Fast Racing Neo (WiiU)

[Brend]

This game is my sleeper hit of 2015. I expected it to be good, but I never expected it to quench my thirst for an F-Zero GX successor. So many things to like about Fast Racing, where do I even begin? Have to start somewhere anyway:

Unapologetically old school: This game obviously hearkens back to everyone's favorite two anti-grav racers, so I love that Shin'en kept the simplicity, speed and ruthlessness of those games. When I found out it was impossible for me to restart a single race inside of a championship, I was ecstatic. That's the kind of challenge I miss. However...

It's not unfair: Fast Racing doesn't seem to cheat, unlike many arcade racers of the past and present. There's certainly some catchup A.I. at work, which I can forgive in this genre. But I was surprised to find that my number one pet peeve of these kinds of games — the same vehicle winning consecutive races in championships, forcing you to finish first every single time — is not present here. And they'll make mistakes too, as I've seen many computer-controlled opponents get tangled up in boulders, fire vents, giant spider robot legs, which brings me to...

Technically stunning: Wow. 60 frames-per-second, and some of the best visuals I've seen on the Wii U. Yeah, it's running at a low framerate, and there's a lot of flickering, but the fluidity of the gameplay and the plethora visual effects nearly make up for it. This Digital Foundry analysis sheds light on how exactly Shin'en optimized the game for the underpowered console; let's just say they are some very, very smart guys and girls. Regardless, this game oozes style and has "holy s**t" moments around every corner. Reminds me a lot of F-Zero GX in that way...

Fan-service: GX was a landmark title in arcade racing and one of my favorite games of all time — and Fast Racing is a straight up love letter to it. Some of the tracks are set in environments that ape the hell out of circuits in GX, which should be really rewarding to long-time fans. That said, as much as I love GX, there were problems I always had with it. The erratic physics, for one; and also that the tracks seemed to be designed purely to piss the player off, rather than to be fun to drive. Neither of those issues apply to this game. Sacrilege as it may be, I prefer the handling of Fast Racing ten-fold. It strikes a fitting balance between the speed of F-Zero and the nuance and depth of Wipeout. Speaking of Wipeout, I like the team-focused approach to the vehicle selection. Shin'en really understands its audience.

I honestly couldn't be happier. It's beyond what I could have hoped for, which is shocking considering games like Fast Racing don't really exist anymore. But with this being nearly perfect (in my opinion), and 90's Arcade Racer and Formula Fusion on the horizon, perhaps we're seeing the genre make a comeback. Dear god I hope so.

It'll be interesting to see how Formula Fusion in 2016 matches up to FAST, as its set the bar really high. It isn't impossible to reach since there are quite a few flaws alongside the pros in the game but still though, long live Ant--Gravity racers.

So far, the time-trial mode has posed a good challenge. I'm 69% of the way through and just have to tackle Hypersonic. After that, all that's left is Hero mode and as someone who never really got his teeth properly into F-Zero GX, I'm sure the Boost/Shield mechanic will be a laugh.

Anyone else seem to notice that official review score averages and user score averages are much closer when it's not a release by a big developer or publisher?

Something tells me that isn't a coincidence...

 

[Brend]

I have officially 100%'d the full game: Hero Mode, Time Trial and Championship.

Took me 22 hours and loved every second of it. Now to wait for the patch in January to fix the online to return to it.

 

[Wolfe]

I 100%'d the game myself the other day. I've been enjoying the online multiplayer; other than the track exploits people have found, it doesn't seem so bad as to skip on it. The glitches are relatively mild and it's such a smooth system that when something goes wrong you're back to racing much sooner than in the online mode of other games. What have you run into, @Brend?

 

[Brend]

I 100%'d the game myself the other day. I've been enjoying the online multiplayer; other than the track exploits people have found, it doesn't seem so bad as to skip on it. The glitches are relatively mild and it's such a smooth system that when something goes wrong you're back to racing much sooner than in the online mode of other games. What have you run into, @Brend?

I can't deal with the console freezes that are rife eveey 5 or so races plus knowing that it isn't an even playing field with at least 3 tracks being exploit easy has turned me off. Its the console freezing thats the real kicker because Im back into playing MK8 online for my online racing fix.

 

[Wolfe]

I can't deal with the console freezes that are rife eveey 5 or so races plus knowing that it isn't an even playing field with at least 3 tracks being exploit easy has turned me off. Its the console freezing thats the real kicker because Im back into playing MK8 online for my online racing fix.

Ah, I've been lucky enough to not encounter any cheaters or freezes. Sorry your Wii U has been locking up, hopefully the patch will fix it.

 

[Brend]

Gave the subsonic Cobalt cup a second go last night:

Top 30 finish.

 

[AOS-]

Setting my sights on Time Trial now!

