Top Gear

Written by Tom Clare in SNES Game Reviews, Thursday 8 November, 2007

It's The Wheel Deal

Two major genres would essentially die out with the close of the 16-bit era, having both enjoyed immense success during it. One was the scrolling beat 'em up; a fall from prominence that in retrospect is difficult to fathom given how popular Streets Of Rage, Golden Axe and Final Fight had been during the period. The demise of the other victim, the 2D checkpoint-chasing racer, is a little easier to understand.

With the advent of 3D came a massive change in how gamers viewed the racing genre. Along came the likes of SEGA Rally, Ridge Racer and (a little later) Gran Turismo, and regardless of whether they were presented as hard-boiled sims or arcadey speed-demons, they were significantly more complex, realistic and heavyweight affairs than those that had gone before. Their 16-bit predecessors suddenly appeared ancient by comparison; sprites were a thing of the past and rotating circuits were thus cast aside in favour of cars you were fully in control of in three dimensional environments. Kemco's Top Gear, released in 1992, is a wonderful game as it takes what is on the surface a simple and relatively limited blueprint and extracts the absolute maximum out of it - and it's one of the most enjoyable racers to appear in any era.

Top Gear sees you competing in eight tournaments consisting of four races each and, starting at or near the back each time, you must negotiate a twenty-strong field of competitors, finishing in the top five to progress to the next race. So as it turns out, there's no checkpoint-chasing or time-limits involved here - though Top Gear has clearly taken inspiration from the best. It mixes the blistering pace of Outrun with the technical nous and finesse of Lotus Turbo Challenge (the two even share Gremlin's graphics engine), making for one heck of a good game.

Initially things seem a little strange as Top Gear adopts a split-screen approach even in the one-player mode (the computer piloting the car in the bottom half of the screen), but though this sounds a hindrance on paper, you'll adapt quickly and it is a quirk that is soon turned to the games advantage. Being able to see how the computer is doing proves useful on occasions, but its of real benefit to the two-player setup, as it loses nothing to its single-player counterpart; it's every bit as quick and smooth and there are still eighteen other competitors to keep things exciting.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, Top Gear is nothing special. The tracks themselves are a little sparse looking, and despite races being hosted in areas as diverse as South America, France and Japan, the horizon backdrops are, for the most part, pretty underwhelming despite appearances from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Big Ben and the occasional nice (though somewhat indistinct) cityscape. Roadside obstacles are also unimpressive, though the cars themselves are well-realised and very detailed. It may not look a million dollars on the surface, but technically it's almost faultless. The sense of speed it is able to generate is sensational; environments lash past with unerring smoothness, and it's all the more impressive considering everything has to be animated twice and with so many competitors too.

Aside its middle of the road artistic quality, the audio side of things isn't anything to write home about either. As a road racer, there's little in Top Gear to stretch the SNES's sound capabilities beyond adequate engine whirs and the screeches of tyres. The music is upbeat and at times almost frantic, though somehow it doesn't entirely gel with the subject matter.

The handling is spot-on; both in terms of responsiveness and sensitivity, and the tracks prove the perfect compliment. There are plenty of vicious, high-speed ess bends to negotiate as well as sweeps and 90 degree corners; brakes are rarely called upon though lifting off the throttle is a perfectly serviceable substitute and made possible by the excellent feel of the cars. Adding to the challenge is the occasional off-road section that dampens the handling slightly, as well as some craftily placed on-track hazards forcing pin-point accuracy from the player to make it through certain sections of a course unscathed; these are sneakily altered depending on the difficulty level you are playing on, which is a nice touch.

As if tackling the competitive (and rather devious) A.I. wasn't enough, Top Gear has some superbly-implemented pit-stops up its sleeve too. For many of the short races you won't require fuel, but increasingly the lengthier ones will see you diving in for a late splash 'n' dash. This makes for yet another intriguing variable, as positions can be won and lost on the judgement of how much fuel to take on; gambling on cutting it fine be rewarding if it pays off, but there is also the risk that you'll run out of fuel almost within sight of the finishing line. Nitro boosts are another tool to be used at strategic moments (preferably not whilst you are in the middle of a complex set of corners) and they really showcase the colossal speed of the game; there's little more satisfying than lunging around other racers and making up seven or eight places in half a lap.

It's extremely competent as a single-player experience but really comes into its own when you're battling against a mate. Each race is different, and as only one player needs to finish in the top five to ensure progression, it is also an ideal cooperative game - one player able to bail the other out if they are having a bad race. The fact that there are points awarded all the way down to tenth place keeps the interest levels up and means that every position gained may potentially prove crucial to your championship bid, and can lead to some memorably close finishes.

There are four cars to choose from, distinguishable by their colour schemes rather than names. They each offer noticeably different levels of cornering competency and speed, though it's the fuel consumption rate that is the most devious of attributes. Perhaps inadvertently though, it means the slowest, most economical vehicle is by far the most competitive, as for the majority of races it doesn't have to make any pit stops; the fuel guzzling speed-demons cannot make up the time it takes to pit in sheer performance alone, making three of the motors disproportionately difficult to compete with.

There's little else wrong with TG though. If I'm being picky, collisions with scenery are a touch limp and it's slightly disappointing that there are no whether effects (beyond the odd night race) or an arcade mode to tackle, but the majority of its troubles are of the 'would've been nice if…' variety and do little to tarnish the overall enjoyment factor.

Easy to get into but hard to put down, TG is also a lengthy game. There are 32 courses in all, with a password being awarded following the completion of every set of four and once you've conquered them all, there are two additional skill levels to give the game further legs. The learning-curve is near-perfect - tougher tracks require a few goes to master and whilst it presents a decent challenge, you rarely feel progression is beyond your reach, and completing it on the Championship setting should take a couple of weeks at the least.

Although it's no slouch on paper, Top Gear is so much more than the sum of its parts. One of the best racers of its generation, few could recreate its sublime marriage of speed, accessibility and depth and whilst its presentation won't turn any heads; its gameplay is hard to forget. Though seemingly quite scarce these days, it can be found on eBay for £2-3 - a bargain by anyone's standards, and therefore highly recommended.

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