Developer: Malibu Interactive Publisher: Namco Release: 12/93 Genre: Racing
F-Zero set the tone for racing games on the SNES with its use of Mode 7 and there would be many, many games that would follow in its footsteps. Especially in Japan; you have no idea how many generic anime licensed games that are F-Zero or Mario Kart clones hit that market. Namco published Battle Cars in 1993 and no one noticed. I remember one or two reviews back in the day and that is it. But is the game bad enough to warrant its low profile? Let’s find out.
Although Battle Cars is a racing game it has the appearance of a vehicular combat title like Twisted Metal. You can choose from three vehicles at the start with three more unlockable: a spiky F-1 car, a tricked out hot rod, and a monster truck that lives up to the name. I honestly could not tell if there was a difference between any of them outside of cosmetics. You have three weapons: discs that rebound off walls, homing missiles, and grenades that drop behind you. Every planet has a boss who shit talks before each race and is your rival. Although the field has drone cars the boss is your true competition to advance. Your winnings can be used to upgrade five aspects of your car as well as power-up all three weapons. There is a limit to how much you can upgrade but the game will end before then.
Battle Cars is an intergalactic series of races that sees you challenge different bosses across the galaxy. Each planet has two races: a cross-country race where you endeavor to beat the time challenge and destroy rival competitors to earn extra credits to upgrade your weapons. And a circuit race to beat the boss/rival which nets you cash to upgrade your vehicle. The cross-country course can almost be considered a practice run as there is no stakes. While the game has a time it wants you to beat failing to do so only means you get no bonus. Use it to familiarize yourself with the track for the real race that follows.
The track design in Battle Cars is generally good. While it bears an undeniable similarity to F-Zero Battle Cars is not afraid to feature wide open expanses to facilitate blasting multiple competitors or passing them by without hassle. It feels a bit unnecessary at times as there are so few other drone cars at any given time but whatever. The tracks are simpler than in Nintendo’s title however. There are few hair pin turns or jumps, almost as if the designers were unsure how far they could push the envelope. It feels like they could not strike the balance between weapons combat and racing and erred on the side of caution. What is here is decent for what it is but could be better.
The racing itself is not complex. The tracks are simple and the turns are easy to navigate especially using L or R for sharper cornering. If you abuse homing missiles you can rack up easy kills to build up credits and max out your weapons. Battle Cars suffers from heavy rubber banding however which means the bosses are always right behind you no matter what. It is annoying but not game breaking as in other titles. You can maintain a decent lead and keep it to easily win the race in spite of it. If you fall behind it works in your favor to allow you to catch up. The only annoying factor of the campaign is the lack of passwords or saves to record progress. It is asking a lot to complete this in one sitting. This is an odd oversight and one that hurts the game.
In Closing
I like Battle Cars well enough. But I know I will never play it again. The presentation and mechanics are decent enough. But the extreme rubber banding makes the solo campaign a slog at times. The battle mode is not interesting as it uses the solo tracks rather than bespoke designs conducive to competition. It could have added some life to the game once you are done with the campaign but is an afterthought instead. I don’t regret playing Battle Cars but I can see why I ignored the game despite the solid reviews. It lacks that one element that would push it in to buying territory.
