Moto Racer is an arcade style motorcycle racing game developed by Delphine Software International and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation. It features both dirt and street bikes, and a variety of tracks.
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In the conversations about great arcade racers I've never heard Moto Racer's name come up. In fact I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about this game ever. The only reason I know about it is my vague memories of playing it as a kid. I feel like the gaming community is biased towards certain titles due to their reputation. Because this here is the original Sega Rally, except with motorbikes.
And it really makes this distinction tangible with higher speeds, fragile vehicles and more verticality in the tracks. There are two types of races here: your regular speed racing and motocross, and there is a different emphasis in each. The first is a suspenseful, adrenaline-pumping experience that requires hyper attention and reaction. But, when you're able to pull off some of the rather snaky series' of turns at 200+ km/h it feels extremely rewarding.
The motocross tracks give you more time to assess the upcoming turns, but add the challenge of calculating the trajectory of your air time that's gonna result from driving up the hills at high speeds. It's all much simpler and more intuitive than it sounds though. One kinda stand-out feature is the ability to speed up by doing a pop-a-wheelie, which is something that's not explained to you in the game, even the control scheme doesn't tell you about it. It's handy after crashes, but normally you don't need to speed up, as you're already going so fast, it'll only make your bike harder to control.
The graphics and music are gorgeous on some tracks and kinda vary in quality on others. Some songs with vocals sound pretty corny. The game does let you select which song is gonna play mid-race, which is pretty cool, but it's just extra busywork that nobody needs. Perhaps, if the game let you pick a selection of songs like EA BlackBox's NFS titles do, I might've even rated it higher. Because, although this game doesn't really do anything exceptional, everything it does do is extremely well-done. Certain tracks provide such a stellar audio-visual experience that, if the game managed to keep this up for its entirety, it would've really been a perfect experience.
I guess, if I really had to nitpick, I'd complain about the pop-in, which, from the footage I've seen, is as bad on PC as it is on PS1. But it's not THAT bad, and is actually better than most old racing games I've played.
And it really makes this distinction tangible with higher speeds, fragile vehicles and more verticality in the tracks. There are two types of races here: your regular speed racing and motocross, and there is a different emphasis in each. The first is a suspenseful, adrenaline-pumping experience that requires hyper attention and reaction. But, when you're able to pull off some of the rather snaky series' of turns at 200+ km/h it feels extremely rewarding.
The motocross tracks give you more time to assess the upcoming turns, but add the challenge of calculating the trajectory of your air time that's gonna result from driving up the hills at high speeds. It's all much simpler and more intuitive than it sounds though. One kinda stand-out feature is the ability to speed up by doing a pop-a-wheelie, which is something that's not explained to you in the game, even the control scheme doesn't tell you about it. It's handy after crashes, but normally you don't need to speed up, as you're already going so fast, it'll only make your bike harder to control.
The graphics and music are gorgeous on some tracks and kinda vary in quality on others. Some songs with vocals sound pretty corny. The game does let you select which song is gonna play mid-race, which is pretty cool, but it's just extra busywork that nobody needs. Perhaps, if the game let you pick a selection of songs like EA BlackBox's NFS titles do, I might've even rated it higher. Because, although this game doesn't really do anything exceptional, everything it does do is extremely well-done. Certain tracks provide such a stellar audio-visual experience that, if the game managed to keep this up for its entirety, it would've really been a perfect experience.
I guess, if I really had to nitpick, I'd complain about the pop-in, which, from the footage I've seen, is as bad on PC as it is on PS1. But it's not THAT bad, and is actually better than most old racing games I've played.
It's a lot of fun and it plays very well but it's very unforgiving, even on normal difficulty you have to play almost perfectly. It takes a bit of the fun out of it honestly.
I still love this - Peak Joystick gameplay
Don't get fooled by only 4 tracks. You can unlock 4 more tracks in this game. Also, this game was tough even on easy difficulty.
This game feels really good on several particular courses. The pocket bikes are crazy. If you play on Hard you really have to memorize exactly when you should Boost on every track... I think. Solid game
I remember playing this as a demo disc that came with an old Compaq tower and loving it. Imagine my surprise to find out that not only does it have several more maps, but also holds up as a slim, but pretty delightful arcade racer.
I don’t know if it is my nostalgia, but Moto just has a vibe. From the tracks to the music to the way the engines rev, it has a pretty distinct identity. And a fun one at that, spanning both the street and dirt races.
One of the dirt races is across the top of the Great Wall of China. Enough said.
I don’t know if it is my nostalgia, but Moto just has a vibe. From the tracks to the music to the way the engines rev, it has a pretty distinct identity. And a fun one at that, spanning both the street and dirt races.
One of the dirt races is across the top of the Great Wall of China. Enough said.