Metropolis Street Racer, Possibly the best city racer? Options

[Sack Man 64]

Check out the intro which can also be found on the MSR disc - http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTdmd83CoC8

I cant find it now, but im sure it was on gamautra where they did a postmortum on the game and detailed how they had a mad dash to get the game out thanks to one of the programmers putting in some code that disabled the main menu music or the artist who made parts of the game slow to a crawl just because they wanted to put a high polygon bench in the game.

[213]

Check out the intro which can also be found on the MSR disc - http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTdmd83CoC8

I cant find it now, but im sure it was on gamautra where they did a postmortum on the game and detailed how they had a mad dash to get the game out thanks to one of the programmers putting in some code that disabled the main menu music or the artist who made parts of the game slow to a crawl just because they wanted to put a high polygon bench in the game.

Basically it was going to be a DC launch game but what happened was that the programmer and a couple of others left Bizarre and they rewrote the game from the ground upwards - there's several versions of the game that are either dead rare (220 one for Vauxhaul/open dealerships) or not released (original version, Japanese version that was completed but never released).

[Sack Man 64]

Basically it was going to be a DC launch game but what happened was that the programmer and a couple of others left Bizarre and they rewrote the game from the ground upwards - there's several versions of the game that are either dead rare (220 one for Vauxhaul/open dealerships) or not released (original version, Japanese version that was completed but never released).

I read all that too somewhere, but can't find the link now.

[SeanR]

(IMG:http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/548/metropolisstreetracer5bmd5.jpg)

oh man, when I went to Tokyo I nearly creamed myself... on a number of occations:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanr_net/111568629/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanr_net/111568564/

and then I went to Yokohama... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

[SeanR]

and there was a making of... MSR not so long ago in Edge where all the problems were mentioned too...

[Nick R]

I mentioned the Official Dreamcast Magazine review of the game earlier. To introduce that review, they had a big double-page spread showing a mocked up postcard of various London landmarks, then on the next page, the same postcard recreated using screenshots from the game. I always thought that was exactly the concept they should have used to market the game.

Still, there's one thing bothering me: as soon as I finished chapter 18 (by winning the Championship), the regular menu music played for about 2 seconds, then stopped. A completely different tune started playing afterwards: it was much smoother and nicer than the regular one. Foolish as I was, I went to change my favorite playlist, and after that the old music started playing again. Has anyone else had this?

Yeah, I vaguely remember something like that happening to me on the menu screens after finishing a race. I can't remember if it actually played a different track, or if it just went silent.

There's another minor music-related bug on the later replacement version of the game. Go into the music options and create your own playlist, then in-game select that "Personal" CD. Then if you load that saved game at a later point, then when you race the "Personal" CD will appear to be selected, but it will actually play the songs from the default "Dance" CD! To fix it you have to go back into the music options and save your playlist again, then it works.

One of the other unfinished features in the game is that it doesn't stop raining when you go into tunnels! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Check out the intro which can also be found on the MSR disc - http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTdmd83CoC8

I cant find it now, but im sure it was on gamautra where they did a postmortum on the game and detailed how they had a mad dash to get the game out thanks to one of the programmers putting in some code that disabled the main menu music or the artist who made parts of the game slow to a crawl just because they wanted to put a high polygon bench in the game.

I think that was mentioned in the recent Edge "making of" feature on the game.

[ryodi]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fOFgA14PFbM&...ted&search=

I loved the Will Smith rip off song in this vid while racing around San Francisco way back in 2000. The driver in the video is terrible however.

[Number 28]

"...that feels good, please continue!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol.gif)

I was singing along with that, and i've not played it in yeeeeears.

[beenabadbunny]

The music tracks really did get inside your head, didn't they? Amazing.

[K]

That fake Will Smith tune was absolutely hilarious. It was properly awful, but done with such passion and verisimilitude that I couldn't help but love it. That fake Oasis tune was brilliant, too - Salford Keys! Wicked.

[beenabadbunny]

Salford Quays, surely?

And who'll ever forget the Sports Café? Or even better: "Diet Tango. You need it because you're weak."

[213]

I read all that too somewhere, but can't find the link now.

The soundman told me when he stayed round my place in 1999 for ects , also gave me a copy on gd-rom of the unreleased Japanese version as well.

[Crisp_Rapper]

oh man i need to dig this out ASAP (if i still have it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) )

i have most of the soundtrack though, the will smith tune is pretty fucking fantastic. i also remember the radio stations and the way they'd drop out when you went under a bridge, i loved that. also when ripping around london i heard that 'bullet in the gun' track which had been released maybe a month earlier than the game and i was like "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT> AWESOME!!!" and it turned out to be an advert on the radio station! gutted.

i too had a bugged copy, hotlaps were great, beat the time on the first lap and just pull donuts for as long as your mind can take it.

[Asura]

The music on the "radio" went crackly when you went in tunnels.

I mean come on, why has no-one else done that???

[Number 28]

I honestly don't think I would've enjoyed the game half as much as I did if I had a copy that wasn't bugged. The fact it was bugged led me to believe I was just really, really great at the game. Then I purchsed Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2, and was brought back down to earth with a thud of resounding tedium. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[neal before zod]

"There's a Bullet in the Gun......"

How many times did you hear that racing round london?!!

[Rev]

I was lucky enough to interview Richard Jacques last week for Disposable Media. He is a lovely chap - he took about 50 minutes out of his busy Develop conference schedule to talk to me for a start. So much that what we half-expected to be a little boxout in the article about the conference now looks like it is going to be blown out into a whole feature the issue after next.

Apparently he is thinking about getting a publishing contract to get the MSR soundtrack out and available to buy on CD, but he hasn't done anything about it yet.

[pretentious_helv...]

So many happy memories about playing this - I remember being in the audience at ECTS when Sega took over a cinema and showed the trailer to MSR with Gary Numan's Cars remix perfectly in tune with what was on screen. A huge wait and finally it was in my hands along with a steering wheel - coming back home after working in the office, it was a great way to unwind. Japan was sold to me by the fact the radio stations had Japanese DJs and J-Pop. Total immersion! My copy was also one of the bugged ones so Japan was always in darkness, one time I travelled at the speed of light backwards and London had an eerie apocalyptic sky at around 4 in the afternoon.

Still, cracking game and shows you how far they've progressed with the PGR series, although it could be argued that the game design/lack of real-time night and day cycles and radio stations have suffered somewhat.

[Nick R]

Apparently he is thinking about getting a publishing contract to get the MSR soundtrack out and available to buy on CD, but he hasn't done anything about it yet.

I met him very briefly after his performance at the GameCity event in Nottingham last year, and when I told him that I'd really enjoyed the music of MSR, he said that he'd been trying for a while to get it released on CD. Good to know he's still thinking about it after all this time since the game's release!

[sentient]

I've been playing this again now... and boy have the graphics aged! What happened to the anti-aliasing?!

Mind you, the lighting (as on all dreamcast games) is rather lush. Mmmmm.