R.C. Pro-Am (1988)

I consider this game so funny when I'm already playing another racing game from different generation at the same time, and it hardcore cheats without trying to hide it. no gameplay integrity whatsoever.

anyways, This is another one of Rare's early releases which I will admit, is very impressive. there is a good grip on the controls, and a really good physics of the time that seem revolutionary, or cool of sort. the graphics are colorful, and that's pretty much it.

It is an arcade racer though, and the rubber-banding will let you know. I did not enjoy the game for what's it worth, but I did appreciate what was on hand. still, I would not even recommend a racing game on the NES.

Another one of those games that as a kid, I loved, but now revisiting it as an adult, the flaws really stick out.

The action is fast paced and non-stop. If you get good enough to memorize where items are on the track, you can dominate many of the tracks.

The rubberband AI is insane. You will NEVER get super far ahead of your opponents, no matter how many times you hit them with missiles, no matter how many upgrades you make to your car. They will always seemingly catch up.

No 2-player mode is a big letdown. The game gets quite boring and repetitive in one player mode. There are 32 unique tracks, but there is no "end." It keeps looping the same 32 tracks with difficulty increasing. You collect trophies and letters to spell out "NINTENDO", which if you do, moves you into a new circuit with a slightly different car.

The controls are slippery and messy. A lot of times it's more pure luck than skill how you finish in a race. You have to place 3rd or higher to continues. Finish 4th or below, game over.

Rock and Roll Racing is a far superior version of this game. So is Super Mario Kart, in a different sort of way. While this was fun for its time, It has aged to the point where it's almost obsolete and unnecessary to revisit.

Do you like the sound of ear-piercing NES screeching tires? Then this game is for you!

This is a game I recall playing at a friend's back in the day, and was pretty sure I had some fun racing those toy cars. But going back to it more recently and trying to actually get past the first few tracks... Yeah, this isn't actually all that great. These cars are slippery as hell, and then there's that screeching sound effect every time you move the car at all. It's pretty damn frustrating. I do like its sense of speed, the isometric viewpoint works well enough, and the weapons do make this feel like a clear sort of precursor to Mario Kart. But this got old fast, especially against the brutal AI.

History:

Definitely remember seeing this one at the video stores, but never actually played it.

Expectations:
I'm honestly a bit concerned... I loved Micro Machines but Cobra Triangle was a major kick to the pants. Still, maybe without the shooting gallery arcade game weirdness I'm hoping this will at least be decent.

Day 1:

I hate games that take away elements of the screen when you pause. Really makes me reconsider getting a screen capture device...

Not much to say in way of playthrough. I raced some races, drove some cars, won some, lost some... I played through the game five times before finally calling it quits.

Conclusion:

So, it's better than Cobra Triangle, so there's that. I didn't hate RC Pro Am, I'll get that out of the way. I actually had some fun playing it. Did I "16th best NES game" enjoy it? No, not even slightly. How this got rated higher than Micro Machines I'll never know. It's actually really strange for me, given how much I LOVE future Rare games, how much I dislike their early entries.

The game handled well enough, and I can't complain about the weirdness in driving controls since you're supposed to be racing RC cars here. The courses all felt extremely similar just with different boost, water, oil, weapon, wall, etc. layouts. I will say the game was actually impressive graphically. Very little flickering and very smooth framerates. The sound was grating though, my wife, cats and ears all complained. All in all I found it to be "okay", but definitely inferior to the similar Micro Machines.

Liked:

- Good graphics, fine controls.
- Not not fun.
- Better than Cobra Triangle.

Disliked:

- Horrible sound effects.
- Nothing special in the gameplay department, definitely not better than other entries in the genre for the NES.

Personal Score: