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Stunt Race FX

Stunt Race FX, known in Japan as Wild Trax (ワイルドトラックス, Wairudo Torakkusu), is a racing video game developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second game to use the 3D-centric Super FX powered GSU-1.

Stunt Race FX
North American box art
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Argonaut Software
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Tatsuya Hishida[1]
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto[1]
Programmer(s)
  • Giles Goddard
  • Masato Kimura
  • Kenji Yamamoto
  • Colin Reed[1]
Composer(s)Shinobu Amayake[1]
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • JP: May 27, 1994
  • NA: July 10, 1994
  • EU: October 27, 1994
Genre(s)Arcade racing
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer

Stunt Race FX was added to the Nintendo Switch Online service on September 5, 2019, its first re-release in more than two decades.

Gameplay

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Stunt Race FX is a racing game with various anthropomorphic vehicles. The player can choose between three vehicles (F-Type is like a Formula One, COUPE is a coupé, and 4WD is a monster truck), a fourth unlockable (2WD), or a fifth in bonus games (TRAILER which is a semi-trailer truck). The eyes as headlights was a late-in-development addition. Each vehicle has different capabilities of speed, body, and acceleration. According to the instruction booklets in English, the vehicles are male, but in the Japanese instruction manual and the Japanese television commercial, the COUPE is female and every other vehicle is male.

The game features five modes: three for racing levels, one for obstacle courses, one for test-driving, one for time-attacking, and one for multiplayer racing.

During gameplay, vehicles can use various functions to their advantage; the speed can be boosted, L and R buttons make sharper turns, and vehicles are damaged by collisions.

The capabilities of the Super FX chip are demonstrated extensively. Each course is constructed of 3D polygons, complete with road bumps, overhead passes, and detailed billboard advertisements. The lack of speed is incorporated into gameplay by featuring cars that are heavier and clumsier than in conventional racing games.

History

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Development

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In 1991, Nintendo and Argonaut Software began developing a custom 3D cartridge chip called the Super FX chip to enable create polygonal 3D graphics on the Super NES. The primary goal was what became the hit game Star Fox, but during the Super FX's development, Nintendo and Argonaut experimented with general 3D game development. The development of Stunt Race FX, which was tentatively titled as FX Trax back then,[2] started when Giles Goddard and Colin Reed joined in and later became Nintendo employees.

Wataru Yamaguchi created the clay models of vehicles on the Japanese version's box art and the instruction booklet of all versions.[3]

3D polygonal graphics are the game's main highlight, and producer Shigeru Miyamoto had his designers emphasize realistic vehicle dynamics. For instance, the F-Type's center of gravity is set at the rear of its body. The direction, weight, and force applied by each tire to the road surface is unique, making it quicker and easier for the car's tail to drift when cornering compared to other vehicles. Miyamoto stated that the player could notice these more subtle details by mastering each vehicle.[4]

In early development, the 2WD vehicle was not a part of the car roster. In its place was a three-wheeled vehicle called the 3WD, bearing a color scheme very close to the 4WD's blue paint job.

Marketing

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Two television advertisements were made and aired: one for Japan and one for North America and Europe. The Japanese advertisement is a short Japanese animation showing the vehicles in action along with gameplay footage.[5][6] It is narrated by Akira Kamiya. The advertisement for North America and Europe has a police officer talking to the viewers (as the driver) who he thinks infracted traffic laws while some gameplay footage is shown.[7][8]

Around the release of Stunt Race FX in the United States, Nintendo of America contracted with Kellogg's to give away a promotional, Hot Wheels brand, F-Type race car to people who mailed two proofs of purchase of Apple Jacks breakfast cereal.[9]

Reception

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Stunt Race FX's sales had surpassed 1 million copies by 1998.[18] In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling SNES game in October 1994.[19]

