no snaking. Which is perfectly fine for Nintendo, because fanboys are content with buying the same game over and over.
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You decide who won the debate.
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