One thing I will say- the main menu music is audio ecstasy. Barry Leitch is one of the all-time greats in gaming music. I could listen to that main menu music for hours on end being so mellow but with a fierce beat. As for the game, it's very good. This game was great fun to play.
The simple yet bouncing of the cars always makes me smile. I love how the suspension reacts to the surface. It was the first time I ever noticed that in a racing game as a kid, great game.
Great, honest review... Played this SO much back in the 90's before Ridge Racer 64 came out; I didn't have a Playstation so serious racing was limited for me with on the N64. Looking back, this game was smooth as silk and had some tight controls (which I still played via the digital D-pad at the time). Thank God for the people at Kemco, without them I wouldn't have had a decent racer back in the day.
I put so many hours in this game, I spent wholes afternoons playing it non stop, but I'm proud to say that I unlocked all the content which was a herculean feat, to unlock all the cars: beach ball car, the Porsche, the milk truck (wich blocked pretty much the view of the track so big it was), the cube car, the helmet car, reflective beach ball car & all the tracks plus the mirrored tracks, you had to win 12 championships in a row (6 normal+ 6 mirrored) finishing always all the races in 1st place, which was pretty hard. The physics of the car in those days were so awsome with the bouncyness & the great slides the cars would do, fine tuning the cars, great memories!!!
Surprisingly solid graphics. Especially like the looks of that beach course. By the way, this reminds me, did CGR ever review Beetle Adventure Racing? That was one of the great non-kart N64 racers, along with World Driver Championship.
this game was not much about racing other cars, but more about racing the track and beating your own times. The shortcut system was almost free roamish. The paint system was pretty innovative as well. The damage modeling, while not very realistic, at least let you dent them up pretty well! and you could perform a few stunts on the physics engine. and the tracks are pretty well made and fun to drive.
The Nintendo 64 was my first console, and this was my first game for it. It was always an amazing game to me, and I would also say that the replay value of the game was superb. It was a much better game compared to Top Gear Overdrive anyway!
Michael Burke Another good thing about overdrive was the soundtracks, I really like that band, and still hear it today, plus my favorite song ever is one of them, called "Mir" from Grindstone :P
The music was good. It said on the side of the box on the N64 it did CD quality audio and it wasn't until Overdrive I got to experience it with that music
Leif Grahamsson I'll disagree - Top Gear Overdrive is better on every level. Of course if you were expecting a rally followup you'd be let down. But TGO is one of the best arcade games of its era. TGO is visually in a different league to TGR. It features a stunning visuals combined with vast draw distances with no pop up and beautiful vistas with astonishing speed. If Top Gear Rally 2 was made using the Top Gear Overdrive graphics engine it would've been the best rally game of its generation. Unfortunately it was not to be.
I found there was a slight lag between when you move the analog stick and the car actually turns, which made any corner into a seven point countersteering correction with this game. The review did mention it was very twitchy, but this is something else entirely.
It was a great title on release though was surpassed, the graphics were very smooth and fast for their era, including visible vehicle damage, AA, reflection mapping, realistic weather effects, headlight effects combined with vast draw distances, however it was clearly unfinished and was released on a 5mb(!) cart - which probably explains the low number of simple textures and lack of 2D sprites such as trees surrounding the tracks - some areas of tracks recieved lots of details wereas others such as the Coast are bland. The n64 never received many 'realistic' racers. World Driver Championship - the spiritual follow up to this is a visual masterpiece.
For a moment I forgot you were doing a N64 week, great stuff there! Didn't knew about this game, it looks really good. Only downside I think is that the AI seems not to be that hard to overtake, at least by judging your video Mark. Other than that, I found it kinda boring without a little BGM playing, just to show everyone what the ingame OST could sounds like. Still a nice review, keep it going.
The AI itself really isn't that challenging, it's more just being fast enough to get a good finish every race that's the real challenge in season mode, as well as dealing with weather conditions and such. You start in 20th every race.
Could you do a review on Moto Racer 2 for either PC or PS1 please? It's my favourite game in the entire franchise, and the only one to have a track editor!
