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[VGEsoterica]

I've spent what feels like my entire life playing Sega games. I remember getting my Genesis in like 1991 and I've owned every Sega console / a lot of their arcade hardware ever since. Which is to say I've been enjoying the hell out of their racing games my entire life. OutRun, Crazy Taxi, Daytona, Sega Rally...the list just could go on and on...and if you asked me a few months ago what my favorite Sega racing game was I would have said OutRun 2. I can still sit at my Xbox and play that for hours and not even realize time is going by.

Some years ago (like well over 15...time flies) I was in Aspen, Colorado for X-Games (A weird other life when I used to work for Burton Snowboards and NOT just talk about games lolol) and we were having a team dinner at some bar...and in the back they had a few arcade games. Of course I excused myself and went back to check them out...and there was one game I'd never seen before; Wild Riders

I played it for a few rounds but didn't have enough time to really get into it so I stood up and went back to the table. From there I've NEVER seen another cabinet for the game again.

So early this year I decided to track Wild Riders down again...which is to say I tried to buy one. Zero luck...no cabinets anywhere near me and shipping would have been as much if not MORE than the cab itself cost...so I said F it...and loaded it into Demul. One playthrough turned into a few turned into damn if I've been playing for three hours and I totally didn't intend on sitting at my computer THAT long!

Basically it's OutRun meets Crazy Taxi with the art style of Jet Grind Radio. It almost feels like a rhythm game when you get into the zone and really start playing well. It only takes about six minutes to "beat" the game but actually getting good enough at the game itself to successfully beat it will take a good long while. Once you've beaten it? Time to start hunting for shortcuts and alternate paths!

Sadly Wild Riders is barely known about...it only released on the NAOMI 2 and it seemed to disappear from arcades as soon as it showed up. Finding a cab today seems near impossible. Also a bummer its one of the last games ever released for Sega developed hardware; after NAOMI 2 Sega started using other companies hardware and then transitioned to PC based arcade boards.

It may not be the longest game, or the most well known...but it's quickly becoming one of my FAVORITE Sega racing games

Curious who's played it? and what you'd say is your favorite / the best racing game Sega has ever released?

 

[VGEsoterica]

If you've never seen it. Works well in Demul. Mods...if the link is an issue just remove it. I want to talk about Sega racing games

 

[Kuranghi]

I like to think you are actually Al Bundy, playing all these retro games with that sardonic look on his face, with your large-chested giant-ginger-haired wife bringing you a beer.

Sorry I don't have much to add about Wild Riders but I think my favourite recent (2012 lol) one is Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed, had a blast with that game.

Classic wise I think its Sega Rally for trad racing game, but Crazy Taxi if that would count here, I was so crap at it! I still don't understand how to perform Crazy Dash or Crazy Stop 100% of the time even though I played it for dozens of hours:

The 5 Skills You Need to Succeed :: Crazy Taxi Techniques

 

[Pejo]

I probably sound like a broken record about this in racing game threads, but I truly believe this is the best arcade racer of all time.

 

[dan76]

Great video, looks awesome though I've never heard of it. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, enough of the Genesis / 80's arcade compilations, Sega needs to get on these later arcade games and port them over to PS4 etc. Perhaps they think that the amount of people who would play these game would do it through emulation anyhow? That's about the only think I can think of. Why else would they ignore so many games.

 

[dan76]

I probably sound like a broken record about this in racing game threads, but I truly believe this is the best arcade racer of all time.

Nah, the first game was better and neither are as good as Outrun 2.

 

[Futaleufu]

All those cops and sharp turns in Wild Riders remind me of Cisco Heat.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I like to think you are actually Al Bundy, playing all these retro games with that sardonic look on his face, with your large-chested giant-ginger-haired wife bringing you a beer.

Sorry I don't have much to add about Wild Riders but I think my favourite recent (2012 lol) one is Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed, had a blast with that game.

Classic wise I think its Sega Rally for trad racing game, but Crazy Taxi if that would count here, I was so crap at it! I still don't understand how to perform Crazy Dash or Crazy Stop 100% of the time even though I played it for dozens of hours:

The 5 Skills You Need to Succeed :: Crazy Taxi Techniques

I could only wish to be half the man Al Bundy was

 

[.Pennywise]

I probably sound like a broken record about this in racing game threads, but I truly believe this is the best arcade racer of all time.

I second that. But because it doesn't have the title of Mario Kart people overlook it.

