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WORLD RALLY FEVER: BORN ON THE ROAD (PC)
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Publisher: Ocean.
Developer: Split; Team17. Released: May 1996. Genre: Racing. Posted 29th March 2021. By Tom Clare © 2021 |
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If you were to guess at World Rally Fever’s heritage purely from observing screenshots, you’d likely struggle to pin down its roots. Chunky, colourful cars, huge sprites and pacey 2D scrolling hint at either a late-eighties coin-op in the mould of Power Drift, or perhaps a Neo Geo racer (with the caveat that SNK’s 16-bit powerhouse was curiously under-represented in this field). Instead, Born on the Road would see the light of day only on PC, launching in the spring of 1996.
It’s quite a curio. Anime-style attract screens, a wacky ensemble of characters and nods to eastern culture hint at Japanese origins. But again, it flatters to deceive. A joint project between Belgian developers Split and British home computer veterans Team17 makes for an experience that’s as eclectic as it sounds. Even the name, which implies association with the WRC or rallying, proves wide of the mark, as WRF is a hard-as-nails kart racer.
It's no Ridge Racer, but WRF's visual design will delight fans of sprites
Similar to Amiga titles such as Bump ‘N’ Burn, WRF plays out from the third-person perspective of a checkpoint-chaser and is defined by tough battles with the A.I. as you attempt to outpace and outwit competitors with power-ups. The setup is fairly straightforward: four tournaments, each consisting of four races. A top-three finish is all that’s needed to progress to the next round, but with limited credits, mistakes are punished severely.
Things may look bright and inviting, but it’s soon apparent that WRF comes from the karting school of hard knocks. Firstly, there’s the competition. The A.I. is typically well-judged, delivering a strong but not insurmountable pace and they aren’t infallible to track hazards. Some, however, resort to swerving flagrantly to prevent the player from overtaking. This is extremely vexing, with the combination of large vehicles and often-narrow roads making for uneasy bedfellows. Weapon power-ups are also forgettable, void as they are of inspiration, entirely failing to make an impact on the races.
Things may look bright and inviting, but it’s soon apparent that WRF comes from the karting school of hard knocks. Firstly, there’s the competition. The A.I. is typically well-judged, delivering a strong but not insurmountable pace and they aren’t infallible to track hazards. Some, however, resort to swerving flagrantly to prevent the player from overtaking. This is extremely vexing, with the combination of large vehicles and often-narrow roads making for uneasy bedfellows. Weapon power-ups are also forgettable, void as they are of inspiration, entirely failing to make an impact on the races.
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By far the biggest problem you’ll encounter however is navigating World Rally Fever’s supremely difficult circuits. There are hits and misses, with the courses that judge their obstacles well providing a fun, engaging challenge, whilst those that overcook them rather spoil things. Perseverance will ultimately yield results in the early stages, but unfortunately, Born on the Road doesn’t know when to reign things in. Quite the opposite. Placing large groups of obstacles across the road is a bad move, tipping a stern challenge into a frustrating experience that smacks of cheapness. Things are further hindered by the terrible collision physics, with track-side scenery sometimes so dense that it causes the player to pin-ball helplessly between two sections of the barrier. Worst still, contact sometimes leaves the player on the outside of the scenic scatter, where it can take an age to get back to the race track.
The clumsy jump mechanic must also shoulder some of the blame. Leaving the player airborne for far longer than similar games, the landings are cumbersome, with vehicles slow to change direction. This is a kart racer fundamental and should have been better dealt with. The otherwise beautiful Kyoto course is rendered a misery to drive thanks to a truly bizarre obstacle: two sets of sliding doors that open and close periodically. It’s sheer luck as to whether you’ll make it through whilst they’re open, but if on any of the five laps you are unlucky enough to find that they’re not, your race is severely hindered. Similarly, the Utah tracks see a ridiculous number of barrels, tyre walls and what even appears to be a large dinosaur skeleton plonked right across the middle of the road, which is a bit much. When a litany of obstacles aren’t hindering progress, it’s ridiculously narrow layouts. The Hawaiian coastal tracks are reminiscent of Super Mario Kart’s Koopa Beach, except you’re forced to drive between flora and shrubbery packed so tightly, it would make Rollcage’s Scramble mode blush. This is compounded by the nature of the course scrolling: at times, your kart will be pulled across into the roadside before you’ve reached the corner.
