As a fan of arcade racing games, it’s no secret that the once-great genre hasn’t been doing too well. Between several “supposed” arcade racing games either being delayed, canceled, or simply disappearing into the void, this makes me sad. It just seems like no one likes to go fast anymore, at least unrealistic fast that is.
While growing up in what I consider the golden age of gaming, I’ve had my fill of arcade racers. So good, some exceptional, but all of them were immensely fun. Yes, we’ve seen several racing games that combine arcade and simulation, they just aren’t the same as a true arcade racer that defiles the laws of logic and just provides you with a “buckle up and enjoy the drive” feeling. As such, I’ll be looking at several forgotten, but must play arcade racing games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, in this new feature; Forgotten Arcade Racing Gems.
Today, I’ll start it off with Project Gotham Racing 4!
Project Gotham Racing 4
Project Gotham Racing started as an Xbox exclusive racing game, which was the console’s answer to the previously PlayStation exclusive, Ridge Racer. However, it’ is important to point out, that Project Gotham Racing had a predecessor called Metropolis Street Racer, which debuted on the Dreamcast. Unlike many racing games at that time, MSR was an innovative title, as it introduced the Kudos system, which awarded you points on not just how fast drove, but how stylish you were while doing being fast. Everything MSR did, PGR continued, so it wasn’t for the SEGA Dreamcast we likely never would have seen this wondrous racing title.
The overall presentation was polished, the in-game car models (licensed as well) were fantastic looking, the racing was more defined, high-quality environments, a huge car selection, multiple locations to race through, and the Kudos system. Taking a page from Bandai Namco, they even included a mini-game called “Geometry Wars: Waves”, which you could play anytime you wanted. Ridge Racer did something similar, where you could play a mini-game of Galaga while the game loaded to gain early access to more cars. It was a different world then as games still have to be loaded into much lower and slower memory, from an optical disk. Back then we didn’t have the convenience of hard drives to speed up the process. Consider that a bit of gaming history, no tip required.
While each of the PGR games pushed the genre, it was the final main game in the series that put it over the top. It was one of the first games to include a weather system that affected how you raced, while also changing dynamically as you raced. It was also able to download actual weather info from The Weather Channel and mirror that in the game, in real-time. You haven’t truly raced until you have taken a spin on Nürburgring, while it’s snowing and your opponents are trying to run you off the road. Yes, there are even motorcycles available in the game and they were fun to race with, even if they were a bit unfair.
Despite all that, the ultimate advantage this game had over everything else was that it had a fully functional online mode. Screaming around the track with other gamers was a thing of joy, as we spent hours trying to see who was better, or playing a made-up game of “Cat and Mouse”. No fluff, no silly antics or mechanics. Just you, them, the track, and your cars (or motorcycle) and it was damned fun. The physics, despite being an arcade racer was spot on as well. Most of the cars I used reacted in a manner that fit them. Rear-wheeled cars were constantly getting out from under you, but were speed demons, while front-wheel cars were beasts that could take a corner like a champ, were a bit slower. I’m not doing the game justice in this regard, because there were just so many different cars that you could drive, not to mention motorcycles. Yet, everything I ever drove just always felt great; I never had a complaint about a vehicle acting unrealistic, again this was amazing stuff for an arcade racer.
To me was the ultimate console arcade racer for its time, and I feel it is still one of the best of any gaming generation. This game was ahead of its time, it sold well and even went up against the juggernaut that was Ridge Racer. Yet for some reason, Microsoft never saw the reason to acquire the amazing development studio, Bizarre Creations. Which proved to be the downfall of the series as Activision eventually purchased the studio for their own arcade racing game, Blur, which I’ll be revisiting in a future article.
Thus ending Project Gotham Racing for the Xbox. To add insult to injury, the only way to play any of these games is to hunt them down and play them on either the original Xbox or Xbox 360. Sadly, none of the games were made backward compatible, so you can’t play them on Xbox One or the upcoming Xbox Series X. Another dagger to the heart is that Bizarre Creations that went on to Activision, was broken up after Blur didn’t sell well. With a number of the team heading off to different studios, they instilled some of MSR and PGR’s DNA into other games such as
Though I’d like to think the game lives on in its spiritual successor of sorts, Forza Horizon. Still, there’s more than enough room for another arcade racing in Microsoft’s camp and I’d love for them to return Project Gotham Racing. After all, they did retain the rights to the game, they’re just sitting on them and that’s such a waste. Then again, Maybe I Am Only Dreaming. No, seriously, please bring this gem of a racing series back.
….
If you’re an arcade racing fan and you own an Xbox 360, I highly recommend you scooping up a copy of Project Gotham Racing 4 and discovering or rediscovering one of the best console racing games of all time.
