193 replies to this topic

[Tony Mandara]

I believe it was called 'Night Racer/driver' or somesuch. (can't reaserch that here- The dreaded "Access Denied! - Games".) There were both stand-up and sit down cabinets. IIRC there wasn't even an accelerator, the thing just picked up speed the longer you stayed between the lines (of white dots!).

Edit: Think I've found it on Wiki,-

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Night_Driver

seems I was wrong about the accelerator, it was the brakes that were missing!


But anyone remember this one?

http://en.wikipedia....1_(arcade_game)

Edited by Tony Mandara, 21 February 2013 - 11:56.

[The Kanisteri]

How about this classic?

The Great American Cross-Country Road Race

[Afterburner]

Super Mario Kart was my first, followed by a plethora of racing games for the N64 that included Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, F-Zero X, Wipeout 64, and the oft-forgotten but amazingly fun Star Wars: Episode I Racer.

I generally prefer sims these days, but I'd give quite a bit for a solidly-built arcade racer in the vein of Super Mario Kart or Diddy Kong Racing.

[king_crud]

The Kanisteri, on Feb 21 2013, 13:28, said:

How about this classic?

The Great American Cross-Country Road Race

that's brought back some memories!

[Imperial]

Tony Mandara, on Feb 21 2013, 11:28, said:

I believe it was called 'Night Racer/driver' or somesuch.

Heh, I believe that's the one.

That was actually a turning point as a 4/5/6 year old (whatever it was) in realising I liked racing. I had a few toy race cars I used to vroom-vroom up and down the carpet but don't believe I'd even seen any racing on the whopping three tv channels, but I recall my folks giving me a coin to pop in this particular machine (10p no doubt - ain't no arcade games offering 10p play these days) and I can still recall those first few seconds being absolutely amazed at how cool this racing car business actually is.

[Tony Mandara]

My standout memory of that game is that it was harder than a rottweiler with a machine gun!

[Tenmantaylor]

Another two multiplayer classics. I remember the fights over who used the joystick and who used the keyboard...

[Tony Mandara]

nothing beats this one for multiplayer madness.

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Super_Sprint


Especially the strategic 'elbow in the ribs' to your opponents!

[Zippel]

Tenmantaylor, on Feb 23 2013, 00:17, said:

Another two multiplayer classics. I remember the fights over who used the joystick and who used the keyboard...

I also remember Super-Off Road in the arcade with 4 steering wheels/accelerator pedals to one screen. Good times.

[olliek88]

Used to love GT, to the extent i used it for my GCSE Graphics Design project!

[crooky369]

Toca touring car championship on Playstation. It didn't take long till I was onto Gran Turismo either though!

[Tony Mandara]

^^ That game was the mutt's nuts!

The AI was pure evil! If you went through a race and 'tapped' as many opponents as possible, they would all be gunning for you at the next race!

It was like Death Race 2000 ..... just without guns and explosions.

[Jimisgod]

EA F1 2000!

Wonderful game. I would run everyone off the road but Mika.

[Harry]

TOCA was ace. I always remember it being very immersive and difficult. It also had an in-car view!

My fist racing game was Moto Racer 2. A top quality crosser/superbike game, had a top-class track editor to boot!

Edited by Harry, 02 March 2013 - 19:34.

[Peat]

^Yeah, that was great.

The 'Great Wall' track annoyed me though. Everything else on it was great and plausible, but that circuit just stank or arcade nonsense.

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

Can't remember exactly, but I remember playing an Indycar game (possibly by Papyrus?). I also remember playing F1 97on the PC. So yeah, 1 of those 2 I reckon.

Edit: Looking at a photo of the 'on board' shot with the car setup, tyre temps etc, definitely Indy 500 was my first. I rarely managed to get past turn 1 though, as I usually ended up in a big crash. Then again, I was only young, so maybe crashing was part of the......fun for me at that age (now on racing games I do try not to crash, and therefore to win). Oh and does GP4 work on Windows XP?

Edited by HuddersfieldTerrier1986, 08 March 2013 - 15:57.

[COUGAR508]

My first exposure to racing games was on the ZX Spectrum circa 1983/84. The first one would probably have been Chequered Flag, and later on Pole Position....

[crooky369]

Tony Mandara, on Mar 1 2013, 08:47, said:

^^ That game was the mutt's nuts!

The AI was pure evil! If you went through a race and 'tapped' as many opponents as possible, they would all be gunning for you at the next race!

It was like Death Race 2000 ..... just without guns and explosions.

It's such a hard game. I tried to complete a championship last year but there's so many "barriers" to stop you. Firstly you have to get a minimum average of twenty points per weekend which means getting an average position in every race of 3rd. Which doesn't sound too bad but it really is because its hard to qualify anywhere near the top ten so you have to battle through the field with the aggressive AI potentially ruining your race in one move. Plus the cars (the mondeo at least) spin really easy to the point that you can spin through the fast bend round the back of Thruxton.

