PS1 Game Review: Ridge Racer

 Ridge Racer is one of the launch titles for PS1.  It is a game that has an arcade style feel and it came out with a successor after a solid first game.  This started a bit of a cult type feel to this game.  It is a game that centers around Racing around a seemingly expansive street course and a few difficulties.  Here are the positives and negatives of Ridge Racer.

Positives:

1. Arcade type style and it is actually quite good.  You don't feel like a Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing where you don't have control.  Here you have the control of the car and you do well with this or you don't.  Simple really as that

2. As you go higher in difficulty, it gets tougher.  I think that is pretty much as simple as that.

3. However, as you go higher, you are also rewarded with better cars.  I think it is pretty much also sums that up.

4. Graphics for the opening start to PS' career and this game are quite good.  This game has done well and honestly holds up fairly well over the years.

Negatives:

1. I feel their idea of doing a 'back to front' story is kinda off.  They make it hard on you to start but the idea is for you to drive to the front in a few laps, which is a bit unrealistic at times.

2. If you brake you slide all over which I am not sure why that is as well. That part is completely unrealistic and honestly the weirdest part of the game.

Even with the negatives, this game is pretty good overall.  Ridge Racer is an arcade style game and it knocks it out of the park and does everything pretty well minus what is said about the negatives.  I feel even with that it is a good to great racing game on the PS1. 

PS1 Game Review: NASCAR Racing

 NASCAR Racing was one of the first racing sims to go to PS1.  It was a game that had good success on Windows and other computers and it went to the console with this game.  This game has its ups and downs but it is something that didn't gain traction to go forward to the consoles and went back to the computers after this.  Here are the positives and negatives of NASCAR Racing.

Positives: 

1. Most tracks are on here as of the 1996 season, including North Wilkesboro.  It is a bit surprising that this was the case as North Wilkesboro was out at years end.  I know Daytona isn't on here but that track wasn't on a game until 2001 so that makes it better to stomach knowing that no game had Daytona on it until 2001. 

2. Most of the big names at the time are also on this game.  So names like Wallace, Earnhardt, Labonte, Waltrip, Gordon are all on here from 1996.  That tends and lends credibility that this game was in the right direction right away.

3. There are two fantasy tracks that are honestly quite fun to drive and are noted to be pretty fun overall with this game.

Negatives:

1. No full field and that is a disappointment considering the computer games had essentially a full noted field at most times. 

2. The cars are blocks essentially and take damage like they would if they were tanks so they are not realistic.  It essentially is like a block and you can just run anyone over and not have an issue.

3. The cars are also not realistic in handling and notes that this is a struggle.  I know it is 1996, but this could have been good with the engineering of the game.

Much like Codemasters with Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing, Papyrus with NASCAR Racing mainly just had this be a game that just is lackluster and average at best.  The best way to explain this game is like Jarrett and Labonte, as many positives and as many negatives.  Just an average racing game that doesn't wow you.

PS1 Game Review: Andretti Racing

 Andretti, just the name should speak volumes. It is a name engrained in any time of motorsport.  From F1, Indycar, Sports Car, NASCAR.  Really any racing and you know the name Andretti.  Whether it is Mario Andretti, Michael, John, Jeff or any Andretti.  They also got into the foray of a PS1 game called Andretti Racing which also included stock car racing in addition to open wheeled racing.  For this game, it has it's good and bad, which are previewed below.

Positives:

1. Simple and basic, which is what EA Sports wanted to do with this game.  It ended up getting a greatest hits label but also it wasn't half bad to drive this game.

2. Driving is something you can do and have control on.  Unlike Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing, you won't twitch like crazy and have little to no influence on the car without crashing.  You can drive and handle the car and make changes.

3. It is some realistic tracks, some fantasy, which I would believe was mid-90's thing with most racing games as NASCAR racing didn't have it nor did NASCAR 98 and such.  So it was cool to see designed tracks and race on them and they didn't disappoint.  

4. Graphics to this are pretty good honestly.  Stock cars look like stock cars, same with indy cars.  The tracks are not like blocky and bad, and flow with the game.  

Negatives:

1. Stock car series is far easier than the Indy Car series or open wheel series.  They didn't do much in the input of this and it was shown easily.  I always start with Stock Car to just get it out of the way.  Typically finish first or second in this series first.

2. Indy Car series is almost too difficult as Stock Car is easy. They didn't really factor for this and it also shown itself in a bad way to be honest.

