Customer Reviews

Metropolis Street Racer

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's been a long time coming, and Metropolis Street Racer is definitely worth the wait. It combines new ideas with the best graphics on a console racing game, and manages to mix arcade-style action and realism in a way that's not been seen previously. In MSR, you race through 25 chapters, each with 10 races (over 250 tracks!) in any of three different cities: San Francisco, London, or Tokyo. The time of day in each city corresponds to the Dreamcast's inner clock -- so if you're playing the game in L.A. at 10 pm, it's 6 am when you race a London track -- very cool. Ambient sounds arise as the day begins as well: if you're racing in the dead of night you'll hear Big Ben chime the hours, but as day breaks (quite a sight to see -- the sky slowly becomes lighter gray, shadows appear...it's not SUDDENLY DAYLIGHT -- and wait'll you see the sun SET over the Golden Gate bridge -- breathtaking) you'll gradually hear traffic in the background, as well as sounds of construction, birds, etc. Put this together with the hyper-realistic graphics (each city is modeled after its real-life counterpart with painstaking accuracy, and there's no pop-up or slowdown whatsoever, even in multiplayer mode) and you have a racing environment unlike any other. Your car is even fitted with a radio that has three unique stations for each city, including news, weather, commercials, and music. At last -- not the same techno beats race after race (but you could use the car's custom CD player to do that if you wanted). MSR contains over 40 cars, from MGs to Mazdas to Porsches, and you can choose the color, transmission, license plate, and even window tint and rooftop style(topless, hard, or soft), and they look and sound incredible. You can't fiddle with engines or suspensions, true, but each car has its own Kudos rating, as well as top speed, acceleration, drive type, and so on. Kudos is another innovation: a unique point system that must be satisfied in order to progress through the chapters, unlocking ever more tracks and cars. Each of the 10 tracks in a chapter presents you with a challenge, which varies hugely from a standard multicar race to a time challenge to a game of How Many Cars Can You Pass Within a Time Limit? and many others. Outstanding variety -- it's not simply a battle for first place. You are able to customize the limits in order to attain the maximum Kudos as well: think you can beat the 40 second time limit for a lap? Change it to 35. Even 30. But be warned: fail to attain your own goal and you lose Kudos big time. MSR compels you to get better with a wonderful learning curve that you can actually adjust to your own ability. And you can re-race any race in any chapter at any time in order to get more Kudos, even using Jokers to double the number of Kudos you gain....but you can lose the same amount, so be cautious when you gamble! There's definitely a rush when you beat your lowered time limit, finally gaining enough Kudos to open another track! MSR handles great -- the handbrake works to perfection, enabling you to perform a Kudos-earning skid, but watch out for the walls -- hit em and you lose Kudos. As the game says, "It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast." At the end of each race, you're awarded Skill and Style points, and penalized for each crash, and then further adjustments are made based on if you beat the challenge or not. Graphics-wise, control-wise, and gameplay-wise, MSR sets new standards for racing games. Add in a fantastic multiplayer mode (you can also up/download track times via the Internet) with several different options, and it's easy to see that this is the best racer to ever appear on any console. It appeals to casual and hardcore, sim nuts and arcade junkies. We DC owners sure have it good: Soul Calibur, Code Veronica, NFL2K1, Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio...and now Metropolis Street Racer, an absolute classic that'll be praised and remembered fondly for a long time.

Before I say anything else, let me say this:
If you like racing games, get this game NOW.

Now on to the ramblings...
Graphics are great and move beautifully with no noticeable slowdown whatsoever, music is pretty good and sound effects are also top-notch. Control is, for the most part, very good; and as you well know, the most important aspect of a racing game is control.
HOWEVER...
This is the most unforgiving game I have ever played.
Let me first explain the concept:
There are 25 levels, each with 10 races. On each race you earn points (Kudos) based upon your performance (avg speed, lap times, etc), your "carefulness" (not hitting walls or other cars) and your power sliding. You can also set the bar higher and get more Kudos by challenging yourself to accomplish more (if on a race you were supposed to get 5th place, you can raise the bar and set it to 1st place).
Sounds pretty good right?
The problems are that (1) the other drivers could not care less about points and will gladly throw their cars at you costing you points; (2) most of the tracks were designed by someone of chaotic evil alignment (tough as heck - especially after you reach level 7); (3) this is a biggie - if you race the same race over and over trying to get more Kudos (which are not cumulative - if you earned 50 the first time and 48 the second time, you keep 48) you actually earn LESS KUDOS each time you race it!!! Even if you perform perfectly!

