Metropolis Street Racer
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| Metropolis Street Racer | |
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| Developer(s) | Bizarre Creations |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) | January 17, 2001 (US) |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Platform(s) | Sega Dreamcast |
| Media | GD-ROM |
Metropolis Street Racer or MSR is a racing game for the Sega Dreamcast. It was developed by Bizarre Creations, and published by Sega. The game was originally intended to be a Dreamcast launch title in Europe and North America, however, due to numerous delays it was not released in Europe until November 2000, with a US version following in January 2001. Development of a Japanese version was started, but was never released.
Many of the concepts used in Metropolis Street Racer were reused in Bizarre Creations' follow-up racing series Project Gotham Racing on the Xbox.
Metropolis Street Racer is notable for introducing the "Kudos" system (whereby players are rewarded for racing stylishly as well as quickly) into video games, and for its detailed and accurate recreations of the cities London, Tokyo and San Francisco. Music for the game was composed by Richard Jacques, and delivered via nine fictional radio stations (three for each city), similarly to the Grand Theft Auto series. The day/night time spectrum during gameplay is realistic, in that the game uses the internal clock of the Dreamcast to calculate the present time in each city. Play at 8AM in England, for example, and the San Francisco races will all be at night.
A selling point of MSR was the sheer number of different tracks available (262 in total), created by blocking off certain areas of the city to lead the player around specific roads and paths. However, only a few of these are available from the start of play and most are unlocked by playing through the single player mode. The game did, however, feature far fewer cars than the Gran Turismo series.
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[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay in MSR is centred around the single-player mode, with tracks and cars in the multiplayer mode being unlocked at the same time as in the single-player game. The premise is that, as a street racer, you have to impress other drivers with quick but stylish driving in a series of challenges. These challenges are in sets of ten (called Chapters - there are 25 in total), with completion of all challenges opening the next chapter (assuming you have enough Kudos, see below) and unlocking a new car. Each challenge is on a different track, and unlocking a challenge unlocks that track in the time-attack and multiplayer modes.
[edit] Challenges
- Hotlap: Race on your own around a track - typically three laps - and attempt to beat a specific time. An alternate version records the average time for all laps.
- One-on-one: A race (again, usually three laps) against an opponent. You can give yourself or the computer a head start up to 60 seconds.
- Street Race: A single race against three opponents.
- Championship: A four-race series against three opponents. You receive points based on your position at the end of each race. Usually this is the last challenge in the chapter.
- Challenge: A race with custom rules, such as passing a certain number of cars within a time limit.
Some challenges (usually the Challenge category) have a time unlock, which allows you to unlock secret cars or cheats by completing the challenge during a certain time. Playing at a different time will allow you to clear the challenge, but will not unlock the reward.
[edit] Kudos
Kudos is the currency of MSR. You earn it during the challenges in two categories - Skill and Style. Skill Kudos is earned by completing a challenge successfully. Before starting a challenge, you have the opportunity to make it easier or harder on yourself by setting the time limit, head start, or race position required to clear the challenge. The harder you make the challenge, the more Kudos you earn by completing it. Style Kudos is earned by drifting - that is, using the hand-brake to skid while turning. A "K" symbol appears when drifting, and becomes more visible the longer a drift goes on and the harder it is. The more opaque the symbol, the more Kudos you earn. You also receive a bonus of 25 "K" if you don't crash into anyone or anything during the entire race. Finally, you lose Kudos in two ways - by hitting a wall, obstacle or other driver (theoretically you don't lose Kudos if you are hit by another driver, though this isn't always the case); or by failing the challenge, which results in a final Kudos total of -25 "K" for the whole challenge.
Kudos is calculated on a per-challenge basis. Each challenge's Kudos result is stored, and only the last attempt at a challenge is stored. If you gain 250 "K" on a challenge, then try it again and fail, you lose 275 "K", as that challenge's result is now -25 "K."
Through playing the game, you sometimes earn "Joker" cards. Playing one of these cards before starting a challenge will double the amount of Kudos gained or lost during that attempt.
[edit] Cars
In the single-player mode, you have a garage which holds three cars. In order to "buy" a car, you must complete a hot-lap challenge in that car - usually completing a short lap under a time limit. You have unlimited time to complete the challenge, and once you do, you can customise the car.
Car customisation allows you to select one of a number of colours, set the opacity of the windows, switch ABS on or off, and change the number plate to one of your choice. You also have the option with convertible cars of setting them as hard-top, soft-top or open-top; in daytime, nighttime and rainy settings.
Kudos is also tied to your cars. As there are initially only three spaces in the garage, you occasionally have to get rid of cars to open up spaces for better ones as you unlock them in the game. However, disposing of a car will also result in you losing 10% of the Kudos you earned in that car. This is designed to encourage you to either switch cars less often, or spend time in your best car on lower Chapters later gaining higher Kudos results.
[edit] Differences between releases
MSR was released three times in total. In order to meet a late-November 2000 deadline in the UK, Bizarre Creations released a game which had a number of noticeable bugs.
UK First Release Bugs
- After some time of playing, Tokyo races would always be at night.
- Completing Championship challenges without the required number of points would be considered successful nontheless.
- The game would sometimes corrupt VMUs.
- The "Quick Race" screen in the multiplayer mode would be blank.
Shortly after MSR's release, Sega recalled the first batch of games and promptly released a new version without these bugs, although some minor ones remained.
Again because of time constraints, the final UK version of MSR did not include a replay feature, despite the fact that there was a replay viewer and copies sent to magazines for review included the option. In this version you could watch pre-recorded races, but nothing else. The US version, released later, did have a replay feature.
