All 16-Bit

Review #8118 Racing Damashii Slow as you go PCE 1991 Irem Racing Racing › Bike H 30 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay This game is a simulation in every sense. Movement and momentum are insanely slow. On a straight away it takes 5-10 seconds to move from one side of the road! 2 / 5 Level Design Same two modes as all of these games - a circuit and a practice mode. Tons of configuration but there's a language barrier. 2 / 5 Theme Major language barrier. 2 / 5 Art Style Teeny tiny viewport that takes up 1/4 of the screen. The rest is taken up by the HUD and a second racer's screen. Sprites look good but are tiny. Nice looking menus and great ...

Review #8005 Bari Bari Densetsu PCE 1989 Taito Racing Racing › Bike H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Good controls, even though it's incredibly boring. Tracks are way too long. 1 / 5 Level Design Stage backgrounds don't have much to look at. There are 16 courses but only two modes - Travel and Practice. I played numerous courses but never got to race against other racers. It was just one trial after another. 2 / 5 Theme Looks and feels like a late 80's arcade title. No complaints, but other than a girl with an umbrella introducing each race, there's not much presentation. 3 / 5 Art Style Good scaling, nice sense of speed, but tiny ...

Review #2413 Touge Densetsu: Saisoku Battle Road Rash without opponents SFC 1996 Bulletproof Racing Racing › Bike G 49 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Pretty standard Mode 7 racer. The turns aren't so tight that you won't make them, but your bike isn't terribly responsive either. I wound up off-road and in the walls quite a bit. That said, the controls are passable. My biggest complaint is that there isn't anything to do. Other racers are on the track but you and they're are moving so fast you rarely see them. This makes the experience feel incredibly empty. 2 / 5 Level Design Perhaps I should spend more time to figure out how to see more tracks, but I was only able to see one track. It just just ma...

Review #4563 Super Hang-On More like Super Hold On a minute Genesis 1989 Sega Racing Racing › Bike H 25 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay You have to hold down on left or right for a solid two seconds before you even begin leaving that direction. It's super awkward. Unlike anything I've ever seen in a racing game. Takes time to adjust to and works ok on a single turn but it's unusable when you go back and forth for a few consecutive turns. Be prepared to fall off constantly. I kid you not it takes a good 40 seconds to get up to full speed. Fall down once and you may as well reset. 0 / 5 Level Design One level. No modes. Good luck 3 / 5 Theme I remember seeing this machi...

Review #4458 Quad Challenge SMK, minus the Super and the Mario Genesis 1991 Namco Racing Racing › Bike X 22 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Slow gameplay. Always splitscreen against another opponent. He goes 10% faster than you no matter what and never crashes, even on easy. Boring 1 / 5 Level Design Left, right, straight and some jumps. 1 / 5 Theme ATVs are novel, but the racing is so pedestrian that the presentation hardly matters. And starting at the backside of someone on a four wheeler is not as exciting as a Ferrari. 1 / 5 Art Style Pixelated and boring. Your sprite is ugly and you stare at your character's butt crack m...

Review #4295 Kawasaki Superbike Challenge Race Drivin' on a motorcycle Genesis 1994 Time Warner Racing Racing › Bike H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Plays like a fast Race Drivin'. Nowhere near as good as the SNES version, but it's playable due to the forgiving steering. the framerate is horrible. Like maybe twice the speed of Race Drivin' but about half of Stunt Race FX. 1 / 5 Level Design I didn't get to play many tracks but they have interesting features like tight or smooth turns and some hills. Roadside signs help with navigation. The real problem is that there are virtually no other racers. You're alone pretty much the whole time. Ultimately the game design is just boring. Th...

Review #664 Uniracers Sonic meets Tony Hawk SNES 1994 Nintendo Racing Racing › Bike F 57 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Very smooth gameplay. Controls are minimal but adequate. Basically just hold whichever direction you're heading. Doing tricks is optional and gets old quickly. The game runs as smooth as butter. Not much to the game but it runs well anyway. It's basically a really fast Motocross Maniac. 3 / 5 Level Design Tracks have obstacles, ramps, and hazards that either slow you or speed you up. These aren't so much helpful as they are the reason to memorize the track. Some tracks loop while others are a linear path with separate start and finish lines. Meh, it's fine. ...

