Remember when Squaresoft tried their hand at a racing game?

[Magog]

Not bad honestly for a first attempt. Tracks are too smooth but that could have been fixed. If they had kept at it they may have given some decent competition to Gran Turismo.

 

[Wolfe]

I remember the handling being rather wily, and the swaying of the Civic refreshes that memory. The hilarious outcome of the second race in the video is probably emulation error, I think.

I tried all of the bigger GT wannabes of the '00s, and while they all had faults, quality really wasn't a determining factor in their success next to GT. The only one that could stick it out was the one backed by a large reserve of money and influence -- Forza. I think the outcome goes to show there was just no hope for titles like Driving Emotion Type-S. Even if your game was better (not that DETS was), there was no beating Gran Turismo...unless you carved out your own walled-off market where you compete with GT only indirectly, and throw money at the project until it sticks.

Things are maybe different nowadays.

 

[Scaff]

Not Squares only try at a racing title, as we (well Japan) also got the bonkers racing RPG, Racing Lagoon.

Racing Lagoon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I do however still have my copy of DETS

 

[Magog]

Not Squares only try at a racing title, as we (well Japan) also got the bonkers racing RPG, Racing Lagoon.

Racing Lagoon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Doesn't look half bad either especially for being a PS1 game. Different staff entirely from the one I posted too. How strange.

 

[Scaff]

Still have my copy

 

[Wolfe]

Not Squares only try at a racing title, as we (well Japan) also got the bonkers racing RPG, Racing Lagoon.

Gah. Where is my due diligence. 🐺 I still need to play that one; I was informed of a good translation available now.

On that note, let's not forget Rad Racer (née Highway Star):

 

[Silver Arrows]

I tried all of the bigger GT wannabes of the '00s, and while they all had faults, quality really wasn't a determining factor in their success next to GT. The only one that could stick it out was the one backed by a large reserve of money and influence -- Forza. I think the outcome goes to show there was just no hope for titles like Driving Emotion Type-S. Even if your game was better (not that DETS was), there was no beating Gran Turismo...unless you carved out your own walled-off market where you compete with GT only indirectly, and throw money at the project until it sticks.

Not really?

It pretty clear to me playing the GT clones of the 2000's that so many of them were coming out of Japan only - and they tried to beat GT at the one thing that GT has always done well, even today: style. That isn't enough, and it's not helped by the fact that only one of these titles actually was any good in terms of gameplay in Sega GT, and even then it wasn't really that great. It makes sense that the first real challenger to GT to that point would be American, and mostly because they actually decided to take a look at GT as a whole and see what worked, and what could be improved upon after 4 titles and countless challengers.

By 2005 though, it was pretty clear that the next generation of hardware would at least serve as good fuel to challenge GT if teams were able to swing it. And the fact of the matter is, Forza 1 served as a worthy challenger simply because not only was it a good game, but it had things people had been wanting for years. Actual online play, more indepth customization, and Porsche/Lamborghini/Ferrari. Not helped by the fact that by 2005, Enthusia proved that GT could be beat in the style and pizzazz department, and that GT was entering it's Long, Dark Era (and one that, in my opinion, it still hasn't really found itself out of)

 

[phillgt2002]

It pretty clear to me playing the GT clones of the 2000's that so many of them were coming out of Japan only - and they tried to beat GT at the one thing that GT has always done well, even today: style.

I really like that you brought this up. Even until this day, has a style and presentation that most, if not all, racing games haven't been able to match.

Enthusia is the only game I can think of that managed to nearly match GT in terms of style, and it eclipsed the game in terms of physics and dynamics.

Also, I agree with the idea that GT is still in a 'dark age' to a degree.

 

[NotThePrez]

Not Squares only try at a racing title, as we (well Japan) also got the bonkers racing RPG, Racing Lagoon.

Racing Lagoon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I do however still have my copy of DETS

I honestly thought that's what this thread was going to be about. I'd love to have a physical copy of Racing Lagoon, however it usually hovers around $50-$60, sadly .

 

[Silver Arrows]

I honestly thought that's what this thread was going to be about. I'd love to have a physical copy of Racing Lagoon, however it usually hovers around $50-$60, sadly .

Sail the seas, my friend.

 

[GroupB]

Racing Lagoon was in the news recently, as a fan-translated English version has gone live.

