The draw distance is superb. |
Once you've become proficient at keeping all 4 wheels on the pavement for the majority of a race, and you're starting to look for ways to shave a few more valuable seconds off your lap times, AM2 has included a "Driving Data" tool that can be of great help. Users have the option to load up 2 of their saved laps taken on the same track for simultaneous comparison in a number of key areas. The "Data Analysis" option provides the user with various graphs comparing driving line, engine performance and shift timing. Selecting the "Replay" option provides a 3D replay of the lap (in 4 selectable viewpoints) where the user can view driving line and checkpoint completion of both attempts in real-time. I found that utilizing this tool can yield sizable lap time decreases due to the fact that you can see exactly where you may have driven a certain lap better than another. Then you can splice this knowledge together to create a mental "perfect lap" that you can set out to achieve.
Along with control, AM2 yet again raises the bar in terms of graphics. The artists apparently placed gobs of polygons and high-res textures in all the right places when they were constructing the car model, as the finished product is a strikingly realistic representation of this beautiful car. Subtle reflections grace the bodies of these exquisite creations as you and seven opponents zip around the twelve included circuits at an unfaltering 60 frames per second. Looking at the beauty of the cars alone, with their smooth flowing exterior lines, fully animated drivers, and high-res textures, I could probably forgive AM2 if they had to skimp on the track detail... but fortunately, they didn't. Not even close. The scenery present is some of the best yet seen in a realistic racer. Immediate trackside detail like pavement, barriers, grass and dirt are composed of a nice blend of semi to highly complex geometry and moderately high quality textures. Nice looking buildings, grand stands, parked cars, animated caution flag attendants and a host of other objects abound on most tracks, and add to the visual lusciousness. Combine the visual quality of these great-looking close objects with the incredible draw distance and you end up with a really impressive package. If you're looking for a graphical showpiece to prove the DC's power to your skeptical friends, plug in a VGA box and take a couple of laps through Long Beach during sunset. There's no denying the artistic and engineering beauty of that experience!
Sound is another area that's well polished. The real F355 has a very distinctive sound, a hollow yet throaty growl that's replicated perfectly here. And besides sounding really sweet, listening to that beautiful growl plays an integral part in keeping your car in the sweet spot of its engine power curve. While racing, you sometimes won't have time to glance down at your tac, so listening to the rev of your engine is the only way to shift successfully. Your car isn't bashful when it comes to letting you know you abused it on that last shift either; it'll alter its engine sound to a lower, quieter rumble if you shifted too early, or to a high pitched, high frequency skip if you were too late.
Training mode: following the red line is hard than you may think. |
Should you happen to shift just right, you'll be rewarded with a satisfying purr as it works its way back up the rpm range in the higher gear. Your engine will also realistically scream at the loss of traction due to applying too much throttle, or skip as it struggles to apply power back to wheels as they fight to regain traction. Other nicely simulated sounds like screeching tires and barrier/car collisions seem to be spot on as well. Overall, the sound effects are all really well done and help simulate that "one with the car" feel. Then comes the controversial music. If you're like me and happen to like Van Halen 80's rock, well, then you're in luck. If not, you can always turn it off (note: it's off by default in Intermediate mode anyway) but I personally think it sets the mood rather nicely.
In terms of options, AM2 was gracious enough to continue the recent Sega trend of adding a few extras for the arcade-to-home conversion. The original "Arcade" style racing, whereby you race against AI opponents along with checkpoint completion is still here, but new additions include "Single Race", which eliminates the checkpoint completion, "Championship", which is similar to single race but every track is played in succession with points awarded relating to race standings, and a typical "Time Trial" mode. The option of adjusting the checkpoint difficulty for Arcade mode and race length for Single, Championship, and Time Trial races is another welcome touch. On top of the original 6 arcade courses that include Montegi, Susuka Short, Monza, Sugo, Susuka and Long Beach, 6 new Dreamcast exclusive courses (which include some racing fan favorites) are now unlockable. AM2 also realized that for home racers it's always nice to have the ability to personalize your ride, so they included the ability to tweak mechanical settings like ride height, down force, camber angle, etc., along with aesthetic settings like color and number. One other really neat addition is the option to enable "Magic Weather", meaning that each race will be played in a random climate ranging from cloudy mid-day to beautiful, sunny dusk.
Multiplayer modes are another bright spot. Unfortunately, SegaNet wasn't in full stride during development, so we'll all have to wait a bit longer for true multiplayer racing. However, the multiplayer portions that are included are definitely praise-worthy. Witness the BEST split screen racing implementation in a Dreamcast racer, ever! Somehow it retains the single player's rock solid 60 frames per second gameplay and just about all of the car and track detail. I'm really baffled on how they pulled it off, but it truly is a treat. Also included is link cable play, which I am unfortunately unable to test but have heard great things about. And then there is the really cool Network Race. In Network Race mode, you use the in-game dialer to automatically connect (through your isp) to the Sega F355 network race lobby. Once connected, you choose the track on which you would like to race, and then you are automatically associated with other racers waiting to race on that track. The catch is that all races are in time trial format, meaning that it's just you against the clock for both the qualifying lap and the race itself. Once everyone finishes their own qualifying lap, the times are compared and race start positions are assigned. After finishing your multi-lap race and receiving the time data from the other players, you are treated to a full-length replay of all the players' races combined. The only oddity of the replays is the fact that when the recording took place, there were of course no other cars on the track, so while watching the replay it is not at all uncommon to see a number of cars passing through each other. Nevertheless, this mode is still great fun, and adds a unique twist on the whole "upload your best times" offered in previous games.
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