The Rings of Saturn Vol #4: Virtua Racing

History: Initially created as 'proof of concept' not intending to be an actual game, Virtua Racing was released in 1992 in arcades and became a foundation for the future of racing games. While not the first racer to use polygons it was the first to do it well. Previous games like Hard Drivin', while impressive for the times, just didn't render and play back fast enough, making it a rough experience.
Still Virtua Racing was very limited as it was developed on limited hardware for the time. The game lacks depth of detail and is mostly blank and solid colored polygons like Star Fox. It had limited music tracks, limited choice, and was overall a pretty limited experience while providing innovation at the same time. On the upside the game had a very high polygon count. Rendering more in real time that it's successor, Daytona USA.
When it was ported to the Saturn it was released by Time Warner. Giving it an awkward name to say and read. The full title was Time Warner Interactive's VR Virtua Racing. Why they felt the need to keep the VR when it says Virtua Racing afterwords is hard to say but I can't help but feel it was to hint at virtual reality. Thankfully in Japan the game was instead titled Virtua Racing SEGASATURN.
The Saturn port contains a few new features like new tracks but contains nothing added into Virtua Racing Deluxe, the Sega 32X port. That and the graphics were not improved much at all from the original arcade version even though it's since been improved on. From the outside it looks like it'd be a weaker port.

Personal History: This is the first time I've ever played this game. I've known about it for years but in little detail. It wasn't until I re-bought a Saturn that I finally decided to pick it up. Thankfully a local re-sale shop was selling it for less than $10. I couldn't resist.

Availability: Outside of arcades and the Saturn the game had a very limited porting life. One of the ports was to the Sega Genesis of all places. Only made possible by using a special chip in the cartridge much like the Super FX chip on the SNES. It was later ported to the 32X before being released on the Saturn. The 32X version was the previously mentioned Virtua Racing Deluxe. The last port was Virtua Racing -Flatout- for the Playstation 2. Like any other version the game had it's own additions that made it unique. Regardless of what port you're playing they will all be different in some way. But from what I can tell not a noticeably huge difference.

Version I Played: American Saturn release.

Review: When I decided to get back into Sega Saturn collecting I knew it wasn't going to be a bed of roses 100% of the time. Sure every console has their crap titles, that's a given. But since the Saturn was one of the major consoles when polygons and 3D gaming were new... it was bound to have a few titles that haven't aged well because of experimentation or lack of technology.

Virtua Racing, while influential and innovative at the time, is one of those titles.

I will admit it has been a curiosity for a long time. As I watched games become more advanced I became equally fascinated by older games, specifically in 3D over 2D. Discovering this game for the first time was like discovering a better, but not that much better looking version of Star Fox. Very basic, little to no texture, rough around the edges, but not set in space.

Seriously, don't you want to at least try this?

The visual experience really takes me back to when the idea of virtual reality was new and exciting. Ironically virtual reality never looked that real back in the day. Instead it seemed to focus on the virtual portion more because that seemed to be the in thing. One could blame lack of technology, but I don't fully agree. Even in movies about virtual reality there was a heavy visual focus to make it look computery. Have you forgotten The Lawnmower Man?

I haven't! I fucking love that movie!

So having it look like a computer was partly a technological limitation with the other part being the cool thing at the time. So in a way Virtua Racing brings back a lot of memories in a game I never played until over twenty years after it's arcade release.

Looking at it now the game is visually pathetic. It is about as basic as 3D can get with it's incredibly blocky shapes, no texture, flat solid colors, and so forth. Surprisingly I did see some good attention to detail I didn't expect.

For one the cars look pretty good. They're not a set of triangles and/or squares like in previous polygon games (i.e. Hard Drivin' and Star Fox.) They're actually a good visual representation considering what could be done in the early 90's. Another good attention to detail were things like skid marks on the road. If you or an opponent take a hard turn it'll leave skid marks behind from your tires and be there next time you roll around. Also in some tracks you can knock over poles or signs which, like the skid marks, will be there the next time you roll around. Lastly I loved how when you do cockpit view you see the hood of the car and even the steering wheel as you're driving. Its attention to detail like that, that really make this game stand out visually among others at the time.

Racing games that came after this didn't even do this... and some that did didn't do it as well.

Just like modern games it is about so much more than visuals. Be as pretty as you want, it doesn't overshadow the bad. Although I feel bad for criticizing this game from a modern perspective. Not saying it was perfect twenty two years ago, just that in perspective of the time it was much better than what I thought of it. Besides, it was an early attempt at something that would only get better. So less that I'm beating up an old man, more like pissing on the first draft of a great novel.

Simply put this is a rough experience overall, especially from the perspective I'm playing it. While I can see the appeal I have plenty of problems that are damn near game breaking.

For one the game is too fast and too difficult to control. Not quite a simulation but not floaty enough to be a full, proper arcade experience. Turning can be more difficult than it needs to be and using the brakes to aid your turns don't help much, or at least I haven't mastered it.

To make things more difficult you can kiss winning just about any race goodbye if you collide with walls or other cars. Sure it slows you down like any other game but this does it worse than that. For the most part you can graze by the walls fine. Slamming into them with damn near stop you dead in your tracks. What's even worse is running into another car which results in both you and the other card to actually stop in the middle of the road to spin around in a comically unrealistic fashion. Which is bad for a game with 'virtua' in the title. Well, realism aside it kills the pace and lets two, three cars to fly by which were difficult enough to pass in the first place.

Its not impossible to play smoothly. I actually found myself getting the hang of it, making for some more exciting racing than I previously thought possible. The arcade experience is definitely still alive. So getting beyond some of those set backs I can see better how this appealed to people so many years ago.
Sadly even the more positive experiences of this game can be a bit dull.

Once you get a hang of the awkward controls and actually find a way to not screw up on every turn and pass you'll find the experience dull. While not devoid of music there's a strong lack of it, only appearing ten to fifteen seconds at a time. So most of the time is spent going down many straight paths with the droning and primitive noise of the digital engine and tire squeals. Because of that the races feel longer than they really are and the experience turns out to be pretty boring.

But of course this is a retrospective look on what essentially laid the groundwork for future of the 3D racing genre. I really wish I was there to play it when it came out, and then when it was in arcades. Especially since later versions really enhanced the experience.

And I mean REALLY enhance it.

It just didn't age that well. As much as I love early 3D and the experiments that came around in the 90's this one just didn't do it for me. Maybe because it is too primitive, or my lack of experiencing it at the right time is causing the negative opinion, but that hasn't stopped me in the past. Or it could be I didn't get the best port despite being on a more advance console than the Genesis and 32X. That judgement based on nothing more than what I've gathered in research.
It might be because the vastly superior Daytona USA came out only a year later. A racing game so much better both in and outside the context of the time. And let's be honest, the first attempt isn't always the best in video games. If anything it takes a round or two to get it right and not just when introducing new technologies. It takes time, developing new ideas, fleshing it out, really understanding what works.
I'd still say check this game out. It's a great piece of video game history and a wonderful curiosity. Just know what you're getting into. It's going to feel dated. REALLY dated.