Speed Devils has a great vibe to it. Its similar to Road Rash in the extent that the player starts the game with the worst vehicle and slowly climbs his way up the ranks. Speed Devils is a lot more forgiving than any of the Road Rash games however but it's definitely not a walk in the park. From the beginning the player is thrown into the dark underworld of private racing. From your garage you can customize your car(s) with all kinds of different items. New Engines, breaks, nitros, tires, and even buy and sell cars at your leisure.
What really makes Speed Devils a winner is the combination of tracks, options, and storyline. This really puts Speed Devils over the top in the sense that it makes an impression on you. You can tell that the developers put a lot of love and care into this gem. It's not a generic racing title. This one has a lot of heart. Obviously, the graphics are beautiful. Even though its a PC port the Dreamcast handles the colors and framerate effortlessly.
Let's talk about the tracks for a moment. The games primary gimmick was that as the player was drove through the environment, large moving obstacles would appear and challenge the players reflexes. For example, In the Hollywood track there was Jaws, King Kong, and a T-Rex. In other tracks UFO's would crash out of the sky and in the Mexico level there was this big hybrid Lizard-Bird thing. I guess it was a Aztec God they were attempting to depict. Eitherway it was great.
There was also certain tracks that no other developer would of used for a racing games, two of which were Louisiana and Canada race tracks. Now, when was the last time you've ever heard that either of these locations were being used for a racing game? I'd gamble a guess at saying never but they work and they work well. Canada and Aspen Colorado have 2 different kinds of track options. Summer and Winter and I believe that Canada even has an extra option known as Heavy Winter.
I can't call out a name of a racing game that has done this before or since! It's truly a great title and I'm honored to have it as a somewhat exclusive to the Dreamcast library.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