This is probably the most frustrating game I have ever played. And because of this, it is also one of the most rewarding.

So, in short, get the game... It is excellent.
BUT, make sure you have spare controllers... And that you aim at something other than the TV when you toss them.

Note again that MSR has great graphics. However, in some areas in the several tracks, the lighting is so dim I cannot see turns clearly. The game frame rate seems just a bit slow so I don't feel adrenalized driving a car at 80-100 mph in the city. Also, when you bump into barriers, the car just stops, it won't bounce back or spin the car around. Not that I've ever ran into walls in real life, but, MSR just doesn't seem to have that realism I'd imagine. Alright, so, I've been negative about this game. But, I am glad to have purchased it. I've played many many racing games, both on PlayStation and Dreamcast (big names like GranTurismo 1&2, Tokyo Extreme Racer 2, Test Drive Lemans, etc . MSR is one of the most interesting as well as enjoyable racing games to play. There's something about racing in the city that's different from a racing on a circuit track. There are more surprises and possibilities to do well or screw-up in the streets. MSR, I'm sure you've heard, is not about how fast you drive, it's about how you drive fast. You need precision and lots of practice to win kudos but with the game's great controls you should be able to drive quite well after a few run. The game can keep you addicted as you try to unlock new tracks and cars. The game play is simple and tight. The driving is solid. The graphics are great. Only thing is there is a longer learning curve than most racing games trying to get good at this game.

I have purchased this game the day it came out. It has been a blast so far. First off you get to pick 1 out of 3 cars to start with. The graphics are impressive. In your trunk you have CD changer where you can pick a radio station or 1 out of bunch of CD's to play. The choices are rock, techno, classical, country you name it. The game is pretty hard. Kudos system takes a little getting used to but once figured out it adds more fun and purpose to the game. there are about 40+ cars with great graphics and a different handling. You can tell each car differs from one another significantly. We have 3 cities in the game, London, San Fransisco and Tokyo. Each city is modeled after its real look. But the real fun kicks in with all kinds of courses. There are 20 chapters in the game with 10 races to participate each. Since they are all real cities the driving through narrow streets of Tokyo's market places, flying through the London's squares, driving up/down the stairs, going through tunnels (where the radio station turns to static) or driving through SF bay area is amazing. The cool thing about driving any car is once you learn how to drive you can actually stop looking at your map to see the turns or anything, you can actually just look at the road and adjust your speed, brakes and power slides. the feel of the speed in this game is real. I recommened this title to anyone who is remotely interested in racing games. Bizarre Creations did a great job!

MSR can be summed up as the middle ground between Ridge Racer and Gran Turisimo. If your looking for a sim-experiance like GT, this isn't it. There is little custumization to be done, as this game is all about learning how to drive each car to the best of your ability.

And that's what makes MSR shine. Each of the 40+ cars handles diffrently, meaning you have to spend the time to find a car you like, and then learn how to drive it most effectivly to get the best racing results. This can be a hard game ladies and gentleman as it is not your typical racing game.

Using a new "Kudos" system, you drive for points. The better you do (fast lap times, place hgh in the rankings, don't hit railings or other cars, powerslide) the more points you get. By getting more points, you open up new Chapters (25 in all with 10 races in each) and cars (Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Toyota, Fiat, Alfa Romaeo, Nissan, Ford...). When you first start the game, there are only 2 levels and 3 cars available, but once you get going, and get good, the game opens up to you.

Graphicly, MSR is a wonder to behold. With 3 cities <partially> recreated down to the curb, you have some wonderful driving ahead of you. With day and night changing realisticly (using the internal clock of the DC) it adds a wonderful graphical bonus. Driving through Tokyo at 120MPH at night is an amazing sight. For the best sense of speed, go for the in-car cam. The car models are rock solid as well, rounding out the visual package. Sound is solid as well, with the standard engine noises and ambient sounds, though the music can be put down as either a)you'll like it or b) you'll hate it. It is really a matter of personal prefrence.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? Well, I think the anti-aliasing could be better (can get jaggie at times), I would like to see more cars on screen at once (6 tops), a better music selection, and why on Earth can't you catch air in ANY city? I mean doing over 100 MPH in San Fran!? We should be counting the seconds being airborn!

