KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 1:39 pm ...it's just that "best X ever" discussions should be a bit more inclusive than that, in my opinion.

Well, yeah, but people can only say what their personal favourites are can't they. If someone wanted to come along and argue that Burnout or Need For Speed was the best racer ever I'd listen with interest.

Michiel K wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 3:21 pm F-Zero GX is the best ever racing game (and one of the greatest games overall) from where I stand. Not bad for a game with cars that don't have wheels.

DUUUDE

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑June 7th, 2017, 9:34 pm I mean, I operate under the assumption that even if a new F-Zero were to ever be released, it just couldn't match let alone surpass GX. Hard to believe that GX is already 14 years old... Hasn't aged a day, though.

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑June 7th, 2017, 10:41 pm F-Zero's depth and responsiveness is on another level. Have you not played GX? A port would certainly make this gem available to a broader audience. Best racing game ever created, in my humble opinion. It's that good.

Enough already! Just stop it!

But is it better than Wipeout?

Alex79uk wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 3:32 pm The last instalment, GT6, was the first one which set the alarm bells ringing for me since it just wasn't an improvement over 5.

The first time I played Forza, with those triggers, on a HD 360 - I was blown away.

I had all my hopes pinned on something special with GT5. Then when I played it and couldn’t believe that it hadn’t moved on from simply pressing the X button.

Then there was all that nonsense with Polyphony and the GT Racing Academy, which was quality but was time spent elsewhere from where I’d hoped.

Fingers crossed for the new one though, I’ll downloaded the demo and give it a look I think.



And for the record, Speed Devils on the Dreamcast is the greatest racing game ever. That or Super RC Pro AM.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 4:14 pm But is it better than Wipeout?

Ha! Well, it depends on what you consider to be more important. In terms of presentation, style, graphics, music, availability, "realism", Wipeout is the king of arcade racers. In terms of pure gameplay mechanics, however? F-Zero hands down. It's an absolute joy to control and the learning curve is one of the most satisfying in the medium. The lack of re-releases is a real shame - but that's Nintendo for you.

Suits wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 4:17 pm I had all my hopes pinned on something special with GT5. Then when I played it and couldn’t believe that it hadn’t moved on from simply pressing the X button.

Hang on - you're meant to be using the right stick for gas and brakes!

Alex79uk wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 4:36 pm Hang on - you're meant to be using the right stick for gas and brakes!

Yeah, actually, that does sound familiar. I think. I must have tried that and thought, yeah, that feels rubbish, so just went back to X .

Either way, it didn’t feel anything like as accessible or natural as Forza and was certainly a jumping off point for me.

I vote Skidmarks on the Amiga, but the 'best' I've played is undoubtedly Forza Horizon 3. Also, special mention for DriveClub which I've played by far more than any other driving game. I must have put two or three hundred hours into it somehow, I was absolutely blown away by the support and DLC and assorted updates, and gutted that Sony shut them down.

Really enjoying DIRT Rally at the moment, incidentally. Very difficult to get in to the right mindset but once you're there and caning it round corners full speed sideways it's exceptional.

Totally agree. Can I recommend headphones and cockpit view and sitting three feet from the telly? It's one of the most amazing and immediate 'flow' games I've ever played. It requires such concentration and such constant refinement of movement, and has such a floaty feel, it gets me slack jawed staring into the middle distance in seconds.

Dirt Rally was a punchy, squirt, squirt, bend to bend game that really surprised me.

Loved it.

Didn’t enjoy the RallyX stuff though.

I mainly played it with my Elite Xbox Controller using the paddles which was perfect for the gears. However, my mate has a Thrustmaster full rig and race seat set up - so we gave it a good go on that. The torque in that Thrustmaster can dislocate thumbs !!!

