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SPEED KING (PS)
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a.k.a. Road Rage; Speed King Neo Kobe 2045
Publisher: Konami. Developer: KCEJ. Released: 1995 (JP). Genre: Racing. Posted 27th November 2019. By Tom Clare © 2019 |
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Whilst in the scheme of things, Speed King isn’t an especially noteworthy entry amongst the PlayStation’s early catalogue, aspects of Konami’s racer are nevertheless, in retrospect, quite fascinating. Fusing the bright presentation and arcade sensibilities of Ridge Racer with the futuristic, Neo Kobe setting of Snatcher, the result is rather more tepid than this explosive-sounding combination might have hinted at.
Eagled-eyed readers will have clocked that this is a coverage of the Japanese import version. There are a couple of reasons behind this. The game was released in Europe as Road Rage and is illusive, to say the least. Seriously, see what you can find with a search engine. You’re told it’s either a misspelling of Road Rash or (more confusingly still) that you’re after 2017’s Road Rage, a motorcycle combat game inspired by (you guessed it) Road Rash. Finding concrete information on the game’s development, nevermind a copy of it, is a considerable challenge.
Corners are marked with a level of signage that can best be described as 'mid-nineties'
Indeed, it takes a fair bit of digging to confirm that Konami even went ahead with the PAL release, after Road Rage took a hammering in the gaming press. The Japanese version (blighted by the almost-as-lacklustre moniker Speed King) was geared, with surprising completeness, towards an English-speaking market. Konami presumably intended to capitalise on the emergent arcade successes of 3D racers like Daytona USA and Virtua Racing. Unusually, Speed King is navigated almost entirely in English. Everything from the menus, scoreboards, in-game HUD, even the kitsch race announcer.
Thus I have to admit, this little-known racer seemed a singularly exciting proposition for the gaming anorak. But for those hoping for a diamond in the rough, a word of caution: Speed King is a deeply flawed racer. Nevertheless, I’ll start with some of the positives. Things begin quite brightly, with an exciting FMV intro accompanied by the token, pacey dance soundtrack. This 32-bit neon-future appears sleek and inviting, a feeling reinforced by the game’s dynamic menu screens.
Thus I have to admit, this little-known racer seemed a singularly exciting proposition for the gaming anorak. But for those hoping for a diamond in the rough, a word of caution: Speed King is a deeply flawed racer. Nevertheless, I’ll start with some of the positives. Things begin quite brightly, with an exciting FMV intro accompanied by the token, pacey dance soundtrack. This 32-bit neon-future appears sleek and inviting, a feeling reinforced by the game’s dynamic menu screens.
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Sadly, such anticipation falters when you get into the game itself. Unavoidably, the handling is shockingly poor. The surprisingly-nimble Gyruss aside, each craft handles like a bus with flat tyres. The marvellously-named F-Logger is so leaden, I genuinely believed my control pad had disconnected, with the craft ploughing straight into the first wall it encountered, with barely so much as a twitch of response from the steering.
This rather sets the tone for a racer that, in taking clear inspiration from F-Zero and Ridge Racer, ends up failing to adequately channel either. Airbrakes allow crafts a sharper entry into corners but feel unwieldy, and it’s all too easy to pitch into a spin. With the handling utterly devoid of nimbleness, this becomes an awkward balance to achieve. There’s also a lingering feeling that Speed King never quite gets behind its ideas. Course 2 offers an interesting-looking banked section, but instead of providing a thrilling test of piloting skill, it instead locks the player into several seconds of rather monotonous auto-pilot. The same course also offers a token split route, but it’s uneventful to the point of irrelevance.
This rather sets the tone for a racer that, in taking clear inspiration from F-Zero and Ridge Racer, ends up failing to adequately channel either. Airbrakes allow crafts a sharper entry into corners but feel unwieldy, and it’s all too easy to pitch into a spin. With the handling utterly devoid of nimbleness, this becomes an awkward balance to achieve. There’s also a lingering feeling that Speed King never quite gets behind its ideas. Course 2 offers an interesting-looking banked section, but instead of providing a thrilling test of piloting skill, it instead locks the player into several seconds of rather monotonous auto-pilot. The same course also offers a token split route, but it’s uneventful to the point of irrelevance.
