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5 Retro racing games ready for a 'virtual reality' revival

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Cape Town - The way I see it, there are two entry points into the petrolhead realm.

There's the tried and tested route made popular by the older generation by way of greasy knuckles and garage banter. The sort that tinkers, tweaks and tunes.

Then there's the latter type, no less relevant mind you, that have done their tuning on a video game console whether it be via Gran Turismo, Need For Speed or Forza Motorsport.

Middle ground

But what about the forgotten middle ground, the arcades where the older generation cut their virtual racing teeth, retro titles that the younger generation are only now beginning to appreciate like OutRun and Daytona, Ivan 'Iron Man' Stewart's Super Off Road and so on?

And wouldn't it be excellent if they were back again to enthrall the latest generation by virtue of the most exciting bit of tech currently doing its rounds on the market. I refer to Virtual Reality.

Here are my five games I reckon someone needs to take to the next headset-wearing dimension, and quickly!

I've steered away from the obvious polygonal 3D titles in favour of the hand drawn art of back in the day so you'll really have to stretch your imaginations.


Do you agree with this list of games? What has Calvin Fisher left out? Email us or reach us via Facebook  and Twitter.


1 OutRun by SEGA
SEGA's classic arcade coin gobbler featured three things: Coast to coast racing, a red Ferrari, and a leggy blonde co-driver to applaud and berate you. In VR you could divide your attention between her and the road as you see fit. Spend too much time staring at her bronze legs however and you'll be treated to a fourth OutRun feature, over-the-top crashes!

2 Super Off Road by Leland Corp
This one's full name, Ivan 'Iron Man' Stewart's Super Off Road, is admittedly a mouthful, but then its also brimming with 'replayability'. Picture it now, the start line a thronging, buzzing melee of 4x4s. You turn your head from side to side to check out the grimy faces of the online players you're about to battle with when the light goes green and the lot of you are released in a mess of pyrotechnics and noise. Marvellous.

3 Rally-X by Namco
Oh, you thought Mario Kart invented the game of dropping obstacles and projectiles to throw off the other cars? Please, that honour belongs to the Rally-X, an arcade hit made by Midway, the same folks who would go onto to develop some of the best Arcade racing series. Here you're a blue car being chased by red cars while you collect flags. In VR you could really get lost in that maze, and why stop with smoke screens, let's see a full virtual arsenal to dispatch those pesky red cars!

4 Lucky & Wild by Namco
Wait. What? Now I know this sounds really obscure but trust me, if you've ever ventured into an arcade, its the car game featuring a pair of protagonists clearly inspired by the Lethal Weapon series of movies in a pixelated festival of car chases. Sure, a VR game in this would be a lot like the best version of Grand Theft Auto, and hey that's not a bad thing, right?

5 Power Drift by SEGA
It was the end of the 1980s and someone at SEGA was clearly getting tired of the static graphics. Whilst not strictly 3D, Power Drift really pushed pixels as far as they could go, now scaleable and delivered at speeds that could make your eyes bleed. Think of it a off-road OutRun, with some crazy topsy turvy course layouts and a camera that would pivot around the turns. Come on SEGA, let's make Power Drift reach its full potential in. Virtual Reality for some truly insane sideways antics. Puke bag not included



Follow Calvin Fisher here on Twitter and Watch his videos here on YouTube.

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