there's a lot i could say about ring racers. i've been patiently waiting for it for many years, but i don't think this is a very good game, sadly. it's an incredibly stylish and well presented kart racer, but it's dragged down by baffling design choices that make it difficult to recommend to most people.

ring racers really feels like it was developed in an echo chamber for five years with almost no regard for external feedback. the tutorial freaking sucks and it goes on for way too long and it makes an absolutely abysmal first impression, but it's been discussed to death and its not even that relevant to the entire game experience so whatever.

there are just way, way too many mechanics, many of which are either never useful or are too complicated and overwhelming to be utilised properly. a lot of the time while playing, i genuinely thought to myself 'man, i wish this game was a little bit more like mario kart'. everything about it is tedious and far too difficult for a casual player like myself. srb2kart was great because i could load it up, sit back and enjoy some nice racing. in comparison, playing ring racers feels like pulling teeth.

and, despite all this, the game is still really fun. i don't know if it's just the leftover fun-ness from srb2kart, but i still find myself loading up ring racers and having a good time. unfortunately, it seems like those play sessions get shorter and shorter, and i get more and more frustrated.

this is a cruel, unfair and archaic game. admittedly, there were good times to be had amongst the stages that only took a few tries to get through. most of the tunes are pretty good, although it does get a bit grating hearing the same bleeps and bloops looping over and over again. and there was no feeling more satisfying than finally beating a stage that had taken me a billion attempts and breathing a sigh of relief knowing that i never had to go through that again. but i wouldn't call that the mark of a good game.

to prolong the length of the relatively short stages, the game bullies you. level obstacles are meticulously positioned and timed to make even the simplest of jumps require at least 5 attempts. enemies move unpredictably, erratically, randomly (or at least it feels like its completely random), and i'm partially convinced that capcom employed psychological analysis to develop enemy ai that can perfectly predict how the player is going to move so that they can swoop in there at mach 5 speed and instantly drop you into some spikes. mega man isn't a difficult game, it's just mean.