FOCAL POINT: SNATCHER GLIMPSE OF KOJIMA
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The use of Neo Kobe, the cyberpunk city setting from Hideo Kojima’s masterful graphic adventure Snatcher, is likely enough on its own to pique the interest of fans. Whilst the legendary designer had seemingly no involvement in this effort, there are plenty of nods to his, and Konami’s, other works. Although there are no references made to characters or events, the shared Snatcher universe is acknowledged in passing, with “Outer Heaven” displaying on electronic billboards. There’s also a number of nods to the Metal Gear lineage. Most visibly, the names of the ships, one of which is “SOLID-SNAKE”. Eagle-eyed readers might also have noticed a marked similarity between the font-types used for Speed King’s Japanese logo, and that of Metal Gear Solid, which would follow three years later.
Despite futuristic overtones, Speed King plays more like a sluggish Ridge Racer, as the player aims to ascend through an eight-strong field of brightly-liveried competitors, whilst also battling the clock. Collision parameters are a misery, partly because it’s so easy to catch an opponent, which typically results in a jarring loss of momentum. Particularly on some of the narrower courses, overtaking can prove a major hindrance.
It’s also an uncommonly ugly game, even by early PlayStation racer standards. Course backgrounds lack clarity and variety, whilst the game is plagued by some of the worst pop-up you’ll ever come across in a video game. Buildings jump into view, both at a distance and from right under your nose, which can be genuinely off-putting when you’re halfway through trying to navigate a tight corner. Unfortunately, this issue is not limited to the backgrounds, as large sections of the road itself layer, piece-by-piece, as you approach. The replays sadly reinforce just how far it trails the standard of presentation on offer from the top racers of the time.
It’s also an uncommonly ugly game, even by early PlayStation racer standards. Course backgrounds lack clarity and variety, whilst the game is plagued by some of the worst pop-up you’ll ever come across in a video game. Buildings jump into view, both at a distance and from right under your nose, which can be genuinely off-putting when you’re halfway through trying to navigate a tight corner. Unfortunately, this issue is not limited to the backgrounds, as large sections of the road itself layer, piece-by-piece, as you approach. The replays sadly reinforce just how far it trails the standard of presentation on offer from the top racers of the time.
Back when it was normal for racing vehicles to endorse distress
Though they don’t look all that different, the four courses offer a bit of variety in terms of layouts. They’ll require a fair bit of practice to beat on the fastest of the three speed classes. There are a cluster of other modes, though they’re all oddly similar. There’s your common or garden time trial setup, for those who fancy tackling the leaderboards, or Free Run mode, which is more or less the same, except it’s set over 15 laps, instead of three. In a further instance of Ridge Racer mimicry, Battle CPU sees the player battling one-on-one with a single, insanely speedy opponent, presumably with the view to earning their craft. A nice idea, though its quickly apparent that they’re more or less unbeatable, even if you deliver a near-perfect drive.
It’s sad that there’s so little sense of depth or personality to the game. With Kojima and Snatcher associations, it’s the last racer you would have imagined would seem so anonymous. You’ll have your work cut out finding any thrills in Speed King which, with its deal-breaking combination of dodgy visuals and horrible handling, is a pale imitation of an arcade racer. A rare miss from KCEJ.
It’s sad that there’s so little sense of depth or personality to the game. With Kojima and Snatcher associations, it’s the last racer you would have imagined would seem so anonymous. You’ll have your work cut out finding any thrills in Speed King which, with its deal-breaking combination of dodgy visuals and horrible handling, is a pale imitation of an arcade racer. A rare miss from KCEJ.
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VERDICT
"You’ll have your work cut out finding any thrills in Speed King which, with its deal-breaking combination of dodgy visuals and horrible handling, is a pale imitation of an arcade racer." OVERALL: 4/10 |