Developer: Codemasters Publisher: Camerica Released: 1991 Genre: Racing
I never had Micro Machines toys when I was growing up. In fact I had never even heard of them until the NES game. But if the toys are half as fun as this game than I missed out on something awful. Racing games during the 8-bit era were in an interesting spot. They could just barely port over the popular arcade games of the time but something was always missing. The original titles were the most interesting and in my opinion Micro Machines is the best. Full of variety with tons of content and great controls, Micro Machines is possibly the best racing game on the system.
When you think about it Micro Machines is a natural fit for video games. The toys feature a humongous array of vehicles, from trucks, cars, and planes, to even airplanes and boats. With play sets based around such a diverse set of subject matter the game mines the toy line to create a huge amount of content. There is an interesting bit of history behind this game. Camerica was an unlicensed developer of NES titles which was evidenced by their gold cartridges. Micro Machines was one of many of their titles that was affected by their continued legal battles with Nintendo. Although they won each time it did make their titles hard to find for a while.
Rather than allowing you to pick one vehicle from among a huge set each track has a designated ride. There are nine cars: jeeps, sports cars, boats warriors, turbo wheels, formula one, choppers, tanks, and the special rufftrux. Each track is tailored to each one with unique handling. Jeeps are the easiest to control with the best grip. Power boats are similar but with water physics on top. Tanks are the slowest but you do get to shoot your opponents to knock them out for a few seconds. Sadly the rest are the fastest but are way too loose for my taste. Overall the controls are excellent; they are nice and snappy regardless of which car you are driving taking their quirks into account.
The challenge mode is a gauntlet of 27 races featuring a wide variety of vehicles. You have a choice between eleven characters, with each specializing with certain vehicles. Although the game does not show it there are stats behind the scenes. Spider is the fastest while Walter is the slowest. The individual character quirks do not affect the handling of any of the vehicles to any extent that I have noticed. But you do want to keep them in mind as to how you want to plot out your single player experience.
Technically you aren’t really competing for position or points. After choosing your character you then pick three others to compete against. Only the first set of three courses goes by position to eliminate someone. After that every three tracks the character that has been in the longest is eliminated and you choose another to take their place. This continues until you eventually eliminate everyone. So long as you come in first or second you will advance. The only bonus you get for coming in first three times is a shot at earning an extra life in a special course featuring a monster truck.
The decision to allow you to pick your opponents in any order has a huge impact on your experience with the game. Early on the computer is not very aggressive about taking the lead. In fact if they get too far ahead they will purposely crash into walls or slow down so you can catch up. Around course ten or so it almost becomes a different game. The AI will actively jockey for position and if you aren’t careful they will lap you. It reminds me of R.C. Pro Am in that regard and it can get just as frustrating as that game if you aren’t careful. That is why it is important to eliminate the faster characters early on, to make the brutal middle section of the game less infuriating.
Generally the course design is excellent. They strike a perfect balance between length and creative design. Technically you do not need to stay within the boundaries of the track. You can wander off track a little to create a shortcut or avoid an obstacle. But abuse it too long and the game will send you way back, sometimes enough to ruin your run. I love the quirks of most of the vehicles, from the slow and weighty feel of the tank to the loose handling of the power boats. The various sports cars are too fast in my opinion and expose my one criticism of the track design. Your general speed is a little too quick and the track boundaries too narrow. Trying to stay within their confines, while not mandatory, can be tough on the tighter courses. But as a whole it is a minor gripe.
In Closing
Micro Machines rises to the top of the NES racing pile with a great theme, tight controls, and tons of content. It is still enjoyable even today and has lots of replay value. Codemasters/Camerica created a winner with this one and I think it is an essential purchase for NES fans.