All in all that are the main negatives to this game.  Andretti Racing is still a better game than that of Jarrett and Labonte and CART World Series but doesn't square up to other racing games as well.  It is okay for mainly a one time play through and that is about it.

PS1 Game Review: Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing

 Jarrett, Labonte, two names embedded in the racing legacy's of four champion race car drivers.  Ned and Dale Jarrett as well as Terry and Bobby Labonte.  Meaning, they would have a great insight into NASCAR racing and a NASCAR game right? Yeah not so much.. as this is about Dale's son Jason Jarrett (essentially a Busch Series driver who didn't honestly drive after 2000) and Terry's son Justin Labonte (a race winner in the Busch Series in 2004) and their racing game, Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing.  The game company that made this game? Codemasters.  Yep that same company who either produces a great or a garbage F1 game every year made this game way back near the turn of the millennium.  This game, well, is good in some ways and bad in others.

Positives:

1. Mainly correct courses for the time of this game being made.  They did make one note and that was a short version of Brands Hatch.  Otherwise the courses are more or less pretty accurate for when they were made.  

2. Realism in car damage, to an extent.  If you smash the wall hard, you are liable to cause a lot of damage and ruin your race.  It makes that seem pretty realistic to a real racing car.

3. Realism in competition, also to an extent.  As you progress your competition gets harder and that is a good thing as well.

Negatives:

1. Honestly, the realism in car damage is not impacted in aerodynamics or anything remotely close to impact of racing plus it is fixable right away with a pit stop.  Therefore.. it doesn't do much for me on that.

2. The competition does get tougher but the bar is literally moderate at best for advancing to the next championships.  As long as you do well in a certain group of races, you are gonna finish top 2 or 3 and get the points needed.

3. This games music is fine but the driving is so all over the place and jittery it makes it hard to enjoy.  I play racing games for the sake of racing.  This game if you twitch at all you are going to wreck.  You don't have the chance to save your racecar from a wreck.

In all honesty, that's what I gathered from my last playthrough of this game.  It is mainly just a standard game for racing on the PS1.  Codemasters obviously has done far better but they honestly struggled with this one and really it doesn't excite me when I play this game as it did as a kid.

Milkmen are the New Udder Team in Milwaukee

  The Milwaukee Milkmen.. a new team? Absolutely! They are a team in the American Association, which is a baseball league.  Their first year was in 2019, and they opened up their new stadium in nearby Franklin, Wisconsin to a good showcase of fandom.  Over the course of the last year plus, the Milkmen went from essentially expansion team to American Association champion in 2020.  The Milkmen have been a cheap and affordable option.  I went to see a Milkmen game in 2019 and while they lost, I had a lot of things about their stadium that I feel make it one of the better ballparks in Independent league baseball.

  The Milkmen's stadium got completed for them to play in 2019 and since then they have had a lot of great success as well.  When they opened, it brought a nice flair, as it is expected to also showcase the UWM team for college baseball as well.  It still will host games for the Panthers, despite the 2020 season being cancelled due to COVID.  Upon entering the stadium, their parking lot is pretty spacious and well organized so you can get in and out pretty easily overall.  Upon going through the gates the one thing noticed is the fan store.  It's a nice small thing, which will likely be complete and filled with gear from the championship season for the Milkmen in 2020.  The fan store is nicely laid out and honestly has a lot of the same equipment as usual for hats, shirts, hoodies, and so on but at a reasonable price.  How is the rest of the stadium?

  Well the rest of the stadium is simply great.  The seats are appropriately spaced out and and the walk ways are very, very nicely laid out as well. The concourses are accessible, the fan areas and non-seated areas.  The park itself is very wide so if needed for expansion it is easily able to happen.  They have one main stand for concessions at the time I went to a game.  Their staff are pretty quick and efficient at that time which I suspect got better with a season under their belt they got even better, so how are the concessions and food?

  The food is about what you would expect with Wisconsin sports, so the burgers, chicken, fries, curds are all staples.  They are a pretty affordable price as well when I went so I suspect they would have stayed affordable in 2020 and will do so in the future.  Their one staple is the milkshake of ice cream and whichever syrup you choose overall.  The ice cream is actually quite okay and of course the syrup is typically Hershey's so it is going to be okay overall.  Main thing of this remains though, it is affordable for the people and that is the main thing the Milkmen wanted to give from the outset, an affordable program for families or for the regular fan like myself. 

