My Top 100: #83 – Stunt Race FX

 

Nintendo was pretty damn proud of Star Fox, and for good reason.  The Super FX chip helped this little 16-bit console compete with the Atari Jaguars and Sega CD’s of the world, delivering some pretty fine-looking polygon action to the masses.  Why drop hundreds of dollars on a new console when you can experience nearly next-gen graphics on a console you already own and love?

Even though Star Fox was a massive success, the number of games that actually took advantage of the Super FX chip was pretty low.  They were titles that were easy to forget, the quality not being up to par with what Nintendo had achieved; Dirt Trax FX and Vortex were the only ones released in North America, while Europe also got a game called Dirt Racer.

Thankfully, Nintendo had another ace up its sleeve with Stunt Race FX.

 

 

If Star Fox was an attempt to steer Nintendo clear of its cartoony and kid-friendly roots, then this racing game was definitely a step back in the usual direction.  I mean, to begin with, the cars have googley-eyes!

I loved how there was a theme to each track, and how they didn’t have to rely on being a big-name franchise (à la Mario Kart) for inspiration.  They all felt unique, even if they were mostly comprised of texture-less polygons.  Instead of just going left and right, tracks went uphill and downhill, and would sometimes give you that weird feeling of vertigo if you went downhill really fast.  You can tell the Super NES is chugging pretty good at times when the frame rate takes a dip, but it holds up pretty well today.

*By the way, is it vertigo when you’re driving down a sudden dip in the road, and you feel your stomach lurch?  Yes, no, maybe?*

If you ever get bored of running the normal tracks, there’s also an 18-wheeler slalom challenge and Stunt Trax mode to choose from.

I enjoyed this game so much, I recently thought it was good enough to buy twice! **

 

 

** I actually didn’t know I already owned it when I bought it again recently, which is the first time that has ever happened to me.