Radical Psycho Machine (RPM) Racing

Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Silicon & Synapse
Release Date: November 1991

RPM Racing is a somewhat obscure early SNES racer most easily compared to the popular NES game R.C. Pro Am. Based on the 1985 Commodore 64 title Racing Destruction Set, it was the first game ever developed by Blizzard, which at the time was known as Silicon & Synapse. It was also the first American-developed SNES game.

RPM is a fairly basic isometric-view racing game. You choose from three cars and may upgrade them in a shop area between races. Mines, nitro, and oil slicks may be purchased and used as well. There are over 100 tracks, with some variety as to surfaces, such as pavement, dirt, and ice. The basic goal is to finish first in each race to earn money for car upgrades and for purchasing entry to more lucrative races and competitive classes. Also included are a track editor and a two-player mode.

Technically, RPM Racing is most notable for being one of a handful of games to use the Super Nintendo's high-resolution graphics mode, and the only one to use it exclusively in-game. This allowed for sharper, more detailed visuals, but sacrificed color, as the Super NES could only show 16 colors in that mode. It altogether made for a very bland-looking game compared to other titles of the SNES launch period which featured stunning(at the time) 256-color graphics.

A sequel to RPM Racing was developed and eventually released as Rock N Roll Racing in 1993. The latter game did not use the high-resolution mode, and featured far more color and personality, along with licensed music tracks, and was distinctly more popular than its predecessor.

Top Gear

Publisher: Kemco
Developer: Gremlin Graphics
Release Date: April 1992

When you think of Super Nintendo racing games, Top Gear is one that inevitably comes to mind. Produced by European developer Gremlin Graphics, publishers of the excellent Lotus Turbo Challenge racing series on the Amiga and Atari ST computers, Top Gear was one of the system's first racers, and remains today as one of the best.

A 2-player, split-screen arcade-style racer in the mold of Sega's OutRun, Top Gear borrows heavily from Lotus in both style and gameplay. Unlike OutRun, which is a race against the clock, Top Gear is a race against 19 other racers in a four-race circuit. You must finish in the top 5 of each race to advance to the next track, and you must finish in the top 3 of the standings to advance to the next circuit. There are 32 tracks in all.

The game is a blast to play, particularly against a friend. It is always in split-screen mode-- when a friend is not playing, a computer player operates the bottom screen. There are four cars to choose from, with varying attributes for some variety, but it remains a very basic and bare-bones, pick-up-and-play racer. The music is particularly unique in style, and remains as one of the most memorable scores on the system, though most of the songs are actually sampled from previous Lotus games.

The Top Gear name, though now obscure, continues to live on today. Two sequels were made for Super NES: Top Gear 2 and Top Gear 3000. The series then moved to Nintendo 64, and sporadic versions have been made for various consoles and handhelds in the last few years. Unfortunately once the series moved to N64, it became a mere brand-name, as the gameplay had considerably changed in the move to 3D, and Gremlin Graphics was no longer involved. Still, gamers who grew up on the Super Nintendo will always remember Top Gear as one of the great names in racing.