I am high on drugs and alcohol right now. Lord Karnage influenced me from his videos to start drinking more beer at the young age of 24 years old........while also playing video games...I went on a mario kart binge and I ruined my life.
NFSCamilo4 Yes we know, we are joking. This series since it started on the SNES/SFC has nothing to do with the BBC show of the same name, still doesn't to this day. Would be cool if it was though.
I used to have this game, I didn't like it. I'll give this another chance at some point since I prefer older racing games. Colin McRae Rally on PS1 and the WRC games on PS2 are were it's at in rally for me.
liveswired I agree there are issues in emulation with the N64, for example how the UIs looks. I think N64 still look vastly better in emulation though.
I'd love to see your thoughts on recent releases like inFamous: Second Son. I personally found the game to be terrible. It's not enough to just look good, you need more than graphics. All I got out of inFamous were underwhelming powers more useful for running away than fighting, a short story, stereotype side characters, frustrating bosses, and a beautiful yet hollow Seattle full of lifeless, automated robotic citzens. Not to mention the same side quests repeated to death. I just found the game to be a colossal mess and disappointing. I'd like to see your input, Mark.
I bought the Japanese version because the box art is sooooo much better. But man... this game is nearly impossible to play because of the controls. I thought it was the controller, but it didn’t matter what I used. Steering is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough.
Back at release the concept demo showing what the game would look like was complete bullshit! Kinda like the Robotech demo showing what games would look like on the N64.
nintendo are such liers.Games like top gear rally just prove that the n64 isnt really 64 bit at all.its really 32 bit.i have seen ps1 games that look better.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing I will say- the main menu music is audio ecstasy. Barry Leitch is one of the all-time greats in gaming music. I could listen to that main menu music for hours on end being so mellow but with a fierce beat. As for the game, it's very good. This game was great fun to play.
Dude I completely agree this ost is so god damn good.
The simple yet bouncing of the cars always makes me smile. I love how the suspension reacts to the surface. It was the first time I ever noticed that in a racing game as a kid, great game.
Great, honest review... Played this SO much back in the 90's before Ridge Racer 64 came out; I didn't have a Playstation so serious racing was limited for me with on the N64. Looking back, this game was smooth as silk and had some tight controls (which I still played via the digital D-pad at the time). Thank God for the people at Kemco, without them I wouldn't have had a decent racer back in the day.
I had this on PC, but for some reason, they decided to call it Boss Rally instead. I was expecting a Fortune 500 CEO kart racer.
Best rally game on N64.
For a 1997 console game, the graphics were top notch.
I put so many hours in this game, I spent wholes afternoons playing it non stop, but I'm proud to say that I unlocked all the content which was a herculean feat, to unlock all the cars: beach ball car, the Porsche, the milk truck (wich blocked pretty much the view of the track so big it was), the cube car, the helmet car, reflective beach ball car & all the tracks plus the mirrored tracks, you had to win 12 championships in a row (6 normal+ 6 mirrored) finishing always all the races in 1st place, which was pretty hard. The physics of the car in those days were so awsome with the bouncyness & the great slides the cars would do, fine tuning the cars, great memories!!!
No wonder the driver keeps crashing. The windows on the car are mirrors!
I remember as a kid in grade school, I wanted this game sooo bad.
I miss you a lot sometimes.
Surprisingly solid graphics. Especially like the looks of that beach course. By the way, this reminds me, did CGR ever review Beetle Adventure Racing? That was one of the great non-kart N64 racers, along with World Driver Championship.
Oh god you're back on UA-cam! I'm so excited!
this game was not much about racing other cars, but more about racing the track and beating your own times. The shortcut system was almost free roamish. The paint system was pretty innovative as well. The damage modeling, while not very realistic, at least let you dent them up pretty well! and you could perform a few stunts on the physics engine. and the tracks are pretty well made and fun to drive.
this game brings so many memories, the first game i played on my n64
Classic Game Room - Assuming that the plot of every game with a time limit is to complete your goal before everyone on earth dies since 1999
I remember how much I loved to play this game when I was a kid
This was my favorite racing game at the time for N64, just ahead of Beetle Adventure Racing.