  The on-field product changed rapidly from expansion 2019 team to champions in 2020.  Even then the product was fun to watch in 2019.  The staff didn't have major frills but that is a good thing for the innings promotions.  It is actually a really cool thing that they try to involve kids as much as possible so they can bring families back while also providing a party type atmosphere with their beer decks for the older generation.  So all in all the fact they can keep every form of demographic happy is what matters and the promotions and between innings entertainment is something that is good as well.

  All in all, the Milkmen and their stadium, Franklin Field, do a really nice job when it comes to everything.  They did well starting out in 2019, likely did more in 2020 with the ongoing difficulties facing everything in the world.  When I went in 2019 everything was amazing and fan friendly with an emphasis on getting young people into the park which is needed for any team.  It's affordable and fun to go to a game.  I hope the Milkmen have great success going forward in the American Association.

SNES Game Review: F-Zero

 Another blog, another racing game.  This one is a bit of the twist though, as it might be the most notable racing game that became part of a legacy.  F-Zero is part of the series of games on different systems from 1990-2004, with this one being the first.  F-Zero and Super Mario Kart are two of the biggest racing games on the SNES, but also that they are the most notable as they then become a series on different consoles.  Super Mario Kart is viewed as highly regarded by just about everyone.  Same goes for F-Zero.  How do I rate the game? Here it is below.

Positives

1. The graphics honestly are superior.  A futuristic idea of a city based in 2560, racing Grand Prix is awesome enough.  However the Mode 7 graphics model that they had allowed for it to look 3-D and allow for the multiple twisting/turning of the game through the multiple races. 

2. The music in this game is absolutely phenomenal.  It gets you pumped up to play a game.  This includes racing.  If this were the music in every racing game, it'd make a lot better overall (even if the game is not very good.) 

3. The fact that Captain Falcon becomes a major person into this Nintendo life and becomes a main character in a lot of ways.  This was his big moment and now as a result of it, he is a major character in the life of Nintendo after that.  

4. The pace of the game is quick, which makes it for a quick playthrough.  It isn't a game that will take you hours upon hours to beat (IE: Most Final Fantasy games overall so to speak) and with it being racing, most races are a short distance so don't expect to take hours on one race.

5. Contact can be restored as well as power without a pitstop.  There are places on track to restore your power and repair damage.  Remember, futuristic cities so they planned on futuristic ways of fixing stuff.

Negatives

1. The driving is a bit slick to be honest here.  You are susceptible to the 'wall' (It's more like orbs for a wall but hey we'll call it a wall) and damage which forces you to do the repair.  This is a common occurrence on a lot of racing games on SNES.  This is the main real flaw to the game overall.

Review, rating: 

All in all, F-Zero is a great start to the series for Captain Falcon and his cast of people.  While yes the driving is slick, it isn't a whole sale detriment and it is a very playable game otherwise.  From a pure racing standpoint, it is probably 2nd to Super Mario Kart.  It is ahead of Top Gear but a game that is top 20 definitely in the SNES era.  I would probably rate it 18th in SNES games.  My overall grade is a 9 out of 10.

PS1 Game Review: CART World Series

 In the 1990's almost anything that was racing in the decade was put to a video game.  The CART Series was one of them which was put to a game for the PS1.  In the 90's, the IRL (Indy Racing League, not In Real Life for the kids today) and CART split up in a very controversial move which led to CART coming into the American foray.  What came of it was Chip Ganassi dominating and a open wheel battle overall.  This game in itself doesn't have that, but it has some ups and downs overall.

Positives:

1. The tracks are realistic in this game as they were back when the game came out, and to a way that a CART open wheel car looked so they did well to give those feelings.

2. The drivers, as many as would take part of being in the game, were also realistic and used the CART license.  Not every driver was in the game but that was to be expected given the odd nature of athletes in video games in the 90's not giving their full rights to be in a game. 

Negatives:

1. Damage is not very realistic nor are the physics when the car is damaged (aka: A lost wheel.)  You literally can take most corners without a front wheel when literally you would be out of the race.

2. The cars are not the most realistic in handling.  Any breaking and they want to go out of control.  It's quite a shame really because if they fixed that part, it would be good to have for a racing game.

Review overall and rating: At best, CART World Series is an average racing game that does not come close to the NASCAR games on the PS1 or any other really.  It just lacks too much in trying to drive the car to make up for anything great.  At best it is a 5.5 out of 10.