Title: Virtua Racing Deluxe Released: 1994 Genre: Racing Developer: Sega Sports Publisher: Sega Sports Regions: USA, UK, Japan Availability: Common

The original Virtua Racing was a revolutionary game in its day, the first completely polygonal racer in a field of games that utilized scaling sprites to achieve their pseudo-3d effects (Pole Position, Outrun.) Though it’s very simplistic by modern standards, the gameplay is still as entertaining as ever. Running off of Sega’s Model 1 arcade board, the arcade original set a new standard in racing simulations with its incredibly tight control and 3-D world. The 32x port is simply awesome and compares favorably with the original, though the environments are made up of fewer polygons. This is to be expected, as the Model 1 board is specifically geared towards polygon calculations. Like all other Model 1 arcade games (Virtua Fighter, Wing War), the original arcade Virtua Racing was devoid of texture mapping (a process which adds a layer of bitmapped "wallpaper" to a flat polygon to give it character and a more realistic appearance.) The 32x was certainly capable of adding texture mapping to the 3-D environment, leaving us to theorize that Sega wanted to keep the game as close to the arcade as possible (the Saturn version didn't feature texture mapping either.) The only thing missing is the arcade's analog steering, a feature that was left out on the 32x since there were no analog controllers available for the Genesis (the Saturn was the first Sega console to utilize an analog controller.) The game generally compensates for the loss of analog control with a progressive control scheme that works well (the longer you press the control pad in one direction, the sharper the turn.) Everything else is nearly arcade-perfect: the tracks, the multiple views, the simple (yet funky) soundtrack and sound effects. There is a bit of graphical pop-up, but it appears far in the distance and isn’t detrimental to gameplay at all. The 32x version features 2 additional tracks not found in the arcade parent, as well as two new cars (the stock car is great!) Far and away the best racing game on the 32x, and one of the top games overall.
 
 

Japanese Box Art	European Box Art	Promotional Box Art

	The most expensive Genesis game ever made, Virtua Racing retailed for a whopping $90 when it was first released. It was the first (and last) cartridge to feature the SVP (Special Virtual Processing) chip, Sega's answer to the FX chip found in some Super Nintendo games such as Doom and Star Fox. Closely related to the Hitachi SH2 processors found in the 32x, the SVP chip boosted the processing power of the Genesis, allowing it to display relatively complex polygonal models that would have been impossible for the Genesis to process by itself. The fuzzy graphics are a far cry from those of the original arcade parent, but the game plays surprizingly well considering its humble origins. The Genesis cart won't run on the 32x due to compatibility issues between the SVP and SH2 processors.
	As expected, the Saturn port of Virtua Racing is the best of the three, boasting arcade-perfect visuals and optional analog control. Sega added a host of new features, plus even more new tracks and cars (give the go-cart a try!) Oddly enough, Sega once again decided not to add any graphical enhancements for the Saturn version, nor did they publish the game themselves. It was published in limited quantities by Time-Warner.
	Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but only if the imitator know what it's doing. Atari had its heart in the right place when it tried to emulate Daytona with its own Checkered Flag for the Atari Jaguar, and it almost worked. The polygonal graphics look great, but the contol is absolutely atrocious. The game designers tried something new with the control scheme and attempted to emulate analog control with the digital pad. The longer you press down the directional pad, the sharper the turn. Unfortunately, it simply doesn't work, rendering the game virtually unplayable.