Here’s a challenge for you: Open up another tab in whatever browser you’re currently using and, using all of your well honed Googling skills, find out everything you can about Ayrton’s Senna’s Super Monaco GP II for the Game Gear. Not the first one, the sequel.
Go on, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back…
Weird, isn’t it? I can only assume that by 1992 the confusion caused by Sega’s 3 Console strategy and the success of the Game Boy were both at their peak and this game just passed everyone by.
What did I learn from trying to research this game?
Well: It came out in 1992, it’s apparently better than the Master System version, and everyone who has uploaded footage of it to Youtube is terrible at it.
Selectron™ chose Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II (to give it the full name) for today but I’ve lumped in the original too because I hadn’t played either and I was in danger of having nothing to say, to be honest there’s not going to be much anyway.
It’s interesting, though, that not everything in the sequel is an improvement.
Super Monaco GP is surprisingly fast and the car model is actually more detailed than I was expecting. Backgrounds are basic but the striped effect common for old racers gets the job done. In fact, it’s probably a little too fast.
At first glance the car model on the sequel seems to have been downgraded, but with further inspection it turns out it’s just smaller and is, it has to be said, of more accurate proportions than that in the previous game.
The sequel is definitely slower though, which isn’t often a good thing in racing games but in this case it’s a welcome relief to not have a hairpin corner thrust upon you a quarter seconds notice.
Both games feature a map layout at the top of the screen but at Super Monaco GP’s speed even that was of little use in anticipating corners. Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II is still quick, but with a larger map and more warning for upcoming corners it’s actually possible to complete a lap without first commiting the whole thing to memory.
That larger map in the second game actually takes up half the screen, you’re not losing much besides a wider strip of sega sky I guess, but on the whole the layout of the original feels a bit cleaner.
Both games have a small amount of vehicle setting up you can tinker with and SMGP wins out again here in not just the presentation stakes, but also in the information available. I’m sure there were details in the manual, but ASSMGP2 seems to have written it’s part names in code whereas SMGP opts for a plainer English approach.
Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II has four more tracks than it’s predecessor and racing on all ten of them is where the sequel really starts to shine.
Despite having very little in common with the highly regarded Super Monaco GP of arcade and Mega Drive fame, these titles fall resolutely into the ‘sim’ side of the racing game world.
It may seem too ridiculous to say so when looking at a car built from about 64 pixels, and a console with two buttons and a d-pad, but in both these games, more successfully in the sequel it must be said, you have to learn the track.
You have to remember when and how much to break. There are full recreations of complex tracks like Suzuka and Silverstone for which, if you want to win, you’re going to have to pull off six near perfect laps.
Another indicator of this more realistic approach comes when overtaking cars. The first game is a bit of a lottery but in the sequel coming up to an opponent is a tense affair; the tracks are narrow and unless you pick your moment you will crash and lose time.
Go on, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back…
Weird, isn’t it? I can only assume that by 1992 the confusion caused by Sega’s 3 Console strategy and the success of the Game Boy were both at their peak and this game just passed everyone by.
What did I learn from trying to research this game?
Well: It came out in 1992, it’s apparently better than the Master System version, and everyone who has uploaded footage of it to Youtube is terrible at it.
Selectron™ chose Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II (to give it the full name) for today but I’ve lumped in the original too because I hadn’t played either and I was in danger of having nothing to say, to be honest there’s not going to be much anyway.
It’s interesting, though, that not everything in the sequel is an improvement.
Super Monaco GP is surprisingly fast and the car model is actually more detailed than I was expecting. Backgrounds are basic but the striped effect common for old racers gets the job done. In fact, it’s probably a little too fast.
At first glance the car model on the sequel seems to have been downgraded, but with further inspection it turns out it’s just smaller and is, it has to be said, of more accurate proportions than that in the previous game.
The sequel is definitely slower though, which isn’t often a good thing in racing games but in this case it’s a welcome relief to not have a hairpin corner thrust upon you a quarter seconds notice.
Both games feature a map layout at the top of the screen but at Super Monaco GP’s speed even that was of little use in anticipating corners. Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II is still quick, but with a larger map and more warning for upcoming corners it’s actually possible to complete a lap without first commiting the whole thing to memory.
That larger map in the second game actually takes up half the screen, you’re not losing much besides a wider strip of sega sky I guess, but on the whole the layout of the original feels a bit cleaner.
Both games have a small amount of vehicle setting up you can tinker with and SMGP wins out again here in not just the presentation stakes, but also in the information available. I’m sure there were details in the manual, but ASSMGP2 seems to have written it’s part names in code whereas SMGP opts for a plainer English approach.
Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco Grand Prix II has four more tracks than it’s predecessor and racing on all ten of them is where the sequel really starts to shine.
Despite having very little in common with the highly regarded Super Monaco GP of arcade and Mega Drive fame, these titles fall resolutely into the ‘sim’ side of the racing game world.
It may seem too ridiculous to say so when looking at a car built from about 64 pixels, and a console with two buttons and a d-pad, but in both these games, more successfully in the sequel it must be said, you have to learn the track.
You have to remember when and how much to break. There are full recreations of complex tracks like Suzuka and Silverstone for which, if you want to win, you’re going to have to pull off six near perfect laps.
Another indicator of this more realistic approach comes when overtaking cars. The first game is a bit of a lottery but in the sequel coming up to an opponent is a tense affair; the tracks are narrow and unless you pick your moment you will crash and lose time.
It’s in racing that the improvement from Super Monaco GP to Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II really shows itself. The car is nicer to control, the addition of qualifying is very welcome, and challenges presented by the representations of the real life tracks are high, but achievable.
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