Top Gear was one of the first racing games released for the Super Nintendo. I recall seeing the box on the shelf of my local video game rental store, but I never took a gamble on it. I also was not a fan of the racing genre so I didn’t feel like I was missing out. Fast forward decades later and I’ve added the game to my collection. Let’s take a look!
The developers didn’t bother giving any background story or scenarios here. That’s just fine by me because I don’t necessarily play racing games for the plot. What’s nice is the fact that you can name your racer, and this is displayed in-game. It’s a nice personal touch.
In Top Gear your goal is to qualify for, and place in various races that take place around the world. These are divided by country, and there’s a linear order to all of them. You view the action from behind your car ala Outrun, and at first glance the two could almost be mistaken for each other. The main reason you won’t confuse them is because the screen in Top Gear is cut in half. The top is your view and the bottom is that of one of the other racers’.
Aside from the very typical options (difficulty, transmission type, etc) you can select from not one but four different cars. These differ from one another in more than just appearance. They are rated differently in areas such as top speed, acceleration, handling etc. The game really hits home the differences between them because they truly all feel unique in handling. Beginners will want to go with the one that offers the best handling while experienced gamers will want the faster options.
What makes Top Gear stand out to me is the emphasis on dodging in and out of traffic. Races have between twelve and eighteen different opponents. Because the game uses a lap system you’ll pass the slower cars twice. With that many vehicles on the road at once there’s nary a moment when there isn’t another car on-screen. There’s often several. You’ll need to pay close attention and look for openings to pass them or risk losing your placing as you bounce off them. The gameplay is very frantic. Top Gear requires more precision than most racing games of this era.
Now that’s fine and dandy but the enemies don’t seem to adhere to the same rules. They aren’t knocked back when they collide with another racer (unless it’s your car in question). This means that they don’t usually need to weave through traffic in the same way that you do. That’s a major drawback and makes the basic game feel pretty unfair at times. I assume this is an issue with the hardware limitations as it would be very hard on the CPU to calculate knock-backs on twenty racers at once, especially as each event begins. Still, it’s something that annoyed me a great deal.
It might make sense to choose the fastest car. I mean, you’re going to need to go fast to win, right? Not so fast! The faster options drain fuel at a higher rate, and that’s something you’ll definitely need to keep in the back of your mind during every race. If you run out of gas you automatically lose the match, after all. Courses offer pit-stops wherein you can get a fill up. Unfortunately you come to a complete stop for a matter of seconds while this takes place. It almost offsets the benefit you have from having a higher top speed. In the early stages you can ignore this element but as you progress it takes center stage as the main issue. To be honest I would prefer not having to worry about making pit-stops in a racing game, but maybe that’s just me.
The tracks in this game frequently veer left and right, and cause you to swerve frequently. This makes the whole concept of dodging opponents that much more difficult. Once you open up the worldwide races this becomes even more significant. This is because you have to learn the layouts of every track in order to use your precious nitrous at just the right time. You’ll want it to kick in when you’re in a straightaway. Otherwise it’ll be wasted when you hit elements on the side of the road or even other cars. You only get three per race, and to be successful you’ll have to plan.
Top Gear has a very expansive number of courses. I really like how the first few are domestic but as you progress you’ll be racing international tracks as well. Top Gear drops the ball a bit in regards to scenery however. Las Vegas for example is a simple desert scene, and you can expect such imagination from all of the other levels as well. Top Gear lacks a lot of variety in this regard, but there is a good variety in obstacles introduced later on.
Unfortunately this game pre-dates Super Mario Kart. I only view that as a bad thing because of the fact that mode 7 wasn’t widely adopted for the genre yet. This means we’re stuck with the 16-bit quality scaling Sega Genesis fans are all too familiar with. Top Gear is on the Super Nintendo though so it’s fair to hold it to a higher standard. The courses scroll in with very choppy animations. You also have enemy cars that don’t so much animate as they do warp around. The scenery is also very sparse and boring. The graphics are pretty poor, but the game is at least playable.
Top Gear does however have an amazing soundtrack. The music is the first thing I fell in love with. It’s electronic pop, and transcends the simple bleeps and blips the hardware is known for. Some of the tracks sound like they have actual instrumentation. The sound effects fare pretty well too. The constant sound from the engines is pleasant, and collisions are at least fairly realistic. Overall the audio is actually one of the high points of this game and helps set it apart from other racers.
Racing games from the 16-bit generation are rough, period. Top Gear suffers a lot of the nuances that others do, but I actually really enjoyed my time with this one. The twenty car races are exhilarating and fun, and weaving in and out of other racers is surprisingly fun. You can even tackle the main story with a second player. Mode 7 would have done this one a lot of favors, but as is, Top Gear is a decent romp. It’s nothing special, but fun in short bursts.