Review #606 Suzuka 8 Hours Slower Cycle SNES 1994 Namco Racing Racing › Bike H 27 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Not gonna lie my first impression was horrible. I was ready to chuck the controller after 10 minutes. It didn't grow on me so much as I adjusted to its quirky and uncomfortable control scheme. At first it felt like the controls were waaaaayyy too sensitive. Making gradual turns was as hard as hairpin turns because the controls are so sensitive. I soon realized that while your bike tilts abruptly, there's a lengthy delay before anything comes of it. So it's paradoxically overly sensitive and incredibly laggy at the same time. The sensitivity makes it hard to drive in a straight line (this is one of those tap tap tapping games)...

Review #266 Kawasaki Superbike Challenge Motorbike simulator SNES 1995 Time Warner Racing Racing › Bike F 59 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Incredible tech demo. This is the definitive 16 bit motorcycle simulator. At least I think it is because I've never played another and this one is great. If you like driving around and around the same track over and over and over again. Hard pass for me but this game is seriously impressive. Overcomes the lack of an analog stick by using left and right for turning (duh) but adding L and R to give you and added lean into tight turns. This works really well such that you never need to break if you don't want to. F-Zero invented this move but this game puts it to great use. 3 / 5 ...

Review #207 GP-1 I thought bikes were more nimble that cars SNES 1993 Atlus Racing Racing › Bike H 27 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Very small margins for error. Go into the grass and you lose nearly all speed. And your turning is so slow you'll be going off-road a lot. Changing direction takes a lot of time and effort. There's a long animation showing you shift your weight and lean in that direction. I get that it's realistic but it makes for some really bad controls. As a sim I guess it's ok but as a game it's not much fun. The game tried to compensate by sort of steering you around the path. In other words, if you don't touch the d-pad you're pushed along the track in the right direction. Kind of weird ...

Review #208 GP-1 Part II GP-1 Part II with 3 difficulties Four your consideration V boredom SNES 1995 Atlus Racing Racing › Bike H 39 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Vastly improved controls. Possible to make tight turns. No need for a brake button, just ease off the gas. Three difficulty levels. Get boring as there's really no gameplay beyond making turns. The other racers don't even have hitboxes so they're not even obstacles. 2 / 5 Level Design Much shorter tracks. Nothing interesting 1 / 5 Theme Same generic design and setting. Qualify, race, repeat. More of an arcadey feel to it but the structure is standard simulation fare. At least it uses MPH rather than ...

Review #198 Full Throttle: All-American Racing DEV: We're done with the motorbike/jetski racing game! EXEC: Add Road Rash combat SNES 1995 Cybersoft Racing Racing › Bike G 46 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay The actual gameplay has a simulation feel to it. The vehicles have a feel weighty. You can kick opponents Road Rash-style but the kick is almost completely pointless as it doesn't have any more effect than simply bumping them. The feeling of speed is great once you get in first place and have only open road in front of you. The jet ski levels are far less interesting. It's a typical, flat Mode 7 racer with no turns whatsoever. You just go straight. 3 / 5 Level Design Two modes - motorcycles and jet skis....

Review #164 Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally aka Cannondale Cup SNES 1994 Life Cycle Racing Racing › Bike X 11 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay Exact same game as Cannondale Cup. I debated whether to include it but here we are, for the sake of completeness. 0 / 5 Level Design 3 / 5 Theme 2 / 5 Art Style 2 / 5 Audio More SNES reviews Browse all reviews

Review #137 Dirt Trax FX Super ExciteBike SNES 1995 Acclaim Racing Racing › Bike E 62 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay The gameplay gets repetitive once the novelty wears off, but it controls well for the most part. Hold down on A to go and steer your way around everyone. 4 / 5 Level Design Definitely a strength of this title. the tracks are all short (like 10-15 second laps) so all races are about 2-4 minutes long. Some tracks are very tight while others have long stretches. Lots of different obstacles like moguls or water hazards keep this interesting. 2 / 5 Theme Dirt bike racing isn't my thing, but it's fine. The 8 selectable characters (actually, polygonal ...

Review #93 Cannondale Cup Thumb exerciser SNES 1994 American Softworks Racing Racing › Bike X 11 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay I don't have the exercise bike peripheral so I can't play this game "as intended" but while using a controller I don't understand how this works. Or why it works. The only interesting thing you can do is hit L and R to hit the other bikers Road Rash-style. As near as I can tell, the controls amount to: mash A for about 5 seconds to get your biker moving and then watch until the race ends. Seriously, that's it. The d-pad does nothing and continuous mashing will move you ahead a tiny bit but it's so tiring that it's not worth the effort. You can't control the movement ...