Aside from that, I strongly recommend anyone looking for a new, trend setting racing game. Fantastic controls, graphics, and sound come together to make one fantastic Dreamcast effort by Bizarre Creations.

MSR is probably one of the best racing sims out there in all factors. With 3 different cities (San Francisco, London, and Tokyo) to race in, it will keep anyone busy for a very long time. The graphics are excellent. The only flaw with the graphics is the anti-aliasing. In some parts of the game, the jaggies are easily visible. Even still, racing through Tokyo at night is a beautiful sight. MSR's award system is quite different than a lot of other racing sims. You are awarded kudos for winning a race, performing a power slide, winning a championship, etc. And after you earn enough Kudos, you will earn new cars and open new chapters. There are 25 chapters in the whole game, with 10 different races in each chapter.

Be warned, though. The kudos system was made far more difficult than it needed to be and could be very frustrating for a novice, unless you don't mind the challenge.. If you crash into the side, kudos will be deducted. Worst of all, you can lose kudos that you already earned if you didn't race as well as the last time. Not something you want to have happen.

The cars couldn't have been better. A great selection. Alfa Romeo , Fiat, Nissan, Mazda, and many others.

There's only two other drawbacks with MSR. When racing on some of the tracks at night, the curves are hard to see and makes the track a lot more difficult. And 2, I was a little surprised that you couldn't go airborne. When racing in San Francisco at high speeds, you go airborne very frequently. Sega keeps releasing exceptional game after exceptional game. Without any doubt, MSR is definitely worth buying, and would make a great addition to anyone's DC library!

Fantastic 3-D visual effects and great controls. Unbelievable amount of tracks and cars to choose from. In my opinion, this has got to be one of the best street car racing games ever.

If you like racing games get MSR. I have owned this game for about one month and found it to be frustrating at times yet addictive. However, once you make it out of each phase it is very satisfying.

Some of the courses are very difficult. Navigating through the corners espesially when you race one-on-one with the computer can be frustrating. Once you make a mistake and the car you are racing against gets ahead of you you'll never catch up with it and you know you've lost kudos before you finish the laps. In addition making the corners at night can be tough. Its difficult to see barriers and railings clearly. You'll have to anticipate the turns and react quickly.

Gaining the opportunity to compete for a new car once a chapter is completed is exciting because each car has a performance index or number. Some cars handle the corners beter than others. Some are not as fast as others but have good low-end power (i.e., builds up speed quickly in the low gears). Deciding which car to use in the chapter becomes a matter of strategy. Moreover, you can select the color of the car; choose a manual or automatic transmission; select automatic breaking system on or off and drop-top, hard or soft top. In additon getting to test drive some of the cars from the manufacturers is exciting.

The graphics is great. Seeing the three different cities (London, Tokyo, San Francisco) and their landscape is pleasing to the eye. You can also tune into the radio or play the cd; its a nice addition to the game.

Over all I recomend MSR for car enthusiast and those who like racing games. I havn't found any negatives about the game so far. You'll get hours of enjoyment out of this one. It's number one in my book.

Great game. Mind-boggling superbness. Except one thing. Any and all FR cars (front-engine, rear-wheel drive cars) are nearly impossible to prevent from spinning out in the rain.
So....I'm in the final few chapters, and my best car is a Toyota Celica GT-FOUR cuz it's the most powerful car available to me that isn't FR!!! And for the difficulty? Damn. Frustrating much....but that's what makes a good game....even though I'm not able to skillfully drive an RX-7 like I'd like to!!!
Overall....9 out of 10.

This game has great graphics and over 80 different routes in 3 different areas of 3 different citys. that equals up to about 700 possible routes. The down side to this game is that unless you are extremely skilled, it is hard. You get stuck a lot.
The game automaticly saves yoiur progress every time you do anything. If you loose one race, it ruins your game, actually it dosent do much but can be bad if you keep loosing.
To any skilled vidio game racer, this would be ideal.