At the day, it's the best Kart Racing game of all time.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Great video, looks awesome though I've never heard of it. Ive said it before and I'll say it again, enough of the Genesis / 80's arcade compilations, Sega needs to get on these later arcade games and port them over to PS4 etc. Perhaps they think that the amount of people who would play these game would do it through emulation anyhow? That's about the only think I can think of. Why else would they ignore so many games.

100% agree but not holding my breath. We don't need the TWENTIETH Genesis compilation...we need their early 2000's stuff. A ton of amazing games just languishing

 

[Orta]

No contest. A thing of absolute beauty.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Got to be Outrun2.
My biggest gaming regret of all time is not buying Outrun Online on XBLA before it was delisted. I hope someway someday this gets re-released.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Got to be Outrun2.
My biggest gaming regret of all time is not buying Outrun Online on XBLA before it was delisted. I hope someway someday this gets re-released.

I too missed this but at least I still have my Xbox copy. Bought it for like $5 years ago and its jumped up in price a ton since then

 

[Saber]

Sonic and Sega All Star Racing, no contest. One of my favorite games from Xbox360, used to play alot.

 

[jufonuk]

F-Zero GX count ? Then that or Daytona or something.

 

[ZoolNL]

Daytona 2 is amzing, as is Scud Racer

 

[VGEsoterica]

F-Zero GX count ? Then that or Daytona or something.

Definitely. Sega made F-Zero GX. Honestly I think Nintendo should just let them make another for Switch. One series Nintendo seems to love to neglect

 

[jufonuk]

Definitely. Sega made F-Zero GX. Honestly I think Nintendo should just let them make another for Switch. One series Nintendo seems to love to neglect

Wave race also

 

[Virt McPolygon]

If you've never seen it. Works well in Demul. Mods...if the link is an issue just remove it. I want to talk about Sega racing games

This looks amazing. How did you set up the controls in Demul and do I need to do anything in the Test menu? I'm using an Xbox One controller.

 

[Dr_Salt]

Daytona USA and F-Zero GX

 

[Bloobs]

F-Zero. Nothing comes close.

 

[VGEsoterica]

This looks amazing. How did you set up the controls in Demul and do I need to do anything in the Test menu? I'm using an Xbox One controller.

Turn the layers option down from 32 to 16 in Demul. Go into the rest menu and use the I/O test to configure the controller to your liking in conjunction with the Demul arcade controller setting.

I used an Xbox one controller as well.

Just play the game once through to get past the hitching. Demul caches so on first run it’ll stutter. That will go away

 

[Bakkus]

Definitely. Sega made F-Zero GX. Honestly I think Nintendo should just let them make another for Switch. One series Nintendo seems to love to neglect

Do any of the developers of the game still work at Sega?

 

[Dr_Salt]

Do any of the developers of the game still work at Sega?

The producer is literally one of the biggest names at Sega.

 

[VGEsoterica]

I second that. But because it doesn't have the title of Mario Kart people overlook it.

At the day, it's the best Kart Racing game of all time.

definitely equal to Mario Kart. Different but just as good

 

[teezzy]

SEGA GT 2002 always brings me back. Not even sure if its nostalgia or what, but yes please Sega daddies. Would love to see the series revived proper

 

[VGEsoterica]

SEGA GT 2002 always brings me back. Not even sure if its nostalgia or what, but yes please Sega daddies. Would love to see the series revived proper

The GT series was always fun. Weird Sega abandoned it

 

[Cravis]

I hate we never got a home port of Harley Davidson and the LA Riders. I spent way too much on that in the arcades. Those graphics blew me away at the time.

 

[.Pennywise]

definitely equal to Mario Kart. Different but just as good

Nah, better than any Mario Kart to date.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

Turn the layers option down from 32 to 16 in Demul. Go into the rest menu and use the I/O test to configure the controller to your liking in conjunction with the Demul arcade controller setting.

I used an Xbox one controller as well.

Just play the game once through to get past the hitching. Demul caches so on first run it’ll stutter. That will go away

Thanks for the info! I ended up playing this for 2 hours yesterday and then found myself going down the TeknoParrot rabbit hole to try and relive some other arcade memories.

 

[Fat Frog]

Do any of the developers of the game still work at Sega?

Of course, someone mentioned the producer Nagoshi but the director Sakamoto became producer of Yakuza like a Dragon.

Daisuke Sato the stage design director worked on almost all Yakuza, Binary Domain and even Streets of Rage 4("Sega development team")

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Outrun 2
Sega Rally
Sonic All Stars Racing
Daytona USA
Outrun

 

[MrA]

short answer
out run
long answer
ALL OF THEM

 

[Fat Frog]

Daytona 2
Sonic Transformed
Scud Race
Sega Rally 3
F Zero GX

 

[xrnzaaas]

Gotta be one of the SEGA Rally games, they were very arcade compared to something like Colin McRae Rally, but still a lot of fun.

