Wednesday 17 September 2014

Saturn Driving / Racing Games #1

Touge: King the Spirits a.k.a. High Velocity – Mountain Racing Challenge (1995)
By: Cave / Atlus Genre: Racing Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Saturn
Also Available For: Nothing


The birth of the 32-bit consoles is when driving games really took off so it's a bit ironic that the Saturn was so poorly served in that department. Most owners had to make do with the conversions of Sega's own arcade titles like Sega Rally and Daytona but there were a few who wanted more. One such possibility came in the form of the splendidly-named Touge: King the Spirits. Though not particularly well known or successful, Touge was nonetheless touted by some enthusiastic gamers as the Saturn's answer to Ridge Racer. That would make it an overrated pile of poop to me but, in the interests of impartiality, I approached it with an open mind. Okay, I may have been secretly hoping it was far superior to Namco's immensely limited racer, but that's as good as it was going to get! Don't let me down, mighty Saturn...

Thankfully the options screen here isn't as ugly which is a great start. It offers King Battle, Vs Battle, and Time Trial modes. All of them offer three courses which are called Full Counter, Power Slide, and Full Boost, presumably so-named for the suggested driving style, and you can try normal or mirrored versions of each. You then get the choice of six cars which, despite having such catchy names as 'Type A', 'Type B', etc, are actually based on all the usuals - Skyline, NSX, Impreza, MX5, Supra, and RX7. The Vs Battle game impressively lets you choose between horizontal or vertical split screen while the Time Trial mode is just you against the clock. With the latter, however, each of the cars can be tuned/modded prior to use, with new engines, turbos, mufflers, brakes, suspension, tyres, aeroparts, paint colours, and all sorts of other things that are available, but the King Battle was my first stop.

As it turns out, this is very similar to the Vs Battle mode. They both feature one-on-one races with no other cars around; the only difference is you're racing against the computer rather than a friend. There are six heats on each of the three courses, for both 'left' and 'right' versions of the courses (normal and mirrored) which makes a total of 36 races and, although the computer uses one of the same set of cars as you do, it gets harder and harder to beat as you advance through the heats. Of crucial importance to this progress is the handling of the cars, one of two main areas in which Ridge Racer falls down in my (probably unpopular) opinion. Happily, despite placing a lot of emphasis on drifting around the sharper corners (it appears there isn't even a normal brake button, just hand-brake!), things are somewhat better here.

You might have also noticed that 'somewhat' isn't a resoundingly enthusiastic assessment though, and indeed the cars are a little sluggish here. It takes a lot of effort to master the drifting and you'll rarely get to drive at high speed thanks to the many tight turns either, at least until you've practised a given course over and over. The fact that there are only three of them makes this more likely I guess, and they are pretty good ones. In keeping with the game's U.S. name (Mountain Racing Challenge), the courses are rather hilly and take place along lots of cliff-top roads and the valleys in between so, as well as being fairly challenging, they are also rather scenic too. They feature lots of nice grassy hills and trees and tunnels and bridges over streams and stuff like that in addition to the sheer rock-faces, and there are a few parts with mixed road surfaces, although it doesn't seem to affect the handling much.

Perhaps doing an even better job of showing them off than the actual races are the replays that follow (which can be saved); some of the textures are a bit rough and the cars look a little ropey to me, but they're still all recognisable and the draw-distance is surprisingly good. The music is pretty spiffy too, consisting of a number of decent guitar/rock tracks, but the engine sounds are typically poor. I really don't get this either. Why do so many racing games from this time (Saturn, PS1, even Dreamcast) have crappy whining engine sounds? Surely the CD-ROM would allow the developers to directly sample the cars in question (most of which will sound splendid, obviously). Maybe there's a good reason but it still annoys me. Grrrr! Oh well, it I suppose it doesn't adversely affect the game too much.

To be honest, when I first started playing Touge I thought it was rather poor. Three courses is two more than Ridge Racer but it's still not many and even Namco's game had lots of cars on the track at once. It's not a massively difficult game either (although the figure-eight on the second course might throw you the first few times!). Racing one-on-one gives you a singular purpose and, while exciting at times, it can also get a little boring after a while. It's pretty good fun when playing against a friend but it's not a game that's aged particularly well and the one-player modes will soon become tiresome. I suppose there's not too much in the way of alternatives for Saturn owners and that the game's saving grace really - a lack of competition. Compared to examples from the same era on other systems, notably the PlayStation, this really is a very average game, but for Saturn owners it's a choice pick.

RKS Score: 7/10
 

20 comments:

  1. When it comes to the Saturn I've only ever really cared about Sega's own titles (Sega Rally, Manx TT Superbike, etc.) but I might look into this one. I've been craving a new Saturn racing game for a while now.