In a few months, you will see new competition, because I just got the game yesterday.

 

[Brend]

In a few months, you will see new competition, because I just got the game yesterday.

Welcome to the fray!

 

[AOS-]

I'm already struggling to beat the first grand prix at the Advanced level.

How crucial are brakes in this game and is it more efficient to use a lot of boost in one go? Do you also fly a lot farther with less boost if you use it on the speed pad?

What are some of the fundamental driving tech they don't teach you that you may know?

 

[Wolfe]

@AOS- -- I think brakes are useful in the higher speed classes. You might not brake anymore as you become familiar with a track, but it's good for keeping things under control until you find the right line.

Personally, I burn boost in segments by tapping the button; you want to stretch it out over a lap so you're never empty. The boost pads don't give you any boost energy, so using the boost while on a pad, or just before one, is a waste.

It's important to understand how inertia and drifting works, and it's something I really enjoy in this game. There is an "inertia" to yaw control in FRN, which causes a lag to the anti-gravity drifting. Each craft's weight determines how it reacts on turn in, and to get a heavier craft to tuck into a tight corner, you have to shift its weight just before the corner while using the triggers to stay on the proper line. Having that weight pre-shifted makes a difference in lining up drifts and catching strings of boost orbs around bends.

 

[AOS-]

You might not brake anymore as you become familiar with a track, but it's good for keeping things under control until you find the right line.

I'm all about getting the best records. Do we really need to brake at all to accomplish this? For that matter, is it necessary to even let go of the accelerator for certain turns to get through them better/quicker?

 

[Wolfe]

I'm all about getting the best records. Do we really need to brake at all to accomplish this? For that matter, is it necessary to even let go of the accelerator for certain turns to get through them better/quicker?

I'm not sure about that yet, since you spend so much time boosting and can kind of bounce your way through tight parts if you have the boost for it.

 

[Brend]

I'm all about getting the best records. Do we really need to brake at all to accomplish this? For that matter, is it necessary to even let go of the accelerator for certain turns to get through them better/quicker?

The game isn't technical enough to need to release the accelerator at all. The air-brakes have enough stopping power.

 

[Wolfe]

I want more tracks like Sunahara Plains. Smoothly drifting those corners is one of the best drives the game has to offer, IMO.

I've turned to spending most of my time on XCX while waiting for this January update, but I gave FRN a fresh play session tonight and it's still very good. Crossing my fingers for some nice track DLC!

 

[Brend]

I want more tracks like Sunahara Plains. Smoothly drifting those corners is one of the best drives the game has to offer, IMO.

I've turned to spending most of my time on XCX while waiting for this January update, but I gave FRN a fresh play session tonight and it's still very good. Crossing my fingers for some nice track DLC!

Sunahara Plains is utterly fantastic. That and Alpine Trust are the best designed tracks in the game for me.

The January update will most likely bring me back to playing it too. Hope all exploits are patched out.

 

[Wolfe]

@Brend -- I was messing around a bit and found a jump on Chuoko City that's more of a fun trick than a desperate exploit. Just before the section that cascades down multiple brief sections of track, the track twists counterclockwise and bends "down". At the place where it terminates on a tilt, you can boost off the upper edge to the right, jump away to the right, make a loop around the skyscraper, and land on the last little chunk of track with the orange boost pad.

It's pretty risky since it doesn't work off of respawn or checkpoint BS, and it isn't super fast. I was just curious after I noticed part of the track hanging above the place where you land the trick.

 

[Brend]

@Brend -- I was messing around a bit and found a jump on Chuoko City that's more of a fun trick than a desperate exploit. Just before the section that cascades down multiple brief sections of track, the track twists counterclockwise and bends "down". At the place where it terminates on a tilt, you can boost off the upper edge to the right, jump away to the right, make a loop around the skyscraper, and land on the last little chunk of track with the orange boost pad.

It's pretty risky since it doesn't work off of respawn or checkpoint BS, and it isn't super fast. I was just curious after I noticed part of the track hanging above the place where you land the trick.

I've done that myself too after seeing someone on Youtube trying it...that seems to be more of a cool easter egg like you said. Reminds me of this:

 

[Wolfe]

The "January" patch has gone live, alleviating the glitches and freezing issues (none so far for me) and adding a minimap and the ability to select a preferred speed class in online multiplayer.

Just now I had a run of multiplayer matches, many of them in my choice of Supersonic, which was refreshing. It took a little while to get a room going, but thanks to the virtues of the Wii U Gamepad I spent the wait grinding away on Forza Horizon 2 with the Gamepad screen in view until someone showed up and stuck around.

I sincerely hope this patch stirs up online activity for FRN, because I like this a lot better than playing MK8 online.

