Developer: Vivid Image Publisher: Ubi Soft Release: 12/04/98 Genre: Racing
In the United States nearly 1/5 of the Nintendo 64 library consists of racing games. That is overkill. One might say they are fond of each other. Racing games are to the N64 as fighting games are for the Neo Geo. To enter that crowded genre and stand out you need to do something different. How about racing some animals? But not in the way you think. S.C.A.R.S (short for Super Computer Animal Racing Simulator) takes the futuristic racing genre and puts an interesting spin on it. The question is is that good? Your mileage may vary unfortunately.
There is a story that justifies the game’s weird futuristic animal aesthetic. In the year 3000 the world is run by nine super computers. Everything is running smoothly leading to their boredom. To entertain themselves they create a virtual reality environment to simulate a racing league and base the cars on extinct Earth animals. It is weird but in a genre that is pretty routine it certainly stands out.
S.C.A.R.S comes to us courtesy of Vivid Image, makers of Street Racer for multiple platforms. Once I found that out the similarities were obvious. The controls and vehicle handling are similar as are the use of weapons and split screen multiplayer. However S.C.A.R.S has the benefit of being in full 3d for more advanced track design. Unfortunately the game suffers from heavy rubberbanding and your tolerance of such will determine how much you enjoy the game.
The vehicles in S.C.A.R.S are all based on animals and have stats that reflect that in terms of speed, armor, tire grip, and weapons. Obviously the rhino is one of the most armored and resistant to weapons while the mantis and shark favor speed. But outside of that the differences seem minimal. Despite the grip rating I never felt the difference in the controls regardless of the vehicle. In fact the controls and physics do not feel “right”. The handling is loose and the physics are inconsistent. This makes certain courses like the ski and water tracks a nightmare. I do wish the controls were better as the track design is generally pretty good outside of the occasional invisible barrier that might cost you your position.
S.C.A.R.S leans more in to weapons like Mario Kart and Wipeout than the developer’s previous game. A lot of the weapons are pretty cool; there is a ticking time bomb that passes between racers like a hot potato until it goes off. There are energy barriers, missiles, shields, and the dreaded magnet, which holds you in place for a few grueling seconds. My problem is the weapon balance and density. Like Looney Tunes Space Race weapon drops are literally every few feet and there is rarely a moment when some weapon is not going off. While they are not as annoying as that game it is too much. It is especially bad when certain vehicles like the rhino and mammoth are not even affected. You can turn off weapons but that is only a half measure that leaves a different problem.
There are a wealth of options to tailor your driving experience and to avoid some of the game’s issues. You can turn off weapons completely leaving the game a pure driving experience. Unfortunately that leaves you at the mercy of the game’s ruthless rubberbanding. The catch up AI is aggressive and does not work in your favor. The CPU drivers are always a second or two behind and once the first place rival passes you without weapons it is impossible to catch up. I wish the rubberbanding were not so egregious as I like the track design and even though the controls are not as tight as I would like they were still manageable. But both sides of the racing experience frustrate me to no end. This one could have used a little more tuning to make the game a smooth ride regardless of your preference.
I do wish I enjoyed the racing experience more because this is as complete a package as it gets from that generation. There are ten tracks and the grand prix is lengthy and doles out its content in measured chunks. Once you are finished you can even create your own custom cup, setting the number of races as well as weather conditions too. The challenge mode allows you to race against five more unlockable characters bringing the total to ten as well. There is also support for four player races although the hit to performance and tracks is probably not worth it. There is a lot of meat here; too bad the bone supporting it is weak in my opinion.
In Closing
S.C.A.R.S is a divisive game. There is a lot to like here. The game has a wealth of content and options, more than most racing games in that era. But the rubberbanding, weapon balance, and general handling make enjoying said content that much harder. I was able to enjoy myself somewhat at first. But the myriad issues slowly started to get on my nerves to the point I did not want to play the game anymore. I am sure there are some for which these will not be a problem. But personally they were too much, meaning I cannot recommend S.C.A.R.S in the end.