The clumsy jump mechanic must also shoulder some of the blame. Leaving the player airborne for far longer than similar games, the landings are cumbersome, with vehicles slow to change direction. This is a kart racer fundamental and should have been better dealt with. The otherwise beautiful Kyoto course is rendered a misery to drive thanks to a truly bizarre obstacle: two sets of sliding doors that open and close periodically. It’s sheer luck as to whether you’ll make it through whilst they’re open, but if on any of the five laps you are unlucky enough to find that they’re not, your race is severely hindered. Similarly, the Utah tracks see a ridiculous number of barrels, tyre walls and what even appears to be a large dinosaur skeleton plonked right across the middle of the road, which is a bit much. When a litany of obstacles aren’t hindering progress, it’s ridiculously narrow layouts. The Hawaiian coastal tracks are reminiscent of Super Mario Kart’s Koopa Beach, except you’re forced to drive between flora and shrubbery packed so tightly, it would make Rollcage’s Scramble mode blush. This is compounded by the nature of the course scrolling: at times, your kart will be pulled across into the roadside before you’ve reached the corner.
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World Rally Fever throws a lot of obstacles your way, though in the case of a giant skeleton and sliding doors, they can seem excessive
World Rally Fever’s strongest facet is probably its visuals. Released during the early days of Windows 95, the number of switches in the options menu is telling. Likely, the developers realised that many players of the time might struggle to run it with all of the bells and whistles we enjoy today. There are all sorts of neat tricks, from special effects such as loopy camera rotations, to technical fundamentals pertaining to depth of field, sprite detailing, road mapping and dust effects. Played at optimum settings, it’s striking how like a late-eighties arcade game it looks and feels. Each course is absolutely chocked full of sprites and excellent backgrounds. Eclectic locations such as the Scottish countryside, New York’s bridges by night and the dust-bowl outback of Utah make for a pleasantly vibrant and varied bunch of courses.
It’s easy to look back on such a game with rose-tinted spectacles though. World Rally Fever was in reality, behind the curve. Elegant as its 2D visuals appear after the event, its arrival in the wake of Ridge Racer, SEGA Rally and the PC’s own Screamer makes it very difficult to imagine it wowing players on release. To call it antiquated may seem harsh, but by failing to improve (or in many cases, match) the basics laid down by the likes of Super Mario Kart, it’s hard to see it as anything else. A period of often-unfair gameplay mechanics shoehorned to paper over a lack of genuine longevity was drawing to a close. In this regard, World Rally Fever offers a quaint reminder of the light and shade that was the latter days of the 16-bit era. Snazzy visuals and promising ideas would ultimately be undone by frustrating gameplay and dated design.
It’s easy to look back on such a game with rose-tinted spectacles though. World Rally Fever was in reality, behind the curve. Elegant as its 2D visuals appear after the event, its arrival in the wake of Ridge Racer, SEGA Rally and the PC’s own Screamer makes it very difficult to imagine it wowing players on release. To call it antiquated may seem harsh, but by failing to improve (or in many cases, match) the basics laid down by the likes of Super Mario Kart, it’s hard to see it as anything else. A period of often-unfair gameplay mechanics shoehorned to paper over a lack of genuine longevity was drawing to a close. In this regard, World Rally Fever offers a quaint reminder of the light and shade that was the latter days of the 16-bit era. Snazzy visuals and promising ideas would ultimately be undone by frustrating gameplay and dated design.
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VERDICT
"World Rally Fever offers a quaint reminder of the light and shade that was the latter days of the 16-bit era. Snazzy visuals and promising ideas are ultimately undone by frustrating gameplay and dated design" OVERALL: 5/10 |