I remember renting this game a few times at blockbuster back in the day....ah nostalgia
I really liked the music in this game
Why aren't there more racing games these days?
The Nintendo 64 was my first console, and this was my first game for it. It was always an amazing game to me, and I would also say that the replay value of the game was superb. It was a much better game compared to Top Gear Overdrive anyway!
Completely agree, I played it to death - Top Gear Overdrive was soooo bad by comparison, a real let-down.
The only good thing about Overdrive was the Hot Dog car.
Michael Burke Another good thing about overdrive was the soundtracks, I really like that band, and still hear it today, plus my favorite song ever is one of them, called "Mir" from Grindstone :P
The music was good. It said on the side of the box on the N64 it did CD quality audio and it wasn't until Overdrive I got to experience it with that music
Leif Grahamsson I'll disagree - Top Gear Overdrive is better on every level. Of course if you were expecting a rally followup you'd be let down. But TGO is one of the best arcade games of its era. TGO is visually in a different league to TGR. It features a stunning visuals combined with vast draw distances with no pop up and beautiful vistas with astonishing speed. If Top Gear Rally 2 was made using the Top Gear Overdrive graphics engine it would've been the best rally game of its generation. Unfortunately it was not to be.
My earliest gaming memory was this game. Playing it on the edge of my parents' bed at 3 years old. The soundtrack is great.
One of the best N64 racers.
3:25 The best line ever said on UA-cam.
Loved this game back in the earlier days of n64. My interest in off road racing all started with top gear rally.
One of my favorite n64 games, this and rush!!!
Hi there can tell me how I can clean my nes games and system
God I played so much of this game back in the day. Loved it.
I found there was a slight lag between when you move the analog stick and the car actually turns, which made any corner into a seven point countersteering correction with this game. The review did mention it was very twitchy, but this is something else entirely.
Thought this was one of the better racing games to come to the n64.
It was a great title on release though was surpassed, the graphics were very smooth and fast for their era, including visible vehicle damage, AA, reflection mapping, realistic weather effects, headlight effects combined with vast draw distances, however it was clearly unfinished and was released on a 5mb(!) cart - which probably explains the low number of simple textures and lack of 2D sprites such as trees surrounding the tracks - some areas of tracks recieved lots of details wereas others such as the Coast are bland. The n64 never received many 'realistic' racers. World Driver Championship - the spiritual follow up to this is a visual masterpiece.
Thank god your back
Brother the ost is one the best parts of this game.
You should do radio, you have the perfect voice for it!
Please do Body Harvest its one of the most underrated games of all time IMO.
Did they not stop there youtube channel???
Hey Mark my main man are you uploading all the vids UA-cam missed out on during what can only be referred to as the dark period?
For a moment I forgot you were doing a N64 week, great stuff there!
Didn't knew about this game, it looks really good.
Only downside I think is that the AI seems not to be that hard to overtake, at least by judging your video Mark.
Other than that, I found it kinda boring without a little BGM playing, just to show everyone what the ingame OST could sounds like.
Still a nice review, keep it going.
The AI itself really isn't that challenging, it's more just being fast enough to get a good finish every race that's the real challenge in season mode, as well as dealing with weather conditions and such. You start in 20th every race.
***** That takes an awful lot of the game's fun part, you know?
I love to have tough opponents whenever there's no second player around.
I remember this game! Played it on some cruise ship, and also some Super Smash Brothers.
Could you do a review on Moto Racer 2 for either PC or PS1 please? It's my favourite game in the entire franchise, and the only one to have a track editor!
I am high on drugs and alcohol right now. Lord Karnage influenced me from his videos to start drinking more beer at the young age of 24 years old........while also playing video games...I went on a mario kart binge and I ruined my life.
This looks really good for 1997 and especially on the N64!
When it was released in 1997, it was the best looking racing game on consoles.
Great review!
I was expecting Clarkson, Hamster and May. Was disappointed.
Some say he is the Sig... but he isn't, he's the Stig's game reviewing cousin!