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    1. Get Touge 2, it's a more polished game.
      Also if you don't own it yet, get Wipeout 2097.

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    2. I haven't played Touge 2 yet but I heard it's flashier but not as enjoyable. I'll find out soon anyway! :)

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  2. I know what you mean, I just had the Sega arcade conversions back then too, but this one is pretty good compared to them. A little rough around the edges I guess but it could be worse. As I said in the review though, it pales in comparison to some PS1 racing games... :|

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  3. That might be the issue. The Ps1 and Saturn generally had different takes when it came to racing games. Saturn racers were as much a race against others players as it was against the clock.

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  4. Yes, I guess you're right there actually, but I also find that PS1 racing games are just generally of much higher quality and haven't aged as much. The Sega Rally conversion was amazing of course, but what other examples really impress on the Saturn? Even games that are considered average on the PS1 like Motorhead or Porsche Challenge are much higher quality than most Saturn examples, and I'm not even going to mention Gran Turismo. Oops, too late! :P Seriously though, there's nothing even remotely close to GT on the Saturn. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Sega fan and was desperate for it to succeed against the PS1 but this is one area that Sony really had it beat if you ask me...

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  5. Well I was never big into sims so Gran Turismo doesn't appeal to me. I generally prefer Sega's racing games for a quick game session whereas the PS1 releases I play them when I have more time to dedicate myself to a game.

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  6. Well, yes, I generally prefer arcade style racing games too, I just meant from a technical standpoint really :)

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  7. Oh definitely, from a technical standpoint PS1 racers were better. The system itself was better suited for 3D as well. Generally speaking most 3D Saturn games look like early PS1 titles.

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  8. Yeah, they haven't aged as gracefully have they? There were a few instances of the Saturn producing near-PS1-standard 3D graphics - Sonic R, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, for example, but even they didn't always have great frame rates. I never understood why Sega developed the Saturn as a 2D powerhouse right on the eve of the 3D boom. It's not like they didn't know it was coming - they helped start it!

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    1. I think Sega wanted to kept separate their arcade business and console business.
      They also were aiming to outperform the 3DO initially, they didn't expect at all Sony being so aggressive (not just in specs but in money spent in R&D, marketing, tools, acquisition).

      If you think about it Saturn used quads instead of triangles just like 3DO or Sega early 3D arcade boards.

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    2. I'm not sure that was a great idea by Sega if true - surely their biggest asset as a player in the home console market was their arcade games? You're right about Sony though, I think everyone under-estimated them :(

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  9. From what I understand, Sega was at war with itself at the time and I don't mean just the classical SOA vs. SOJ feud either. Most internal studio had no idea what the others were doing. I imagine it was a big surprised for Sega AM-2 when they discovered the Saturn was going to be 2D.

    As for the decision that prompted it, I'm assuming it's related to the 3DO's and Jaguar's commercial struggles but that's just a theory of mine.

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  10. Yes, some very good points actually, the may have decided the home gaming market wasn't ready for 3D, and then crapped themselves when they saw the PS1's specs! Ironically, one of my favourite games - Star Fighter - is notably graphically superior on the 3DO than on the Saturn (and PS1). Just lazy conversions though I expect :(

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  11. Actually most 3DO-to-PS1 or 3DO-to-Saturn conversions were actually better on the 3DO. In fact, from what I read it was actually easier to port from the 3DO to the Saturn as both systems used quads instead of triangles.

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  12. I guess there haven't really been too many 3DO-to-Saturn or PS1 conversions but I guess they are all a bit ropey. I always just figured the people doing the conversions couldn't really be arsed since the games weren't that well known and also getting on a bit by then. I'm not really sure what this quads/triangles business is all about though :P

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  13. Well there's more than that, as there are some instances in which the 3DO outperforms both the Saturn and PS1. # of colors on a texture was one of them. Also, if I'm not mistaken the 3DO had an easier time displaying FMVs.

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  14. Yeah, it was a powerful machine. Shame it didn't catch on, it was a bit of a waste really :( I guess it was just a little too much too soon and therefore cost a fortune. It still has two of my favourite games of all time though :)

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    1. 3DO wasn't that powerful.
      2D games like Gex run at 30fps.
      3DO could never catch on because the business model was totally wrong.
      All the 3DO Company got out of it was severe losses.

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    2. Oh yes, it was never really going to be a success, I understand that, but the console itself was pretty decent. Much more powerful than anything else at the time and not too far from PS1 and Saturn - better at some things, worse at others. I think a big part of its failure was its price (probably because the tech was still too expensive) and the games that were released on it. Far too many developers were trying to make FMV games or other examples that would impress people with their visuals but ended up being extremely limited to play. It could've hosted some fantastic games...

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