 

[Brend]

The "January" patch has gone live, alleviating the glitches and freezing issues (none so far for me) and adding a minimap and the ability to select a preferred speed class in online multiplayer.

Just now I had a run of multiplayer matches, many of them in my choice of Supersonic, which was refreshing. It took a little while to get a room going, but thanks to the virtues of the Wii U Gamepad I spent the wait grinding away on Forza Horizon 2 with the Gamepad screen in view until someone showed up and stuck around.

I sincerely hope this patch stirs up online activity for FRN, because I like this a lot better than playing MK8 online.

Can we play together or did they not add that functionality yet? I can't remember if it has friend matches!

 

[Wolfe]

Can we play together or did they not add that functionality yet? I can't remember if it has friend matches!

The matchmaking options are "Friends" and "Everyone", and I think "Friends" will only match you with people on your friends list, not randoms.

Also, FYI, I'm pretty sure they implemented the speed classes by a sort of "opt-in" vote, averting the problem of segregated matchmaking. If everyone selects Hypersonic, the race is Hypersonic, but if one person selects Subsonic, the race is Subsonic. The lobby screen displays the class just before launching the race.

 

[Wolfe]

I guess I've figured out what Shin'en did about the Cup leaderboards. My old rankings are still visible, but my first Cup record since the patch registered on a new and smaller ranking:

I wonder if you can only get on it by beating your old time.

 

[Wolfe]

BIG news for this modest game! Shin'en just announced a retail release, at least for Europe, and a new batch of content with the Neo Future Pack DLC, which will launch on September 30 and will also be included on the physical copy. It adds eight new circuits, ten vehicle profiles, and 18 new audio tracks.

Spoiler: 1080p Screenshots

Subtracting the eight new songs for the eight new circuits, the other ten must be the new vehicle profiles, presumably an info screen and theme song for each company. I know some of you wanted to see them fleshed out a bit.

It seems like NOE may have spurred all this, because the retail version is part of a new "eShop Selects" series. Shin'en had said before that they had no intention of adding DLC, but perhaps this is a gesture to the fans to make up for how the online playerbase evaporated while the Vertigo update got pushed back.

 

[Brend]

This is awesome @Wolfe, need to get right back on this now.

 

[Wolfe]

One of the new cups has been shown off at Gamescom, so the race order is:

Pyramid Valley
Iceland
Mori Park
New Zendling

I have not yet found a solid answer whether the DLC is free or not.

 

[Brend]

One of the new cups has been shown off at Gamescom, so the race order is:

Pyramid Valley
Iceland
Mori Park
New Zendling

I have not yet found a solid answer whether the DLC is free or not.

It's looking great, some interesting designs in there.

 

[Brend]

WOW.

 

[Wolfe]

The NEO Future Pack has been priced at $4.99/€4.99/£4.20, releasing this Friday. Manfred Linzner of Shin'en also explained a bit about how the DLC came to be:

The DLC wasn't planned from start. We always design our games to be 'complete' without later add-ons. When the chance for a bigger retail version came along we wanted to give everyone the chance to enjoy the newly made content too. Therefore we made the pricing very affordable. We see it as a fan service.

We worked on it for around half a year. Now after the main game was out we had all our tools and code in perfect shape. So we were able to create very special tracks that would have been out of scope when we did the main game.

 

[Brend]

The NEO Future Pack has been priced at $4.99/€4.99/£4.20, releasing this Friday. Manfred Linzner of Shin'en also explained a bit about how the DLC came to be:

Oh yes, perfectly priced. Can't wait for this.

 

[Brend]

So, I got the DLC on release and finally managed to pull myself away from Horizon 3 to play it...

The pack overall is pretty good, unfortunately the complex track-design is a bit overdone so the slightly loose handling-engine makes it a bit of a chore at times. The new soundtrack is awesome and I appreciate the fact we even have any DLC.

All-in-all, I think Shin'en tried too hard to make it stand-out instead of sticking to the track design of the main game.

 

[Wolfe]

I'm happy with more complex designs, and relieved that they aren't just more speedways like Scorpio Circuit or Avalanche Valley. I think some of the DLC are among the best tracks in the game, and by multiplying my personal favorites the DLC has boosted replayability in the long term.

Mori Park is as technical and satisfying as Cevo Canyon, New Zendling and Kuiper Belt are a thrilling ride on Super/Hypersonic, Pyramid Valley and Antarctica on Hypersonic are a tense fight with gravity and inertia, and The Haze and Zenshoh Habitat offer unique hazards. Iceland is surprisingly a dud, though trying to nail all the boost orbs and pads on what seems to be the best route is challenging enough.

Too bad the online activity appears to have only seen a blip on the day the DLC launched, at least in my experience of checking it out. Also, the vehicle profiles are a bit underwhelming to be a bullet point on what you get for the DLC.