If there’s one thing I’ve grown a passion for in the last year or so, it’s racing games. Gran Turismo spurred my love and ever since I’ve picked up that game, I’ve been hard pressed to find a motorcycle equivalent.
Suzuki is not that equivalent. What Suzuki is, is a very decent rental for those of you starved for a fun motorcycle racing game. Formerly known as Redline Racer on the PC, this is basically a port of that game, but with a Suzuki license attached. Now, knowing these things, you’ve got to ask yourself a question. Is this game any good? Read on my good friends, read on!
The audience for this title, oddly enough, is not the hardcore motorcycle racing fan. As the game takes on a more arcade-like, anti realistic feel. Thus, a larger audience for Suzuki would probably be arcade racing fans. I keep wanting to call Suzuki the “Cruise’n USA” of motorcycle racers. It’s really not that at all, but the physics feel right on with that sort of atmosphere. Basically, if you’re a hardcore motorcycle fan, you can probably stay away from this game.
Visuals:: Suzuki’s bikes look big, over exaggerated and quite fake. The courses on the other hand, while not having the most enchanting visuals on the Dreamcast, do they’re job fairly well. Each environment has a different feel from the last and you’ll probably enjoy the courses, despite their setbacks.
The one thing that falls under the “odd but pointless” category of the visuals is the fact that if you watch the horizon, the background will come in little by little. Not like you’re seeing part of it, then the back of it. But rather, like you’re seeing it drawn from left to right. It doesn’t affect the Gameplay in anyway but it does make you wonder why this couldn’t have been fixed. Alas, we’ll never know.
Audio:: In short, the sound in this game makes me want to bludgeon myself with a very sharp object, several times. It’s easily one of the worst Aural offerings of a Dreamcast game. To start off with, the sound effects in the game are downright horrid, and sound like nothing you haven’t heard before. And if you listen to the sound of you bumping with another racer, you can distinctly hear the sound of pins clashing with a bowling ball. I swear to you, that’s what it sounds like. I don’t know who thought that’d be such a great idea, but they were horribly, horribly wrong.
Then you come across the music in this game. Again, I just sort of sit and wonder why. The techno beats in the game are horrid. They’re completely out of place in this genre and in this game, and they’re usually turned off in favor of my stereo as soon as possible. This is really the only section of the game where I have absolutely nothing good to say about Suzuki. Well, let’s move on quickly.
Gameplay/Control:: The part of the title that can make or break a game. In the case of Suzuki it doesn’t do either of much, but I’ll tell you what it does do.
First off, we’ll start with the modes. The game features just three modes. The biggest of these modes being the “main game”. In this mode you basically start off as a little scrub racer who tries to earn a spot on the Suzuki Alstare Racing Team. You pick one of three different leathers (y’know, your driving outfit) and then you pick your bike, from there you start on your quest to become part of the team.
The leathers you pick are pretty similar, and the selection isn’t really necessary at all besides the fact that it gives you something different to look at as you drive around. As far as your bike selection, it starts out small and grows. You start out with one bike, and it’s a bike more suited for leisure. As you complete the circuits of the mode, you’ll gain new bikes. You can then tweak these bikes in three categories. Breaks, Speed and control. The catch is that each time you improve one of those categories, another category decreases. It’s an interesting system that, although isn’t very deep, gives you at least the general feel of being able to alter your bike. But, what about where you’ll be riding these bikes?
You’ll start out having to conquer the novice courses. There’s three novice circuits with about 5 different courses. You’ll race three courses on the first two circuits and then four courses on the last circuit. After that you become a Reserve racer and do the same thing, until finally you become part of the team and do the same thing yet again. This time defending the “honor” of being part of the Alstare team. That’s basically the Main mode in a nutshell.
The other two modes are far more simplistic. The first of which is the single race mode, which basically lets you choose a single race from a circuit you’ve gained access to, so you can practice it. The last mode in the game is the two player mode, which, surprisingly, doesn’t lose that much detail with the split screen. Superb. Alright, now we’ll discuss how the game feels.
This game definitely has the feel of a racer. It’s got a definite sense of speed that you are able to enjoy. The frame rate is very good, not dipping a bit when you are next to a few other cyclists. Being able to use analog steering, breaking, and accelerating (with the analog triggers) works terrifically for this title, though it does take some getting used to. If you start out pushing the stick too far you won’t be in contention in many races. Likewise, if you can get the hang of easing the analog over, you’ll be finished with this game before you can finish saying the title.
The only big problem with the Gameplay of Suzuki is the relative lack of physics of any kind in the game. It’s almost startling. Sometimes your speed will sort of “force you” onto a rail, and you can sort of ride that rail and gain some extra speed from it before simply turning off of it, other times you’ll bump the rail and go flying. And though this is comical at first, it’ll begin to cost you races that you know you shouldn’t have lost.
That brings me to another aspect of Suzuki that I didn’t particularly enjoy, the AI. To putt simply, it’s very, very cheap. You can be leading for almost all three of the laps in the race and, at the last second you may get knocked off your bike, well by the time you get back on it you’ll have to settle for a lesser place, second or possibly third. It’s just a very frustrating experience that dampens the overall enjoyment of the game by anyone.
The courses aren’t really designed for the games engine either. Too many times you’ll be placed in tight courses where only the most precise of movements will do, but that’s nearly impossible to do without losing the race by a large margin. A more wide open space would’ve been appreciated. Though, the city stage in the novice section of courses has the right idea, it combines a little of both areas. Alright, I’m finished talking about the Gameplay, let’s move on.
Extras:: The multiplayer'ss not too shabby. If your friends don’t mind the odd physics then they’ll probably enjoy the game. The multiplayer is done very well in Suzuki, with minimal losses in frame rate and visual content. Thank heavens for that, because if something had gone wrong on that front, the game would be completely useless after a few weeks, at least now if you do decide to purchase it, you and your friends can have a little fun.
Overall:: This is definitely not the best Motorcycle game that will ever be created. Not even by a long shot. But if you’re bored then you might want to give this a rent, as I think it’s actually a very decent rental. But I urge you to rent it before you purchase it, as it doesn’t have much going for it as far as replay value. And with that I bid you all farewell.
Score:: 6.5/10
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