And the final nail in the coffin is that after you've miraculously cut your way through the field the two utterly dominant Renaults will probably be out of reach so 3rd in the championship is probably the best you could hope for! Plus they gain 2 points a race from qualifying on pole so it's harder still.

Just started playing through another classic Colin McRae Rally so hopefully I'll have more success with it.

[FredF1]

First racing car game was on the C64 - attempt to keep a car on a dirt road with various obstacles. Must have been about 1982/3.

On PC - Grand Prix Unlimited from Accolade around 1993. I remember you could build your own tracks out of 'Scalextric' style components. I used to make massive tracks that made the original Nürburgring look like Monaco.



Then it was Microprose GP1. I remember buying it but being unable to get it to work on my dad's 386. I had to wait until he got a 486 the following year before I could play it. I used to take that yellow single car team and thrash everyone else. I'd be leading the entire field by a lap at the end so I had enough time to find Nigel Mansell and ram him off the track. Every single race.

GP2, I played so much that I used to see the damn thing every time I closed my eyes. My housemates grew to hate the sound effects as I played and played and played into the wee hours. I must have really got it all out of my system because, apart from a brief and unsatisfactory attempt on GP3, I haven't bothered with an F1 sim since then.

[saudoso]

First one must have been Enduro for me too. But the one I plaied the most, up to today, was this:

[blackmme]

Tenmantaylor, on Jan 25 2013, 11:55, said:

7M I had that one too, very tricky!

Who remembers:



Gameplay

What these guys acheived with the computing power they had was amazing. Great artists

I loved that game, my brother in law and I saw a whole rally through :-) keeping your car in one piece was a challenge!

My first racing game was typed in to my ZX81 from a Sinclair magazine in 1982 my next was Pole Position on my Atari 800 in 1983 . I still have a love of Fuji :-)

Regards Mike

[Kingshark]

Frosted Kellogg's Gr-r-rand Prix

The game, although released in 2002, IIRC was based off the 1997 Formula One season. The graphics and game-play were surprisingly good for its time, especially considering that it came free along with a two-dollar serial box.

Epic game.

Starting to feel nostalgic again, I wish I still had it.

Edited by Kingshark, 06 June 2014 - 18:44.

[ViMaMo]

A Dos game on PC in the late 80s. There were three cars: Williams, Ferrari and Mclaren.

[The Kanisteri]

Kingshark, on Mar 11 2013, 07:13, said:

Frosted Kellogg's Gr-r-rand Prix

The game, although released in 2002, IIRC was based off the 1997 Formula One season. The graphics and game-play were surprisingly good for its time, especially considering that it came free along with a two-dollar serial box.

(Pics edited off)

Epic game.

Starting to feel nostalgic again, I wish I still had it.

Kingshark,
Funny. I have never seen Frosted Kellogg's version of this game. But judging some images game is actually F1 Racing Simulation II by Ubisoft. Sequel lost F1 license to (Microprose if I'm not wrong - They made superb GP3) and game had no real drivers nor real teams, though challenges were familar from real events, like Damon Hill's tehcnical struggle with Arrows at 1997 Hungary GP from end of the race and leading position. Also game had spin off classic era with 50's GP cars - like you can see from your first picture.

Edited by The Kanisteri, 11 March 2013 - 08:06.

[minardifans]

My first PC racing game was this highly underrated arcade racer



Then I bought this, which was dreadful beyond belief:




nearly put me off racing games until I decided to have a punt on Grand Prix 2 which looked rubbish on the box, but boy was I impressed.

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

Yeah I remember Screamer. Didn't have the Kellogs game mentioned, however I did have F1 Racing Simulation (that was the 96 season). I always got annoyed when if I made contact with someone, I'd always be the 1 to spin, or my suspension would pathetically be trashed with minor contact. I still enjoyed it though. Occasionally I'd try Monaco, 100% chance of heavy rain, starting on pole, no planned pitstops, and then go as slow as I could while at the same time trying to stop anyone getting past me. The race never got to 78 laps when I did that, as you can well imagine. Still have the disk somewhere, might go on the game again sometime soon.

Edited by HuddersfieldTerrier1986, 11 March 2013 - 16:31.

[Viktor]

As many others the first racing game I can remember playing was Accolade Grand Prix Circuit in the late 80s. I did not know anything about F1 then but was a Ferrari car fan so always selected the Ferrari. Still remember how I used to go into the pits at the start of the race to overtake everyone

/Viktor

[king_crud]

saudoso, on Mar 10 2013, 11:43, said:

First one must have been Enduro for me too. But the one I plaied the most, up to today, was this:

Greatest game ever

[PayasYouRace]

Count me in to the ICR2/GP2 lot. Had the ICR2 demo first, but didn't get the full game until after I got GP2. Both were brilliant games.

