Metropolis Street Racer (MSR)

[rjay63]

Thanks for the heads up, pcwrd13! Nice to know people are enjoying my uploads.

Speaking of which, there is now another video showing the early version of MSR. This one *IS* actually French!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5aEvngpsYM

I also own a MSR wristwatch that came with the gamer at launch. It still works albeit after a battery change.


There was also a MSR T-Shirt given away with the game too however I can't seem to find any pictures online. However I remember seeing a guy wear one back in 2001 and there's also a rather funny conversation from Google Group's Usenet archive....

"Hi,
I bought MSR today and got a cool MSR T shirt.
I really like it. It's got MSR on the front, the Dreamcast logo on the
sleeve, and a city skyline on the back.
I like the game too!"

"Be careful, that T shirt may have bugs in it.
You may find that the sleeve falls off. You can check with SEGA to see
if you have a T-Shirt from a bugged batch."

"And also receive a 'patch' for it....."

[rjay63]

Finally got round to my video review.....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nthC8E0Tpdw[/youtube]

[Neohound]

Nice review, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I was hoping it was longer.........maybe you'll release an extended Director's Cut edition sometime

I really liked how you talked about the 'feeling' and emotion MSR engenders as that was and is such a large part of the appeal for me.

MSR and The Dreamcast are synonymous ! Each could be used as a euphemism for each other ? Great potential, ahead it's time, brilliant, flawed, even failed.

You've got your own way of enjoying the game nowadays and it's great to know that someone as talented as you are is still enthusiastic about MSR. Kudos to you

[pcwzrd13]

Great job on the review RJAY! You should do some more reviews as you seem to be a natural at it.

[rjay63]

Thanks for the kind words Neohound and pcwrzrd13.

The original review was going to be around the 10-12 min mark but I wasn't happy with it; I was just droning on and on about minor details so I went for something short and snappy. Besides my PC is very slow and can't really handle the bizarre upscaling I apply to my YT movies; it took about 6 hours to do! If you click the 720p option on my movie, it shows detailed 4:3 footage; similar to what I can see on my CRT TV via RGB SCART.

What I'd like to do at some point is a MSR and PGR comparison where I can go into more depth on the physic systems. Personally I see PGR as the offspring of MSR rather than a sequel as both games handle differently.

In terms of emotion we all wanted MSR to work. European DC fans really believed this game would turn around Sega's fortunes; it had a 9/10 in EDGE magazine and very high scores in DC and multiformat mags. One thing I do wonder about is how much pressure Sega Europe exerted on the UK press for good reviews? The US reviews seemed to be more negative (see Gamespot for example) but more honest about various flaws. Maybe there was just too much expectation and MSR could not live up to it, even if it had been perfect!

There's another racer I playing at the moment; Vanishing Point. Hopefully that will be my next review project at some point.

[Neohound]

I see your point about the reviews MSR garnered on release. Overall, I agree, they were a bit inconsistent ! I think that does tend to happen to certain 'big' games even now. You'll get some reviewers who are blinded by the hype and others who are more studied in their appraisal.

Aha ! So you're doing a review on Vanishing Point ! I've never read a fair and decent review of that game tbh. I really like the game but who knows what you'll think ? lol

I wrote a bit about it in a recent 'Guilty Pleasures' thread not long ago:

http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewtop ... 8&start=10

I especially look forward to your expert view of the game. Can't wait !

[dark]

Guys, I really like MSR and I want to progress farther in it because I want faster cars and bigger stages. But after getting consistently good scores in chapters 1 and 2 (in the 100s and 200s), all of a sudden in chapter 3 I can't seem to break above 100 on any of the challenges save the hotlaps where you can simply skid everywhere after meeting the laptime challenge.

How can I do well in chapter 3? Any tips? What is the best way to get a high kudos score in a street race? Do you basically ONLY get kudos from skidding, or do you get kudos for coming in 1st or with a good time in the time attacks as well?

[rjay63]

Hi dark, are you playing the PAL or US version? If you are playing a PAL version at 50hz, it will be tougher as the race timer acts like it's 60hz.

You get more Skill Kudos if you exceed the original criteria (eg finish 1st when you only neded to make 3rd) or make a challenge more difficult at the start and then complete it. These scores are quite rigid. Style kudos are awarded for the number of powerslides performed during the event; the harder the powerslde, the more opaque the 'K' sign will be and the more kudos you get. These scores vary wildly depending on how many slides you pull off.

For a Street Race, the best advice I can give is drive as cleanly as possible. If you're hitting other cars constantly and crashing hard you will be penalised heavily. What position are you finishing in? I've always gone for 1st place finishes but realise not everyone can do this. If you tell me what car you are driving, plus if you use manual/automatic gears with ABS on/off, I can do a video to assist you.

[dark]

I've got the US version. I tend to do well in the races, finishing first or second but this doesn't seem to give me substantial kudos. I do wind up doing some powerslides, but I'm at the beginning of the game (first time player) and most of the cars I can use/challenge for are not very fast. Some of the short tracks are nothing more than small circles that I can't really accelerate so fast in anyway, powersliding really decimates my speed too, and I'm not holding the handbreak down the entire time or swinging my car completely perpendicular to where I want to go.

[dark]

Wow what a change.

I just challenged and got this ugly looking Alfo Romero car and for some reason when I drive the same way, I seem to get style points of 200, 300 etc kudos. I'm only halfway through chapter 4 now, but I've already got enough points that I unlocked chapter 5. Not a fan of the way this car looks - and honestly it doesn't seem that different from the MX5 or the Megane I was driving before, but it seems to do the trick style pointswise.