While Americans were busy celebrating Thanksgiving, our Brazilian friends over at QuByte Interactive quietly launched their newest classic game compilation – Street Racer Collection. This is a really cool collection of a racing game that spanned multiple consoles and generations. This new compilation not only features the original 16-bit Genesis and Super NES versions, as well as an 8-bit Game Boy port and the more-advanced 32-bit upgrade that hit MS-DOS. I spent the weekend playing and loving it, which got me wondering what the critics thought of Street Racer back in the mid-1990s? Did they prefer the 16-bit original or the 32-bit upgrades? In order to answer those questions, I flipped through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Next Generation, Sega Power and more classic magazines that reviewed these games back when they first came out. So put down that turtle shell, because you're going to need a stronger weapon than that if you intend to survive this episode of Street Racer Review Crew!


From the Looney Tunes to Garfield to the Cartoon Network, it can sometimes feel like we're drowning in a sea of Mario Kart clones. But that was certainly not the case in 1994. It had only been two years since Nintendo introduced the world to the hugely popular racing game, and only a few companies had dared to compete. This was the year when Sega got their speedy mascot to race against his friends in Sonic Drift and Chuck Rock starred in the far less remembered BC Racers. Of the early karting games, UbiSoft's Street Racer was the one that came the closest to challenging Mario's crown. Instead of being a spin-off of an existing franchise, Street Racer hit the scene with a tempting promise – it was going mix the racing thrills of Mario Kart with the beat ‘em up action of Street Fighter II. Developer Vivid Image hoped that this, along with a likeable cast of original characters, would be enough to differentiate it from Nintendo's genre-defining masterpiece. Let's see what the critics said.

When it comes to the reviews, most magazines opted to review the Super NES version over the Genesis. This includes Electronic Gaming Monthly, which ended up giving this racing/fighting mash-up a so-so 7.8 out of 10. In a capsule buried far away from the rest of the reviews, Iceman call Street Racer “one fast-paced comical racing game. You get to race, play soccer or be in a bumper car contest. What else can you ask for? The driving perspective runs smoothly, with the great sounds in the background. Tons of great tracks to race on. Cool game.”

When we look at the review scores, we see that Game Players was also a bit underwhelmed, giving the game a 73%. Of all magazines, Nintendo Power ended up giving Street Racer the lowest marks, going all the way down to a 3.1 out of 5. They liked that the game offers “lots of great options” and “generally good graphics” with “fun characters,” but was disappointed that the “track perspective is a bit low and corners can be hard to see.” They also complained that the “four-player split screen can be hard to follow” and the “backgrounds can be too busy and muddle the view.”

While these magazines may not have been that impressed with Street Racer, there were a lot of critics who had no problem recommending this racing game. Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine gave the game an 8 out of 10, which is more or less he same as the 4 out of 5 we saw from GamePro. When it comes to the highest score for the Super NES version, that belongs to Super Play, who went all the way up to a 91%. “The Mortal Kombat II/Super Street Fighter II reference is actually more relevant than it may have first appeared. I'm sure a situation will develop around Street Racer and Super Mario Kart in much the same way. Me? I'm pitching my tent somewhere between the two [...] Don't bother waiting for Super Mario Kart 2 – go out and buy this.”

Although there aren't very many Genesis reviews, the magazines that cover it gave that version high marks. Mean Machines Sega went with an 88%, while Sega Power went all the way up to 95%, the highest score of any version of the game. “Imagine Road Rash 3 with more options, better graphics, add a dash of Street Fighter II and, er, cars instead of bikes and you'll be getting close. Another easy comparison is to think of Mario Kart suddenly appearing like a ghostly fart onto your favorite Sega entertainment system. Oh yes, young Mega Drive owner, may your chest swell with pride. We LOVE IT! It's one of the most addictive and well-programmed games we've seen for many a moon, and us, being us, that's very high praise indeed.”

