An analysis of Racing games

 

An analysis of Racing games

I’ll be analysing two different games from two different genres & I’ll be discussing the games objectives, mechanics, verbs & the technical differences of each one.

 

Racing Games: F-Zero

F-Zero is a racing game, heavily utilising futuristic designs & elements to make it seem it’s set in the future & out-of-this-world. F-Zero is created by Nintendo & released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). F-Zeros main objective is to reach the highest rank of the track.

Game Mechanics

 The game mechanics which F-Zero utilises is, firstly the main menu. The main menu of the game introduces the player with a couple of options, Grand Prix, Practice & Records.  

Following on from the options mechanic, when the player selects “Grand Prix”, they’re introduced with some more options. Car Select Mode.                                                                                 

There’s information about each vehicle, stating its max speed, power, weight & a graph below displaying the acceleration.                                                                                                          

Another possible mechanic of the game is that it displays the race track you’re  playing on;

Another game mechanic which F-Zero utilises are different sprites. Sprites are 2d images which represent the character & there are many of them to imitate movement & other actions like jumping & ducking. In this case, F-Zero uses many sprites to imitate the vehicle is moving & turning, the movement between the sprites are subtle it makes it seem that the vehicle is 3d.

 

 

 

 

Another game mechanic, which is very common in many racing games is a speedometer & a timer to indicate how fast you’re going & how long it is taking you to complete the track.

 

 

 

 

 

Another game mechanic which is more common in racing games are power ups. In this case, F-Zero has a speed pad which accelerates at a very increased rate which can give the player an advantage.

 

 

Verbs

In F-Zero, the player can accelerate the vehicle, can steer it left or right, & can knock cars over.

 

Ridge Racer 4

Ridge Racer 4 is another racing video game developed by Namco for the Play Station. Like, any other racing game, it’s objective is to race across to the finishing line and finish it whilst you’re in the highest rank.

 

Game Mechanics

One game mechanic which is unique to the game is a cutscene plays right after a player hits “start”, which sets the theme, setting & overall feel of the game for the player. Another mechanic of the game is when the main menu displays a variety of options including the three main game modes; Grand Prix, Time Attack & VS Battle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The menu also has a garage option so you can change, upgrade your cars.

If, for example, a player selects Grand Prix mode, they’re introduced with an information box which tells the player about the gamemode & how it is played. So, that they’re aware of how they’re supposed to play it.

 

Another game mechanic of the game is when you enter the gamemode & read through all of the info, you’ll be given an opportunity to choose which team you want to race for, as well as to choose which vehicle maker you want to use their vehicles in the race.

 

 

You can also, within the car maker you’ve chosen, choose a variety of their vehicles to race

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verbs

The verbs in Ridge Racer 4 are somewhat the same as the ones in F-Zero. You can accelerate, steer left to right & brake however there’s an extra verb that you can do in the game, & that is drifting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technical Differences

The technical differences between the PlayStation and SNES are really detectable. For SNES games the games were in cartridges, the maps in games were 2D (flat), the soundtrack & sound effects were compressed & they used sprites in many of the characters. Sprites were entirely 2d characters and there were many variations of sprites in order to make, for example, a character to move.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For PlayStation games, for example, Ridge Racer 4 had better 3d models of characters, aspects of the map such as the road, the map especially & the vehicles themselves. PlayStation games were stored in discs instead of cartridges as they can hold much more data which can make loading the game easier