Sega Nerds

ATEI Show 2007 - Part 5 - Ford Racing: Full Blown

by Graham on February 10th, 2007

 

 Right ladies and nerds, now we start to get down to the ‘real’ games of the show.  No more card trading games.  No sir.  Back to the good old fashioned arcade experience.  And what could be more old fashioned than driving a 1968 Mustang GT??

At the show the Ford Racing game was completely over shadowed by the other big titles Sega had there.  But it still made a fair impression on this reporter.  But I must admit not an amazing one.

The game is like your typical sit down racer and, what is common these days, was lined up with a few other cabinets and the games linked together for some Ford multiplayer fun.  The game had 4 racing seats in total, but I am told you can have up to six players at a time.

I only had a brief go on the game, but overall I think I got a fair opinion of it.  The game is nothing amazing.  The graphics are pretty decent, however the animation isn’t quite right.  It’s hard to say, but, sometimes, as the cars on the tracks, turned corners looked kind of ‘wooden’.  More like someone was sliding a box along and twisting it slightly to turn.  It just didn’t look quite fluid enough. You wiull probably need to play the game to understand fully.  Also I felt that the game was fast enough.  The cars did seem to go quite fast, but compare it to most top Sega aracde racers, Outrun2, Sega Rally, Sega Touring Cars, Scud Racer etc…  The game just didn’t provide the adrenaline rush that other racers do.

     

That said the game was a solid play.  The tracks were pretty well designed and they vary quite well.  The detail was good, just nothing amazing.  In fact that’s possibly the best way I can describe the game.  ‘Good, but not amazing’.  You can certainly have some fun on the game with your friends and you won’t get bored too quickly, but if this game is standing next to some other Sega racing title, then you probably won’t give it much of a look.  The ‘good but not amazing’ policy can also be used for the car design.  On the whole the cars looked prettty darn good, and just like their real life counterparts.  However, they did lack alot of extra detail that one might find in most modern racing games.  It’s hard to tell from screenshots, but when you look at the cars, you initially think they look very very good, but after a while of looking at them they do start to look a tad bland.

     

The things that are interesting about the game, is whats ‘under the hood’ - so to speak.  The game features online updates.  The cabinets can download special software updates, which can include new vehicles and tracks.

From the official website;

“The unique Software Update Feature is an internal game clock that will automatically update all cabinets at the same time across the United States and Europe. This feature will re-invigorate the game. It will give locations and players the feel of an entirely new racing game when given a new choice of vehicles and tracks.”

That is certainly something to get mildly excited about.  One thing that has plagued arcade titles in the past is how short they can be.  Sure you usually only spend about 10-15 minutes at a time on a game (usually depending on how much money you put in), but if you keep playing the same games in the same arcade, you will soon get bored of them and really want a new challenge.  Which is why this feature is very good.  Once you have become used to the same tracks, you will soon be faced with the challenege of newly downloaded track or a new car to test drive.  It’s something that has proved successful with home consoles, so why not arcades?

Here’s a short video of some in-game play from the show. 

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So when you next see the game in the aracdes, I would suggest giving it a try, even if you are tempted by others, it’s fun, especially against someone, just don’t expect to be totally thrilled.

For additional information, check out the official website.

Display Impression: 7.  Game Originality: 7.  Graphics: 8.  Sounds: 7.  Playability: 8.   Funfactor: 7.  Overall Experience: 7.

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POSTED IN: Arcade, G, Video