While there were a few naysayers, most of the critics really liked Street Racer on both the Super NES and Sega Genesis. It earned an overall average of 81%, which is really good for this type of game. That's not that far off from the 87% average we saw for Mario Kart 64. It may not have the name recognition, but Street Racer is legitimately fun.

Two years after releasing the game on the Super NES and Genesis, UbiSoft brought a freshly-upgraded port of Street Racer to 32-bit systems like the PlayStation and Saturn. Whereas the Super NES version used flat Mode 7 effects, the 32-bit versions featured levels with buildings and mountains and real obstacles. This is a substantially better-looking game, and even allowed for up to eight players to compete against each other at once. That said, it was still a last-generation game spruced up to play on next-generation consoles, forced to compete against the likes of Ridge Racer, Daytona USA and wipEout. Let's see what the critics thought of the 32-bit version of Street Racer.

We're going to once again start with Electronic Gaming Monthly, which gave the PlayStation version a so-so score of 7 out of 10. However, that doesn't tell the full story, because there was a real disagreement between the two critics. Todd was impressed, giving it an 8: “If you play and enjoyed the 16-bit version of Street Racer, then you will really appreciate the improvements that have been made in the PlayStation version of Street Racer. The frame rate is incredible, and it is very noticeable as you make your way around any one of the 24 different 3D tracks. There's even a special ‘rumble' mode where all cars battle it out, not to mention an eight-player link feature.” Joe, on the other hand, was far less excited, giving this port a 6: “I don't know why anyone bothered releasing this Mario Kart clone on the PlayStation. The developers were able to include a number of different tracks, but the tracks themselves are uninteresting and sometimes even tedious. The special attacks and abilities of the different racers make for some mild amusement, but it wears thin quickly. If you liked Mario Kart and you want to play it on the PlayStation, this is your best bet. But if you're looking for real racing excitement, look elsewhere.”

Believe it or not, that 7 out of 10 is pretty much the basement when it comes to scores. EGM's sister magazine, Intelligent Gamer, ended up giving the game a C+. But outside of that, all of the scores are a lot friendlier to the game. For example, GamePro ended up giving it a 4 out of 5, which just so happens to be the same score we saw from the notoriously grumpy Next Generation. “Street Racer was originally a 16-bit title, a conscious take on Mario Kart. As such, it wasn't bad, but then again, it wasn't great either. In its 32-bit incarnation, however, while having changed very little in concept, it has been upgraded substantially in execution. The result is a game that, like the classic Micro Machines, isn't the most technically advanced or groundbreaking title of the season, but still manages to be just plain fun. In short there's little here you've never played before, but there's a lot of it, and it's put together extremely well.”

Moving up the scale, we see Game Fan give the game an 82%, while Sega Power went two ticks higher, giving the 32-bit port an 84%. The highest score once again belongs to the Sega version of the game, with Mean Machines Sega going all the way up to an 87%. “Street Racer Saturn's strengths and weaknesses are surprisingly close to those of the 16-bit game. Technically, the game is very impressive and smart looking, although the sprite-based cars use rather rudimentary animation. The meat of the game is pretty complex, with fighting, pick-ups and steering all to be considered, but the tracks are sometimes too crowded and the collision detection between the karts not too distinct. My main gripe is the weapons – much the same as the first game and just as ineffective. What's the point of taking time out to zap an enemy when he recovers almost without slowing most of the time? The options are detailed, but some niggly gameplay aspects stop this from being a true classic.”

While that sounded a lot more negative than you might expect from somebody who gave the game an 87%, the overall consensus is that Street Racer's 32-bit upgrade was an overall success. The overall average is 78%, which is just a few ticks down from 81% we saw from the 16-bit versions. Not bad, considering this was a 16-bit game getting a facelift for a new generation. Of the two, I would say that this is the one to play, but both the 16- and 32-bit versions have their special charm. Check them out in the Street Racer Collection from QuByte Interactive.