![]() Fair enough, you can reduce the detail level or go back to plain old VGA resolutions, but really, who would want to do that? One point that deserves praise, however, is the head-to-head multi-player mode, because it is possible on one machine. But then, my niece would have to buy a P166 system to enjoy them because that's just about what it takes to enjoy acceptable framerates with enough detail and SVGA graphics. Probably my niece, 8 years of age, would be heavily impressed by these cars. Not featuring 3d accelerated graphics is not necessarily a bad thing, provided that people with lesser machines are the target customers. I really wonder whether Sega can make any money out of this game? A look under the hood reveals, uh, not much to cheer about Too bad but this game just shipped waaayyy too late. This is something which you can't say about Sega Touring Car Championship. Ever since Moto Racer we have grown accustomed to better things, and one of them better things is 3D acceleration. The only way to master the tracks is to drive on them endlessly until you can literally go over them blindfolded. In my opinion, the graphics really corrupt gameplay. The flat 2d modelling shows: You don't see upcoming turns - they come as a slimy, messy piece of pixelated colours with mixed-in car pixels. The graphics get instantly less impressive when you start looking at the cars and tracks. Snowed-in mountains, semi-urban houses, brown canyons, nice enough though a bit unpersonal, a bit too far away. Alright, fellaws, here we go: the best thing graphics-wise about this game are the courses' backgrounds. The marketing idea may be good: put relatively easy courses together with a simple driving model into a graphically and acoustically funky atmosphere. Seen this, done that instantly comes to mind. The cars and the tracks all look very familiar. There are two modes of competition: PC and arcade, with the former standing for enhanced simulation aspects (tires, gears, suspension and so on can be customised), and the latter for pure arcade. ![]() They are so damn similar that you can safely say that if you own one, you own 'em all! The scarcity of new ideas shows in the hardware department of Sega Touring Car Championship is amazing: I saw three relatively good looking courses and four unspectacular cars (all behave more or less alike - you choose by looks not by attributes), and a bonus track and car can be unlocked after successfully winning championships. They all look very similar to each other, play very similar to each other, and feel very similar to each other. What are you going to do? Well, just ask Sega! They lately let loose an avalanche of games, one with stock cars, one with rally cars and, yes, one with touring cars. Say you have diminishing returns from the arcade halls because many people either have a console or the latest hot-rod Pentium system at home. Say you are the chairman of a big - nay, huge - company building arcade machines. Now, when it is two years later, and I may get the framerate I like, I am not sure if I still care. However, I guess my good old P100 system would have been a tad slow, so I would probably run the game on a friend's P133, and would still not be very convinced about the framerate. Know what? I would have loved such a game at that time. Fast-paced car racing action, around a wide range of arcade oriented touring car courses. Two years ago, this would have been a remarkable game. Read Full Review In a distant galaxy, two years ago.
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