Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (26th Sep. – 2nd Oct., 2023).

The development of Virtua Racing was prompted by the slightly declining economic context of the arcade in the late 1980s, in the face of fierce new competition from home consoles [1]. Other manufacturers had also sensed the crisis and tried their hand at 3D: as early as the mid-1980s, Namco began work on its System 21 board, whose launch title, Winning Run (1988), altered the direction of arcade racing. Its release encouraged Yū Suzuki and SEGA in a similar direction, leading to the creation of MODEL 1, an arcade board inspired by military simulator technology [2]. A revolutionary technological advance for its time, MODEL 1 posed specific problems for M2.

The original project was to be included in the SEGA 3D Classics on the 3DS. However, the time allotted for the development of each compilation was too limited to allow the production of Virtua Racing, whose 3D emulation required considerable effort. The game was eventually to be included in Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 3: Final Stage (2016), but Virtua Racing had been surpassed in popularity in the polls by Turbo Outrun (1989). Nevertheless, Naoki Horī's pre-production efforts had led M2 to immediately include Virtua Racing in the SEGA AGES line-up for the Switch, but the project underwent a major change. Instead of being based on the 32X version, the port was to be faithful to the MODEL 1 version. The loss of the original source code presented a serious obstacle that wasn't solved until the code for Virtua Formula (1993), an eight-player amusement park expansion to Virtua Racing, was discovered [3].

The goal of SEGA AGES Virtua Racing is to replicate the gameplay of the original title as faithfully as possible, with the specific features of the MODEL 1, while offering a new experience that builds on the impression of revolution experienced by the players of the 1990s. While some of the rough aspects have been faithfully reproduced, such as the natural drift to the right on Big Forest produced by the MODEL 1, the title boasts a much better resolution and viewing distance, while running at 60 FPS. This approach mimics, to some extent, the grandiose and revolutionary look of the 16:9 monitors used by the Deluxe terminals in 1992. Similarly, the addition of multiplayer and replays are inspired by Virtua Formula and the modern grammar of racing games respectively: Horī simply explains that he had the choice of allocating resources to meticulously reproducing the specifics of the arcade version or adding new features, and preferred to 'offer something fun' [4].

At first glance, SEGA AGES Virtua Racing may not be the most impressive title. It has a certain heaviness to it, and its simplicity makes it almost archaic compared to the more advanced productions of the 1990s, such as Daytona USA (1994) on MODEL 2. Nevertheless, the level of detail and streamlined presentation give the title a youthful feel and something of a vision of the future. In Grand Prix mode, the addition of tyre wear forces the player to be strategic both in drifting and when to return to the garage. In keeping with this spirit of emulation, Horī's ambition to implement a stereoscopic view during replays was another manifestation of an optimistic and unbridled modernity [5], but the idea failed to materialise with the Nintendo Labo VR Kit (2019), announced a little too late. With humility, SEGA AGES Virtua Racing appears perhaps not as a definitive edition, lacking the content of other console ports, but as a technical feat and a vibrant tribute to the arcade title.

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[1] Some contextual information on this market transformation is presented in my review of Cool Cool Toon (2000).
[2] '「SEGA AGES バーチャレーシング」インタビュー', on GameWatch, 25th April 2019, consulted on 1st October 2023.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Horī, like Nintendo and the rest of the Japanese industry, had already had ambitions for stereoscopy in SEGA ports since 2016. See '「SEGA AGES ゲイングランド」インタビュー', on GameWatch, 27th December 2018, consulted on 1st October 2023.

protect M2 by any means necessary. only play 7MT.

a better-than-arcade-perfect port of Service Games Amusement Machine Research & Development #2's rawest racing experience, down to the checkerboard pseudo-transparent shadows. if you've played/loved ANY Sega AM2 or Amusement Vision game in the post Model 1 era, and have yet to play virtua racing?? what are you even doing?? VR effectively laid the groundwork for most of sega's non-sonic team output up until around 2006, brutal tracks that end up being more about a race against time than a race against others, where any mistake (improper line/cornering, any collision) at all will lead you further and further from first place. it has more composed music-for-the-sake-of-being-music than what one would experience as an F1 driver, but the synthesized engine sounds, tire squeals and exhaust pops are a form of music themselves. timeless, borderline abstract presentation that wasn't matched by any of it contemporaries or any of its successors. the only reason there isn't a shitload of dust on my switch. raw, focused racing for 5 minutes at a time.

however, none of the tracks here even come close to the elegance of daytona usa's dinosaur canyon, but frankly few ever will (wipeout hd's chengou project comes very close to being as good as dinosaur canyon)

Solid port of the original that gives it a 60 FPS facelift while remaining faithful to the source.

That said, it might be a little too faithful for some, as it lacks any of the extra content from the previous home ports.

Also the multiplayer is awful! Local multiplayer can only be done on the same unit and everyone has to use single Joy-Cons, you can't bring a Pro Controller or other non-Joy-Con controllers. The online multiplayer is so terrible it might as well not exist, as it's only two players, there's a forced PvP window that can be distracting, and the performance is pretty bad.