Review: RC Pro Am this ain't
Ever since RC Pro Am was released way back when for the NES (by Square no less!), I've been looking for a worthy successor. Quite simply, the search continues.
RC Revenge Pro is an enhanced port of the PSone game RC Revenge. As I've never played RC Revenge, there'll be no comparison to worry about. Whether it uses RC cars or not, RC Revenge Pro is pretty much your standard racing game. The control scheme is simple enough, as X controls the gas, L1 is the brake and Square is reverse. RC Revenge Pro also gives you weapons to use against your opponents and the very cool "pick up" button if you flip over. The only thing that would have made that feature cooler is if a giant hand swooped in and picked your car up.
The tracks are fairly inventive as each one has it's own theme. And the animated backgrounds of each level are very cool. The farm level features dancing trees. The Universal Studios inspired level features a screaming Lock Ness Monster. The haunted house features rats. They really give personality to each track. The color explosion is really a sight to see. There's just something to be said about cartoon-style graphics. The problem with these animated backgrounds is that they totally kill the frame rate on some tracks. The whole game comes to a grinding halt and you can literally count the frames going by. And the tracks that are darker get very blurry. To make matters worse the music will drive you absolutely buggy. It's this crazy circus music that will make you want to pull your hair out. Don't hesitate to fire up a CD. However, the control is solid and there's quite a variety of cars and tracks to keep the game interesting.
In addition to the regular car tracks, there are also a few RC boat levels, which are actually really fun. If Acclaim wants to continue this series, maybe they should think about a strictly RC boat game. The one player game really does have its moments, even though it doesn't have any outstanding race features. The only real feature the game uses to make it stand out is the use of weapons in the race. But the weapons look like they're "borrowed" from Mario Kart so blatantly, Acclaim should be paying royalties. They appear after breaking floating question mark boxes and most of the items could be used in Mario Kart without breaking a sweat. The whole game has a Mario Kart vibe to it actually.
Acclaim has also gone to the trouble of including a bunch of extra modes into RC Revenge Pro to increase the replay value. Let's tackle them one at a time. There's the Championship mode where if you place first in the series you'll open up new tracks and cars. The main game definitely has its moments, but the lengthy load time between levels is a little much. And having to keep fixing the camera after each race is an annoying, but bearable, quirk. What's unbearable is the track editor. The interface is so screwed up that it's damn near impossible to create a track that is even playable, let alone cool. The 3D effects in the interface are just too much and it's not worth the effort. Rounding out the modes is a Time Trial mode that has been used in racing games since the beginning of time and a 2-player mode. The 2-player mode is at least more playable than the track editor, but just barely. The camera gets in the way of your car so often that it's really frustrating.
