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"AMMUNITION FOR THE UPCOMING SYSTEM WARS"

I hope Sega still has enough money in its bank accounts to have a staff of copyright lawyers. You know, the folks that make sure the "intellectual property" of an individual/company aren't used without proper financial compensation (like the Beach Boys getting royalty payments from Burger King for using the group's songs in their TV commercials). Because if they don't, then "Motor Raid", the newest Model 3 arcade driving/shooter game from AM1 will surely send quite a few lawyers from "other" companies to the courts. Who should get the royalty payments? Nintendo (for "F-Zero"), Psygnosis (for "WipeOut" and "WipeOut XL"), Atari (for "Road Blasters"), Electronic Arts (for "Road Rash") and quite a few others. Acclaim isn't mentioned because it's newest N64 cart, "Extreme G", is just as lacking in any originality and innovation in the futuristic racing genre as AM1's "Motor Raid". In fact, until a Saturn/Dural port of the game materializes, "Emtreme G" for the N64 is as close as you can get to playing "Motor Raid" in the privacy of your own little flat. Are you willing to wait until late 1998, or sell your soul to the cranky plumber with an attitude (Yamouchi)?

AM1 line-up of games has usually played second-fiddle to the blockbuster titles produced by rival development teams AM2 ("Virtua Fighter 2", "Virtua Cop" series), AM3 ("Sega Rally", "Virtual On") and ANNEX ("Sega TouringCar Championship"). Some of their games have become modest hits ("House of the Dead", "Die Hard Arcade"), while others have become laughable coasters ("Sky Target" anyone?). "Motor Raid" is the team's first crack at the Model 3 arcade board used to power such hits as "Virtua Fighter 3", "Super GT" and "Jurassic Park", and by jumping head-on into the overcrowded "WipeOut" sweepstakes Sega has given the genre a new graphical highmark that future games will have to aim for. "WipeOut XL" (PSX) and "Extreme G" (N64) have remarkably similar gameplay elements as "Motor Raid" (and the total lack of gameplay innovation is the arcade's only noticeable downfall), but while the first two games are pushing their respective machines to their full capacity, Sega's arcades have clock cycles to spare and have Sega's trademark magic all over.

A brief recap of the story, which is placeholder stuff used as an excuse to play "Road Rash" in outer space: four characters, with different attributes in categories like speed and handling (not to mention the range of their weapons), must tackle three out of five planets in a far away solar system in order to earn the right to be called king of the tournament. The characters are called I.O., Robin, Geila and Gunz (have Square lawyers taken notice?); and the planets are BOWEL, IDO, REEF8, JUNOS and YENDA.

GRAPHICS / VISUALS: A-

The arcade that I regularly visit has both "House of the Deead" and "Motor Raid" side-by-side, and provide a nice comparison about how Sega's AM1 Department tackles Model 2 and Model 3 arcade games. Although they're apples and oranges from the gameplay point-of-view (an on-rails shooter and a driving game, both with polygon characters and environments), the graphics do reveal that AM1 can't achieve the same visual goods that AM2 did with "Virtua Fighter 3". You could have told me that "Motor Raid" was powered by a Model 2 board, and I would have believed you (try that with the "Virtua Fighter" sequels!). The textures are basic, the transparencies lack the "wow" factor of "Super GT", and the polygon build of the characters is rather low considering what power lies under the hood (their joints and appearance recalls the look of Peter Chung's classic "Aeon Flux" on MTV's "Liquid Television"). An inventive use of anime-style drawings, or AM1 having troubles keeping the frame-rate at its steady 60 per-second? At least the movement of the on-screen alter ego you choose to become is smooth (motion captured?).

But for all it's shortcomings, "Motor Raid" manages to get the crown for best graphics in a futuristic racer/combat, since even a mediocre programmer has at its disposal hundreds of thousand of polygons with Model 3, while only the cream of the programming crop can get a couple of hundred thousand poly's from the PSX and the N64. What other game in this genre offers wide tracks that have transparent floors that allow you to see how high the track you're racing on is above the planet's surface? What other "WipeOut" clone has five different tracks (one per planet) with totally different and unique visual trickery? Only JUNOS is covered with white and slippery surfaces; only IDO has rocky canyon-like mountains with exotic alien life forms all around the tracks (including a "Bowser" clone that breathes fire, just like in "Mario Kart 64"); only YENDAS resembles an Earth-like structure (the Beginner's Oval track in "Daytona USA"); etc. Since these tracks have plenty of up-and-down hills and left-and-right twists, pop-up is effectively masked and minimized. There are a couple of tracks, though, that feature straight runs with massive structures simply popping out of nowhere at about a half-mile away from your view. Not bad for a first-gen. effort from AM1 on new hardware, but we'll be watching.

The visual style is reminiscent of the Republic Design work used by Psygnosis for their trend-setting "WipeOut" series. There are futuristic billboards and racer outfits that scream "this is the future"; they end up looking more like rejected art from the "Fighting Vipers" series. Last but not least, the weapons and lighting effects used throughout "Motor Raid" are adequate at best and lack a spark of imagination; unlike "Virtua Fighter 3" and 95% of PSX games, the flare effect from celestial or terrestrial objects (guns and spears) is totally missing. And while we're bitching, what's with the Iguana logo during the copyright?

MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: B-

There's gotta be some techno musical tracks in there; I can't hear them in a crowded arcade with gunshots, Dragon Punches and Fatalities going all around yours truly. But it is the law of futuristic racers that musical tracks ripping off the likes of Orbital must be included in the genre, or risk severe punishment from some unknown and Evl (get it?) conglomerate. It's a safe bet there is a couple of nice musical tracks in "Motor Raid", and plenty that suck just as much. The sound effects are standard: futuristic announcer (who sounds a lot like the guy in Namco's "Bosconian"), plenty of meaningles and laughable grunts and moans, the roar of high-powered engines, and the "Clank!" of your bike (or the opponent's) as it hits the rail on the sidelines. You've heard "WipeOut"? You've rented "Extreme G"? You know what to expect!

GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: B+

My tilt doesn't gravitate toward this particular genre, since I'm a big fan of science fiction based on foreign concepts brought to wreak havoc within Earth's rules of probability. I'd rather let my imagination be taken by the plight of poor David Bruce Banner's harrowing tragedy ("Incredible Hulk" TV series, 1977-81) than the over-the-top, outer-space carnage of "Starship Troopers". How do you explain the fact that games like "F-Zero" and "Motor Raid" rely on the silly premise that corporations spent their hard-earned profits in twisting corkscrew-like highways so people bang each other all over the place? Only "Smash TV" and "The Running Man" (1987 film featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger) have provided a satisfactory and somewhat-believable justification for their carnage. In English: I'd rather spin around real-life locations ("Sega Rally", "San Francisco Rush", etc.) than some weird made-up ones in a foreing environment.

Here's where "Motor Raid" breaks a little new ground in the genre. The four characters have weapons that are always held by their upper limbs (that's hands for the two of you that lack the most basic of education); and they are used to bang the CPU opponents or another player(s) in linked cabinets. When in close proximity, you can bang them like "Road Rash" rejects using the Attack button located on the handle of the machine. That same button can be used to throw the character's weapon (which can range from a "Children of the Corn" look-alike spear to what seems like a light saber) to a character in front of you at a certain distance. Some characters have better attributes than others: handling/speed/accuracy may change the nature of your race, and since coming in the top two or three places (or beat your opponent in head-to-head) is the utmost priority, running away from conflict and avoiding time-consuming bouts isn't necessarily a bad thing. Only by placing first in all the races will you get to see and race in all of them. Points are being accumulated by the amount of damage you can inflict on your opponent. Time is running out. Whatcha gonna do? Bad Boyz, Bad Boyz... (ain't "Cops" the crowned jewel of Fox's Saturday night line-up?).

This sort of game is, as are most arcade games nowadays, better enjoyed with a partner in a head-to-head duel to the finish line. It's not that the one-player mode isn't exciting and/or fun to play with, but the one-dimensional nature of the straight-forward race (with an occasional bout) lacks the seat-of-your-pants excitement of "Daytona USA" or "Super GT". And even in two-player, there has to be a basic level of skill between the combatants in order to get satisfaction out of the experience; there's nothing sadder than seeing couples (usually a gifted male player and a girl tagging along, with no knowledge of gaming whatsoever) hopping on the bikes of the linked "Motor Racer" unit and watch as one of them is hopelessly left behind, while the other just races around. As an arcade thrill-machine, "Motor Raid" matches the look and feel of the departing "Manx TT" arcade units, and kicks the pants out of "CyberCycles" (remember that Namco racer?).

OVERALL: B

Assuming Sega sticks to their announced policy of games to be released on Dural (only the best and the newest will be released, which leaves Model 2 titles not yet converted to Saturn, like "Indy 500" or "Gunblade NY", in limbo), then there is a good chance "Motor Raid" will be converted to Dural and see it's fortunes expand on a home console. As an arcade the game isn't the visual Messiah Sega may have hoped for, but for a console this graphics could put most racers to crying shame. If Sega throws in the kitchen sink with extras such as new tracks, characters and modes (and by now they must have figured that they didn't sell as many Saturn copies of "Manx TT" and "Sega TouringCar Championship" because, among other things, they barely had any extras to extend the product's lifespan), then Sega will fill this popular racing genre with a crowd-pleaser.

Although I couldn't care less about the genre of futuristic racers, yours truly can't help but wonder what would have happened if Saturn had released a "WipeOut" clone that looked and played like Psygnosis' PSX title during its first few months. The now-forgotten "Cyber Speedway" was the only futuristic racer released at the time, and for the inevitable hardware comparisons these two futuristic racers made the PSX look like the superior 3D hardware and the Saturn like the underpowered wannabe ("Daytona USA" didn't help things). As ammunition for the next-generation console wars involving Dural, PSX2 and Nintendo's 64DD, "Motor Raid" is a solid piece of gaming insurance. Just don't forget to pile on the extras AM1...many of us haven't forgotten "Sky Target", and the Saturn port of "House of the Dead" will provide us with a clue of just how good you really are. The plot thickens!