Critical response was mixed. Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that Stunt Race FX is a disappointment after the first Super FX game, Star Fox, because "the game feels awkward with the touchy steering and the feeling of speed just isn't there. Overall, there are better racing games on the market".[11] GamePro said the game is not realistic but it "still delivers a good time, especially if you're not old enough to drive".[10] Game Zero scored it 94 out of 100, saying the controls are "out of this world!" and the "attention to detail is truly superior".[16] Edge gave it a 9 out of 10 rating, as "one of the best racing games currently available for any home system".[20] In the British television show Bad Influence!, a few reviewers combined their ratings into an overall score of 4 out of 5.[15] Nsider said the game was solid, but the timing of release was unfavorable. It said Nintendo has since discontinued the idea of franchising the series, and canceled a sequel on the Nintendo 64 called Buggie Boogie.[21]

IGN ranked the game 86th in its Top 100 SNES games of All Time.[22] In 2018, Complex rated it 90th on its "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time".[23] In 1995, Total! ranked it 21st on its list of Top 100 SNES Games. They praised the game's graphics saying it was significantly better than Star Fox writing: "It's very different from your run-of-the-mill race game and manages to offer a wide range of challenges."[24]

Zoey Handley of Destructoid said the game's contemporary reviews are mostly positive but biased by the simple standards of the time, and that as a child she considered it good only as a rental because its replay value is so short and the primitive graphics induce nausea. She said the Super FX empowers the Super NES to "[punch] above its generational weight class" but called this game one of the chip's lesser technology demonstrations. "It looks like the [game development] team had a lot of fun challenging themselves to see what they could squeeze out of the tech, but it's not necessarily that much fun to play. Yet, somehow, it has just enough personality to feel distinctly Super Nintendo."[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "N-Sider.com: Stunt Race FX". N-Sider.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  2. ^ "SNES Document 1". www1.linkclub.or.jp. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  3. ^ "ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - 樹の上の秘密基地". 1101.com. September 11, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2007.
  4. ^ Famitsu staff (April 29, 1994). "極めれば極めるほど『ワイルドトラックス』はおもしろい!" [The more you master it, the more interesting Wild Trax is!]. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 280. ASCII Corporation. p. 184.
  5. ^ "任天堂のCM 1994年". majipon.hp.infoseek.co.jp. Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  6. ^ "Kaijin Zona + Wild Trax aka Stunt Race FX". gameads.gamepressure.com. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  7. ^ "North American/European commercial for Stunt Race FX (English)". gameads.gamepressure.com. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  8. ^ "North American/European commercial for Stunt Race FX (German/Deutsch)". gameads.gamepressure.com. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  9. ^ "1995 Kellogg's Apple Jacks commercial promoting the F-TYPE diecast car". gameads.gamepressure.com. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
  10. ^ a b c d MobyGames MobyRanks page for Stunt Race FX. MobyGames. Retrieved on June 27, 2008
  11. ^ a b "Review Crew: Stunt Race FX". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 61. EGM Media, LLC. August 1994. p. 34.
  12. ^ Famitsu staff (July 1, 1994). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: クライムクラッカーズ (PS)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 289. ASCII Corporation. p. 37. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024.
  13. ^ "GameRankings - Stunt Race FX reviews". Retrieved November 19, 2007.
  14. ^ "Videogames NZ - Stunt Race FX". Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
  15. ^ a b "Bad Influence Series 3 Episode 3 Part 1". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  16. ^ a b GZ Reviews--Stunt Race FX. Game Zero Vol.2 Issue 5. Retrieved on January 20, 2009
  17. ^ "Stunt Race FX Review score". Archived from the original on May 4, 2019.
  18. ^ Wells, Jeremy (November 1998). "Step outside, Quake, here comes Kanaan". PC Zone. No. 69. pp. 62, 63.
  19. ^ "Chart Attack with HMV" (PDF). Computer & Video Games. No. 157 (December 1994). November 15, 1994. p. 145.
  20. ^ Wild Trax Review. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. August 1998. pp. 58–60. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  21. ^ "N-Sider.com: Stunt Race FX". N-Sider.com. December 13, 2007. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  22. ^ "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time - IGN.com". Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  23. ^ Knight, Rich (April 30, 2018). "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". Complex. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  24. ^ "Top 100 SNES Games". Total!. No. 43. July 1995. p. 42. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  25. ^ Handley, Zoey (February 21, 2023). "Stunt Race FX isn't the worst tech demo, but that isn't a compliment Posted 5 mins ago by Zoey Handley". Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
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