 

[CamHostage]

I played it for a few rounds but didn't have enough time to really get into it so I stood up and went back to the table. From there I've NEVER seen another cabinet for the game again.

Game design in Wild Riders seems really fun, with that tactical-reaction racing play. If they couldn't have made enough tracks to port it home, maybe it could have been like a really nice bonus game or game mode (like a pizza delivery minigame or something like that) in a Crazy Taxi home release. Would also be really cool to some day see a SEGA NAOMI Arcade Collection or SEGA 3D Racing Series on disc/digital. They're getting into some great territory with the SEGA Ages library (finally, Virtua Racing in your home!) and previously did a lot of surprising work with the 3DS releases, so maybe they'll get there for some games, but we're still lightyears away from a Wild Riders home release.

In the video, though, the sense of speed is pretty low for how wild the gameplay is. Is it just too frantic (with the big vehicles and tons of sprites) to go any faster, do you think? Or do you get the feeling it might have felt faster in a cabinet (with the giant motorbike sitdown cab) than it does sitting watching a little YT clip or a modern monitor? (Does it play faster than it looks?)

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Crazy Taxi or Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast.

 

[lock2k]

Nah, the first game was better and neither are as good as Outrun 2.

I also prefer the first game.

 

[Bakkus]

Of course, someone mentioned the producer Nagoshi but the director Sakamoto became producer of Yakuza like a Dragon.

Seems to e a very busy man, then. Directing in a multi million seller franchise. Nintendo contacting him to drop that in order to make a hardcore racing game seems very unlikely to say the least. I'd be fine with a remaster for Switch of GX with online play. with GC controller support too, of course.

 

[UnNamed]

Never heard of it before. Looks like a mix between Harley Davidson and Jet Set Radio.

The best Sega arcade racing game is still Scud Race. But SAOSRT is a good contender.

 

[Fat Frog]

Seems to e a very busy man, then. Directing in a multi million seller franchise. Nintendo contacting him to drop that in order to make a hardcore racing game seems very unlikely to say the least. I'd be fine with a remaster for Switch of GX with online play. with GC controller support too, of course.

Yeah, it seems quite unlikely.

But for futuristic racers Sega Studios have 3 teams which can produce exciting outputs.

First they have Takashi Oda (House of the Dead, Harley Davidson) who worked on Motor Raid in the 90's.
Then, they have the Initial D team which worked with Kenji Sasaki (Ridge Racer, Sega Rally) on Star Wars Arcade Racer.
Finally, they have Sakamoto (F-Zero GX) who could handle several teams. (20 years of experience under Nagoshi).
Of course, a new F-Zero won't happen but there is a room for futuristic arcade racers within Sega. (Nagoshi talked about a dream partnership like Star Wars X Yakuza. Nothing is impossible since we had FOTNS in Japan, Alien license in the West )

 

[tasos]

Sega Rally ( both ) and probably Outrun 2 .
But it's so hard to choose from a long list of great games .

 

[Fat Frog]

Sega Rally ( both )

I really hope a Sega Rally collection because Sega Rally 1 > Sega Rally 3 > Sega Rally 2

 

[P.Jack]

Well my pick would have Sega Rally in the title, but I can’t choose between them. Since buying a OSSC, I’ve been playing Sega Rally 2 on dreamcast a lot. That game just feels so tight. Makes me want to track down a copy of Sega Rally 2006 since I’ve never played it.

Really wish they’d port all of them to modern hardware.

 

[basic_element]

Have to go with Sega Rally yeah! Played the crap out of it on Sega Saturn. Outrun 2 comes in a close second and then Scud Racer but I had limited time since it was arcade only.

 

[Warnen]

Saturn’s original Daytona USA. Played that game like crazy, the remakes all fucked up the control.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Probably OutRun 1 & 2, Super Hang-On, and Sega Rally

SEGA GT 2002 always brings me back. Not even sure if its nostalgia or what, but yes please Sega daddies. Would love to see the series revived proper

Oh hell yea. Nothing better than watching trophies pile up in your garage.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Dayatona USA. Monaco GP. Sonic All stars. Metroplis Street Racer.
I dont count crazy taxi as a racing game, but I love it

 

[drganon]

Daytona usa was pretty sweet. I don't know if it counts as a "racing" game, but the first crazy taxi was great as well.