I adored Rad Racer when I was young but I haven’t revisited it in quite some time. As much as I love retro games the reality is certain genres are hard to back to. Fighting games up until the release of Street Fighter II were terrible. Racing games in particular have always benefited from the march of technology. That being said I can still appreciate certain ones, RR being one of them. Few games were made in that style, the most notable being Astro Fang. This import only Famicom title might seem a little too similar to Rad Racer but has enough cool twists to make it unique and most of all fun.
With that out of the way you can’t deny how closely Astro Fang mirrors Square’s title. Whether it was done on purpose or because of the system’s limitations, the two games are way too similar. The big difference is in the art direction. Astro Fang is an intergalactic journey and takes place across many planets. That is its greatest strength. The galactic setting allows the artists to craft some cool backdrops, some abstract and some just plain weird. Sadly some of the best looking set pieces are only seen for a few seconds which is bogus. While the graphics may look similar the music is not. Unfortunately, the music in Astro Fang is awful. Each weapon has its own theme, but they are all bad; you’ll probably prefer to drive in silence within minutes.
Astro Fang’s mechanics are interesting. This isn’t strictly a racing game as there are weapons involved. While there is combat you will spend most of the time battling the track design. The controls aren’t as tight as Rad Racer as the physics are a bit loose. You are still in danger of being thrown from one side of the track to the other at high speeds though. One odd but cool maneuver allows you to compact your car. It sounds silly but is incredibly useful. While compressed you can easily slip between cars and as a bonus when getting hit has little affect. Your max speed is reduced but it is only supposed to be used in pinch anyway.
Even though each map has an end goal Astro Fang has more in common with Chase H.Q. than your typical racer. Your points serve as currency to be used in the shops on each track. Your options aren’t numerous but each is highly effective. You begin every level with a complement of fifty missiles. Aside from missiles there are tire spikes, fuel, and an invincible barrier. Some like the spikes last until your first wreck. Others like the barrier are only for a brief period. The long tracks mean no one weapon is game breaking, which makes the game balanced. The weapons are nice but you can play the game straight and ignore them outside of the boss battles which is cool.
Combat may play a role, but time is still a factor. There is no clock working against you but instead fuel. Fuel doesn’t tick down as fast but is still precious. Every time you collide with roadside objects or wreck you lose a unit. Occasionally you may find a fuel refill along the track but for the most part you are trying to reach the next shop to buy more. Its not even a guarantee that you’ll make it either; the track splits and if you don’t remember the layout you’ll miss a shop completely! There are unlimited continues to minimize the frustration at least.
Between its long tracks, frequent drones, and race for fuel Astro Fang presents a nice challenge. Although there are only six levels the game has a nice progression. The early tracks feature less traffic but that soon changes. Like the game that no doubt inspired it rival drivers can occupy all three lanes simultaneously. Its easy to get bounced around and tossed off track despite your compression ability. At first it isn’t an issue but as each track becomes longer the room for error becomes smaller. Shops are spaced out further and while it is tempting to blast everything you need to conserve missiles for the bosses. By the midpoint it isn’t uncommon to replay each track multiple times before completion. Normally this would be cause for frustration but I think in this case it is fun. You can see your mistakes and correct them. That makes all the difference.
In Closing
Astro Fang is a solid racing game; slightly derivative but fun regardless. I’m surprised it was not released overseas as there is almost no text. It won’t blow you away but can occupy a solid afternoon.