***** "TONIGHT, CGR plays N64, British people make Top Gear jokes and Richard's behind a low wall."
this game come out before new top gear
"Tonight, I wear a hat!" The best hat... in the world!
NFSCamilo4
Yes we know, we are joking. This series since it started on the SNES/SFC has nothing to do with the BBC show of the same name, still doesn't to this day. Would be cool if it was though.
This looks a bit like Total Drivin', you should review that someday
isn't this an old review?
pretty sure i've seen it before.
I might be the only one but I'm pretty impressed with these graphics, sure there isn't much detail but they look good to me.
I love this game!
Surprised he didn't mention anything about the title screen having one of the most depressing songs in a racing game.
my favorite game for the 64 I wish it was on wii u vc
I'm surprised he didn't compare this game to the top gear games on SNES or at least mention em :(
Still can't get over the fact that he sounds like Ryan from Roosterteeth.
i thought about getting this game I got 1080 snowboarding though
Way better than cruising USA
It has music, as well as the option to turn it off, which I did. Lines like those are why I watch CGR.
top gear overdrive was the best, especially the multiplayer campaign. the rivalries were great lol
if im not mistaken you can just drive along the wall in this game and win pretty easily... i think
This review was awesome!!!!
Where's the Top Gear track
Looks pretty impressive for an 1997 game
Really good game.
I saw this in a store the other day
I used to have this game, I didn't like it. I'll give this another chance at some point since I prefer older racing games. Colin McRae Rally on PS1 and the WRC games on PS2 are were it's at in rally for me.
I think it's pretty good lookin
I need this
I hope the next Retron is N64 compatible.
I've been saying the same for years. :)
I hope so too, but I don't think it will since n64 emulation is still far from perfect even on PC.
ArmaBiologica35 N64 emulation is average at best on PC. So many N64 'only' effects and graphical features are missing in action through emulation.
liveswired I agree there are issues in emulation with the N64, for example how the UIs looks. I think N64 still look vastly better in emulation though.
Even Nintendo themselves had problems emulating N64 games on the Wii´s virtual console.
I'd love to see your thoughts on recent releases like inFamous: Second Son. I personally found the game to be terrible. It's not enough to just look good, you need more than graphics. All I got out of inFamous were underwhelming powers more useful for running away than fighting, a short story, stereotype side characters, frustrating bosses, and a beautiful yet hollow Seattle full of lifeless, automated robotic citzens. Not to mention the same side quests repeated to death.
I just found the game to be a colossal mess and disappointing. I'd like to see your input, Mark.
I bought the Japanese version because the box art is sooooo much better.
But man... this game is nearly impossible to play because of the controls. I thought it was the controller, but it didn’t matter what I used. Steering is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough.
I have this game on my n64, but at the time, i did not care for it because i had V rally 99...
Where's the Top Gear track
The greatest rallying game.......... IN THE WORLD.
It looks like a fun game :3 If I see it I will be snagging it xD
Oh boy. More N64.
It's N64 week sir
mtnnoonan I'm aware. I just watched all of the N64 week ones and then had this one spawn on me to top it off!
looks like a poor mans sega rally
i liked the video even before watchin, CGR is BADAAAASSSS
I guess just elders come here
never played ths game on n64 :o
even a 97 game as weather change..
I was always horrible at this game.
where are you from? your accent...
certainly not from your country :D
Top Gear Foggy!
Back at release the concept demo showing what the game would look like was complete bullshit! Kinda like the Robotech demo showing what games would look like on the N64.
mark was playing this while drunk i bet lol
There are some GBA titles that look better.
Was best
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
It has something Forza STILL doesn't have.
WEATHER EFFECTS
nintendo are such liers.Games like top gear rally just prove that the n64 isnt really 64 bit at all.its really 32 bit.i have seen ps1 games that look better.
Not Interested
Third
Cool story bro
This game is horrible.
i hate the realism in the game. it ruined the experience for me.
Yep. Realism in video games is a bad thing.
Walter Anderson
very true.
Very, very true. CoD is a turd from a great company.
Walter Anderson
true.
That was the best bit. The cars felt great. It's not mario kart.