METROPOLIS STREET RACER (DC)

Screenshots

Street racing gets the Euro treatment

By WILLIAM BARKER

Metropolis Street Racer was announced as a launch title in 1999, but got delayed.

Again, and again, and again.

It was to be one of Sega of Europe's premier titles and thus, it allowed the development crew - Bizzare Creations - a much extended deadline. But this is the way of things - to stop nature in its path for the sake of meeting the end of the fiscal year or a pre-annual sales report is just nonsense. Sure, there was delay after delay, but in the end, the wait was worth it. Oh yes - now who's your Sugar Daddy!?

MSR is all about smooth racing lines, accurate power slides and effective use of power. To quote the game's catch-cry, "It's not about how fast you drive, it's about how you drive fast." This motto embodies what Bizarre wanted to do with its racer and take the genre to a new level. The spooky part? They succeeded.

Essentially, the game is based on what is called the Kudos system. This is your currency, if you will. You get Kudos for doing well in a race. Nevertheless, with the good comes the bad, so if you hit another car, or a wall - or anything for that matter - you will be penalised and will lose Kudos.

You can win Joker cards too, and these will double your earnings if you win - but will take away double the amount if you lose. With such a system you need to accumulate plenty of Kudos to pass chapters, of which there are about 25. Each chapter contains 10 races and if you do the maths, you know that this equates to more than 200 tracks. The word 'impressive' doesn't quite cut it here.

In each chapter, there are a few traditional races against a full pack of AI drivers. To add a bit of zing to the package, the game doesn't just reward players for crossing the finish line in first place. Some 'drives' involve setting a hot lap, racing at breakneck speed through slow-moving traffic and even attaining an average top-speed across five laps.

This variety, combined with the kind of difficult driving such a game requires for progression, equates to a long-lasting and enjoyable experience. For the game to work, given such an ambitious and radical direction, the physics engine and gameplay must be spot-on. Well, thank Sega for giving Bizarre Creations all the time it needed, because this game is baad.

Granted, you won't be able to pick up the controller and pass the training chapter right off the bat, but patience is a virtue - except when sitting in city traffic - grrr. Just like a good bottle of wine, your skills will mature with time, too. The fact that any errors, any collisions, will result in negative Kudos is incentive enough to not drive like my sister.

The courses are split up within three locations, with literally hundreds of smaller districts and tracks. Tokyo, San Francisco and London make up the locales and to call them authentic would be a felony. Bizarre went to tremendous lengths to get the look it wanted for MSR.

For instance, it used 32,000 photographs and 40 hours of video footage from the three cities in question to help recreate their respective digital versions. The end result is one helluva gorgeous game, running at 30fps with NO draw-in whatsoever.

Add to this one of the most surprising aural presences in any game, and you have yourself a best-seller. Each city has a number of local radio stations, with music from the R&B, trance, rock, country and even jazz genres - you'll even hear local DJs ranting on about some such inane dross. It combines with other aspects of the title to provide gamers with a most absorbing experience. MSR is one of the most exquisitely presented products ever, with both oodles of quality and quantity.

The cars, of which there are about 40, look very nice. They appear sharp and very clear with texture-maps used to great effect. But don't think they're light on details as you'll be able to see exactly what car you're driving by the badges on the rear. There are vehicles from manufacturers such as Fiat, Toyota, Opel (aka Holden, Vauxhall), MG and Alfa Romeo. It's good to see more Euro cars, as the Japanese models are featured in almost every racing game out there.

Having spent an eternity in development limbo, the Dreamcast racer of choice has arrived. It is probably the most difficult racer ever conceived, yet one of the most rewarding at the same time. Even Bizarre Creation's website has a link to a console-based edition of its website, ensuring the oft-neglected console community a better journey through cyberspace.

Don't miss this game - it's sublime.

ORIGINALITY 90%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 90%
PLAYABILITY 85%
ADDICTION 95%
ENJOYMENT 95%