On console, it was F1 97 on the PS1, and Toca, Colin McRae and Gran Turismo all came along shortly after. It was a great time to be new to racing games.

[Ickx]

Jaguar XJ220 on Amiga was probably the first racing game I took serious. It was quite fun, I can't imagine all the hours playing split screen. Not really a sim though.

I had a short spell of IndyCar and Nascar from some sort of game bundle on my first PC but I guess that I was too young for a serius simulator. I found it nearly impossible to get round whitout damaging the car. Managed to create some pile ups though...

The first more serious racing was Toca2 with my first wheel, soon graduated to F12000 which I found more fun than the Grand Prix series. When I found GPL it was a revelation, what a game.

[JdB]

I used to play my games on the MSX, and i think it was Continental Circus that was my first.

The damned thing didn't load some of the times, so it was always a struggle.

After that, a couple of games but none too serious untill Destruction Derby 2 :

and after that, the best game ever :

And ofcourse Grand Prix 2 & 3, which were awesome because you could put in more tracks. But Grand Prix Legends is still my favourite, only i wrecked my wheel

Edited by JdB, 19 March 2013 - 13:39.

[Nobody]

Youichi, on Jan 24 2013, 10:31, said:

And Chequered Flag on the Sinclair Spectrum, in 83 /84.


And you whippersnappers can get off my lawn !

hear, hear!

[Hoax]

On arcade it would have been some Sprint clone or Night Driver.

[MatsNorway]

Death rally on pc probably. And V-rally 2 on N64

[Skinnyguy]

This one.

[ANF]

Hoax, on Apr 3 2013, 11:05, said:

On arcade it would have been some Sprint clone or Night Driver.

OH. MY. GOD. I haven't seen or even thought about one of those since................

[saudoso]

Anyone did this?
It cost me a lot of lost credits in enginnering school. But I did have my name in the top 10 from that machine. It used to get a 10 guys line steady all day.

Edited by saudoso, 08 April 2013 - 11:40.

[Garagiste]

Another one old enough for Night Driver. At home it would have been a racing game on an ancient intellevision TV game console in terms of on screen games. I also used to have this fabulous device that I wasted many hours with:

[Tenmantaylor]

Another ST multi player classic: http://www.youtube.c...be_gdata_player

[Tenmantaylor]

Tenmantaylor, on Apr 13 2013, 00:49, said:

Another ST multi player classic: http://www.youtube.c...be_gdata_player

Must have been an inspiration for the first Grand Theft Auto.

[Tenmantaylor]

For the record the above post was supposed to be an edit, I'm not talking to myself on the Internet about computer games I played as a kid. That would be weird.

Edited by Tenmantaylor, 13 April 2013 - 22:16.

[Pikachu Racing]

[chdphd]

Not my first racing game I think, but great multiplayer fun down the pub. It was around the same time as Roadblasters.

[Tenmantaylor]

Nice little timeline on the Palmer track day site : http://news.bedforda...v-circuits.aspx

[reynard883]

Overdrive on the Acorn Electron

[mcguin]

Don't know first racing game, probably an arcade one. First simulation, that made me a fan, was Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix.

[Imperial]

Garagiste, on Apr 12 2013, 22:54, said:

Another one old enough for Night Driver. At home it would have been a racing game on an ancient intellevision TV game console in terms of on screen games. I also used to have this fabulous device that I wasted many hours with:

Bloody hell I had one of those. I would never have remembered it but that photo just reminded me. That had to literally be around 1980 because I have just the feintest memory of 'owning' one and it's most definitely the kind of thing a 4 year old Imperial would have been playing with !

[Tony Mandara]

^^ I had one of those too! Look at that state of the art tech!!^^

chdphd, on Apr 14 2013, 20:33, said:

Not my first racing game I think, but great multiplayer fun down the pub. It was around the same time as Roadblasters.

But really nothing beat this for multiplayer madness. I can almost still feel the bruised ribs now!

[reynard883]

http://upload.wikime...erdrive_elk.gif

Sorry I dont know how to post a picture

Edited by reynard883, 18 April 2013 - 05:14.

[Wilsu]

Hard to really remember, but it was back in the mid-to late 90's when I had to go to my friends PC to play games since my family didn't own one at the time.

Hot stuff was Remedys Death Rally and I believe Whacky Wheels. DR was hard, I never got my head around it =D

But anyway, the first real racing game was Andretti Racing for PC. For some reason my dad really got into it and even bought wheel+pedals just for that game. Damn shame it won't run on newer PC:s, I would love to re-visit that game.