 

[Wolfe]

@Silver Arrows -- The style factor is an interesting question, but I don't think it was the main thrust of the challengers, except for Auto Modellista of course (in contrast to GT's style). I believe the stylistic elements they share in common are a Japanese style, not a Gran Turismo style. Gran-Turismo-style racing is inspired by Hot Version/Best Motoring videos; all the jazz music is inspired by Japanese jazz fusion bands like Casiopea. There were Super Famicom games that took the same inspirations before GT -- like Shutokou Battle '94 for both in one. I think it's cultural.

Also interesting -- I don't agree that EPR matched GT in style or pizzazz. 🐺 It excelled with track atmosphere and much of its OST, but the UI is pretty stark and the menu side of the OST is repetitive...very repetitive after hundreds of hours!

Anyway, you and I must rate the relevant titles differently. Not that it matters? I'm pretty certain Forza became what it is with Microsoft's backing and Xbox exclusivity during the success of the XB360. Marketing, visibility, etc. are part of the equation. Microsoft was determined to make Forza succeed and stick it to Gran Turismo; that's Microsoft's M.O.

Since they've done so, Gran Turismo is no longer untouchable, but now Forza kind of is.

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

I honestly thought that's what this thread was going to be about. I'd love to have a physical copy of Racing Lagoon, however it usually hovers around $50-$60, sadly .

I think I still got mine, been a while since I checked my japanese ps1 games.

 

[Scaff]

I've had the itch to revisit this one (Driving Emotion Type-S) since this thread was first posted, just to see if it was actually as bad as I remember it being.

Oh boy, I was not disappointed in that regard.



I actually paid good money for this when it first came out, and then again years later to add it back into my collection. That I don't regret, as it's kind of a classic now for all the wrong reasons, but frustratingly this could actually have been a solid title, particularly given it had a year on Gran Turismo 3.

 

[SestoScudo]

So many Japanese developers and Publishers actually made racing games to challenge PD and Sony. A lot of them nearly gave PD a run for its money but a lot of them fell short of the target.

Ps: I take back the nearly gave pd a run for its money.

 

[-Fred-]

Gah. Where is my due diligence. 🐺 I still need to play that one; I was informed of a good translation available now.

On that note, let's not forget Rad Racer (née Highway Star):

View attachment 1102951

Rad Racer, the very first racing game I ever played! I vaguely remember there was an option to turn it into a "3D" game using those red/blue glasses and some graphical trickery, which was not very good.

 

[Silver Arrows]

A lot of them nearly gave PD a run for its money but a lot of them fell short of the target.

Yeah, I have my doubts about even 'nearly giving PD a run for their money'

 

[SestoScudo]

Yeah, I have my doubts about even 'nearly giving PD a run for their money'

Enthusia actually came pretty close. The rest like capcom, square and namco failed.

I take back the nearly gave pd a run for its money. I watched some gameplays of the games. Enthusia came close the rest were bad like r racing evolution. God that game was bad and cringy.

 

[Scaff]

r racing evolution.

I've been replaying that one as well

 

[VXR]

I wish there was the same clamour to create racing games now, similar to what we had back then. I'd love a modern take on a 90s JDM Racer with all those wonderful previously obscure cars and modifying tastes.

 

[Wolfe]

Sparing some special words for GT4, suffice to say, I enjoyed R: Racing Evolution and even Auto Modellista better. I would much rather revisit Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero with its pivoting-sled physics for the umpteenth time than play GT4 again. There's a dynamic to it I can actually work with, when you dial the steering setting to -15.

Damned near everything was more fun to drive than GT4. The competition could hardly fail. Driving Emotion Type-S still did, though.

That's why I said quality really wasn't a determining factor in beating GT, from my perspective. Because I get it, I understand that GT4 had everything else -- cars, environments, features, etc. -- and that's what sold it. But where it counts most, I still to this day can't believe how awful GT4 was. PD's only been stumbling forward in staggered steps since -- by my record-keeping, GT4, GT5, and GT6 got clobbered by alternatives.

Now, GT Sport seems kinda decent, and I intend to give GT7 a close look.

Rad Racer, the very first racing game I ever played! I vaguely remember there was an option to turn it into a "3D" game using those red/blue glasses and some graphical trickery, which was not very good.

Yes, all they could do was alternate palettes on the refresh rate of the graphics output, which I guess meant the effect was 30FPS at best in NTSC territories and 25FPS at best in PAL territories.