Racing redux - F355

[F308GTB]

Yanked out a steering wheel from the closet and did a little F355 driving on the Dreamcast. Man that came still makes me grin. Sure the AI is a bit dumb but the driving model, graphics, and incredible sound totally make up for it. Next up will probably be a little Test Drive Le Mans.

[dbdynsty25]

Test Drive LeMans is still my favorite racer of all time. I break out the Dreamcast every now and then just to play a little TD...it's probably the last TD that will ever be any good so I have to enjoy it.

[pk500]

Yanked out a steering wheel from the closet and did a little F355 driving on the Dreamcast. Man that came still makes me grin. Sure the AI is a bit dumb but the driving model, graphics, and incredible sound totally make up for it. Next up will probably be a little Test Drive Le Mans.

Ah, the memories of both games. Makes me want to shell out $30 for a used DC and $10 or cheaper for used copies of those games ... Damn it, that's a good idea!

Either of you guys try or enjoy Vanishing Point for the Dreamcast? A highly, highly underrated racer. And Metropolis Street Racer, the godfather of the Project Gotham series, still is way tougher than either PGR game. You lose overall Kudos every time you touch a wall or another racer, and you lose all the kudos you earned in a race if you fail to meet the objective.

Ah, the Dreamcast. I just might take some Santa money and pick up one used on the cheap sometime.

Take care,
PK

[Kruza]

Ferrari F355 Challenge is an excellent racer. I was helplessly hooked on that game when it first came out in the arcades, so it was a no-brainer for me to get it for the Dreamcast -- especially when the addition of more tracks in the console version like Nurburgring (short version), Laguna Seca, and Ferrari's Fiorano test track were announced. Still have driving data saved from every course on my VMSs. I used that as a resource to find subtle ways to improve all my times when playing Time Attack mode. What a great feature.

Test Drive Le Mans is also great. I loved the tire wear and fuel consumption features for this game. Made endurance racing in this game much more interesting and challenging. I had finished up the entire 24 hour real-time pace Le Mans race, going the 400+ laps it took to get through. I think I still have that finished race on a VMS too, but I'm not sure if I have deleted it or not.

Kruza

[pk500]

I had finished up the entire 24 hour real-time pace Le Mans race, going the 400+ laps it took to get through. I think I still have that finished race on a VMS too, but I'm not sure if I have deleted it or not.

You're a sick bastard, Kruza. Running a full Le Mans 24, broken into separate gaming sessions, always was something I wanted to do but never did with my DC. I didn't have the mental stamina, I guess!

Take care,
PK

[Kruza]

Heh, that Le Mans race was a great experience. The race took me about 4 weeks to finish. Definitely mentally draining, and physically too. I still can remember to this day how sore my left hand was after each session. It was so bad I couldn't even ball my hand up and make a fist for at least couple hours after putting the controller down. No joke.

Seeing the slow transition from day to night back to day was awesome. It also rained for about an hour or so during the middle of the night. Battling the top tier AI cars for position was great too. They were aggressive, but smart. They weren't going to let you overtake them without putting up a challenge, but won't take you out at a corner when you're able to get around them either. (This is assuming of course, that you didn't take them out whenever they pass you as well. They have good memories.)

For that Le Mans race I pitted every 20 laps then saved and called it a session. However, there were times early on that I pitted after 17 laps because my fuel tank looked really low at that point, and I didn't want to get into an embarassing situation of running out of gas while out on the track. I went up to 18 before pitting, 19 next, then finally 20. I initially had my lap count (planned first lap and last laps of each session) written down so I wouldn't forget which lap to stop at the pits. 20 was a nice round number that would make it easier for me to remember when to pit. Plus the fuel tank was dangerously low and tires were almost completely worn at that point. It didn't look to me like it was possible to do 21 laps, and I wasn't taking that chance of crashing or running out of gas.

And I'll tell you what... driving that Ferrari F360 Modena around the Laguna Seca circuit in the Forza Motorsport demo brings back fond memories of F355. And driving the BMW V12 LMR and Toyota GT-One cars around reminds me a lot of TD LM. I have a feeling that game is going to own me when it comes out.

Kruza

[F308GTB]

Either of you guys try or enjoy Vanishing Point for the Dreamcast? A highly, highly underrated racer. And Metropolis Street Racer, the godfather of the Project Gotham series, still is way tougher than either PGR game. You lose overall Kudos every time you touch a wall or another racer, and you lose all the kudos you earned in a race if you fail to meet the objective.

Please. http://www.sports-gaming.com/racing/van ... w_dc.shtml and http://www.sports-gaming.com/racing/msr/review_dc.shtml

Both great games. Vanishing Point came out on the PSX as well and was equally good. And don't forget the other goodies that came out first on the Dreamcast - Tokyo Xtreme, 4 Wheel Thunder (fast and furious arcade racing), Speed Devils (pretty good arcade racer), Rush 2049...

[pk500]

Yeah, silly me, James! Good reviews on both.

I still think the nighttime lighting in MSR stands up damn well to that in any Xbox or PS2 racing game.

Take care,
PK