While we're on the subject, I'll give a shoutout to Burnout Revenge. The single-player is fantastic, and unlike some, I didn't have any issue with the traffic checking mechanic. But it's the multiplayer that really grabbed me like no other racing game before or since. Not the kind of game you would think of in terms of multiplayer heavyweight, but I did put hundreds and hundreds of hours in the 360 version back in 2008-2009. The community was obviously really small, but full of nice people and the lobbies were always a lot of fun with almost no trash talking or toxicity to speak of. It certainly helped that I just kept running into the same handful of players and built a real sense of tight-knit community with them. And the tracks themselves are so well designed that we somehow didn't get bored of playing them over and over again. I was never the best, but I did rank up in the Top 1000 towards the end of my time with it. Though I suppose that was more due to the shrinking player base!

Overall, it's one of the most positive and memorable multiplayer experiences I've ever had.


And then Paradise came out shortly thereafter, Revenge's servers got shut down, my love for Burnout diminished, and my distaste for open-world game design only grew exponentially from there. Time's a funny thing, isn't it?

I finally finished Doom - the severe motion sickness that resulted in very bite-sized played sessions did ease through the final third of the game, though it came back with a vengeance on the second to last level. That aside, as much fun as it was I think I'd have been very happy if it had finished three or four levels earlier; there wasn't much new to see by that point apart from the big bosses.

What's really taken my time recently is Pokemon Gold! After cashing in some Natwest Rewards I didn't know I had, I decided to treat myself to a New 2DS. I picked up Ocarina of Time and Mario Tennis immediately, but I also found myself presented with years' worth of generous demos in the e-shop, one of which was Pokemon Sun and Moon. I only tried it because I'd never played a Pokemon game before and wondered what the fuss was about, and I was properly hooked by the end of the demo! By coincidence, GBC Pokemon Gold and Silver were re-released the following week so I jumped in on Gold at just £8.99, and what great value that's turned out to be. It's been all-consuming and I love everything about it! All I need to do is finish with it before Utra Sun and Moon appear shortly!

Personally, because I impulsively (the best way to shop! ) invested in a steering wheel a long time ago, my Xbox 360 for the longest time became my go-to for racing games. So there will be bias! Obvious it worked well with the Forza series, but also Dirt, and my god Daytona absolutely shines using that wheel.

And I think the factor of "I don't want to buy a new steering wheel for every new generation of hardware" means I get less invested in racing games as time goes on. I think if I came across one for a reasonable price I would be spoiled for choice in terms of games - the variety has never been better.

You won't need a steering wheel to get a piece of that sweet Rocket League action, though!







PS: Yes, I know you have medieval internet, Joshi. Sorry for teasing you.

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑October 9th, 2017, 10:57 pm PS: Yes, I know you have medieval internet, Joshi. Sorry for teasing you.

You Europeans are soooooo cruel!

Just finished Dead Space and did not enjoy it at all.

The visuals and the atmosphere were quite impressive (had me thinking about Metroid Prime the whole time), everything else in the game was terrible. 4/10

What did you think of the UI elements?

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑October 10th, 2017, 1:11 am What did you think of the UI elements?

What do you mean by UI elements exactly?

If you mean the 3D hologram like screens, yes, those were amazing to look at but the inventory menu was totally stupid in that when you need to bring it up to use it you get attacked while doing so and move so slow you cant get away from attacks to use it and die. Very stupid game design.

I first saw a similar visual effect in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) which I played long before Dead Space.

Well, I'm always impressed with the way the Dead Space games manage to renounce a conventional HUD by relying exclusively on in-universe elements, like the energy meter on the back of the power suit or the ammo counter on the gun and stuff like that.

I don't think that the menus not magically pausing the game is inherently stupid, to be honest. The Souls games do this as well, and it just means you can't use the inventory as a get-out-of-jail-free card like in RE4 for example. Instead, you're meant to rely on the handful of essential shortcuts mid-battle which are bypassing the inventory system entirely and allow the player to focus on the action. You can reload, heal and switch weapons all without bringing up the inventory. And later games in the series introduced a shortcut to recharge stasis. Why fumble through the menus in the middle of a fight?