Developer: Sega M2
Players: 1-8
There are a few milestone racers in the history of gaming, Pole Position, Super Sprint, Out Run, Ridge Racer, Daytona and, perhaps, RoadBlasters. But the one that had the most impact on my tiny mind back in the early nineties was Virtua Racing with the staggering switch to polygons.
Suddenly, the world felt alive, with plenty of distance, shading and detail. The cars looked realistic for the time, and while the road markings and drivers were a bit jaggy/primitive, and all the 16/32-bit console ports were pretty chunky, it felt like the virtual reality era had arrived (just without the headsets).
Quite why it has taken so long for a revisit is weird (VR never made it to the Dreamcast, which would have perfect alongside Daytona and Ferrari F355). But here it comes on the Switch in widescreen (okay, the original sit-down high-end version had a widescreen, but most were 4x3 ratio) with up to eight players, visual fidelity improvements while remaining true to the original, and local 8-way multiplayer.
But, really, Virtua Racing is about going back down the raceway of nostalgia to a simpler time, pedal to the metal and all that.
In the season when F1 2019 arrives with licenses blowing out the exhausts, and every dial and bit of downforce recreated in anal detail, Virtua Racing lets any player go out and race, with no worries, no fear of damage, and a relatively relaxed set of opponents, and our cars do look just enough McLaren and Williams to feel part of the F1 circus.
The three tracks offer plenty of challenge with the downward-ticking timer always on the case. To test Virtua Racing out, I played two-player with my teenage son, and despite the ancient look, he loved the speed, the reactions, the feel of the cars and challenge. To be fair, we did find Horizon Chase Turbo more long-term fun in a day of retro racing, but Virtua's challenge and need for precision is awesome over the crash and bash of HCT, and we're looking forward to taking on those world-record times as we get slowly better.
There are a couple of downsides, the game is limited to Joycons in mini-mode, not second-party controllers and there does seem to be the odd non-user twitch with the steering, and some random judder from the game.
From short bursts on the go, to long love-filled sessions on the big-screen, Virtua Racing hits all the right buttons for any gamer and is a must for those who missed out first time around.
Score 5/5 (review code provided by Sega)
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