RPM Racing

RPM Racing

North American cover art
Developer(s) Silicon & Synapse[1]
Publisher(s) Interplay Entertainment
Victor Interactive Software
Programmer(s) Allen Adham
Composer(s) George Alistair Sanger[2]
Platform(s) Super NES[3]
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Racing[3]
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer
Distribution Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge

RPM Racing (short for Radical Psycho Machine Racing) is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System racing game developed by Silicon & Synapse (now known as Blizzard Entertainment) under contract from Interplay Entertainment and published by Interplay.

RPM was a successful remake of the Commodore 64 program Racing Destruction Set, developed by Electronic Arts in 1985. It claims to be the first American-developed game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System system.[1]

RPM was one of the first SNES games developed in 'High Resolution Graphics Mode' which allowed for sharper detail but fewer colors. While the higher resolution gave finer detail, it also severely limited the number of colors and amount of unique graphics that could be displayed from the SNES video memory. Due to this, the sequel to RPM (RPMII which was later renamed Rock N' Roll Racing) was developed in the lower resolution graphics mode allowing for much more vibrant colors and graphic detail.

The logic engine and track editor for RPM were ported from an older EA title Racing Destruction Set. The 6502 assembly code was modified for 16-bit but otherwise mostly left intact.

There is an easter egg in the game on Track 29 which spells 'Eat Me' very clearly.

Gameplay

In the game, players can race in a regular season, a single race, and even get to create their own course. The courses can be straight and oval like NASCAR, curvy and flat like Formula One, or hilly and unpredictable like a monster truck track. The winner gets money and a chance to score his initials for the fastest time.

Development

RPM was developed using the 'Sluggo' development system created by Bill Heineman and his partner which allowed uploading of bin files to a device that emulated a cartridge for the SNES. System did not include step through or trace functionality.

RPM was programmed in 65816 Assembly Language using a cross compiler on an IBM computer.

Development took five months and was programmed almost exclusively by Allen Adham with graphics supplied by Interplay and in-house 3D modellers.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Blizzard Timeline". Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2003-06-08.
  2. ↑ "Composer information". SNES Music. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Release information". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2008-12-26.

External links