Scorcher
Saturn * Scavenger

Review by Michael Vafeas
7.2

The story behind Scorcher is nothing that hasn't been attempted before: In the future earth, which is reduced to a near-barren wasteland, high-tech vehicles are designed and used to race in competitions set in various tracks which exemplify the emptiness which our world has been relegated to. The advantages of using this storyline are obvious; There is no need to create a world which must be convincing within the realms of reality. Thus, Scorcher is a racing game with bizarre speed bikes which zoom around this futuristic (but organically lacking) world. Fine, but did you have to choose bikes with difficult handling and tracks that scream 'obstacles are us'? The control in Scorcher initially seems intuitive, until you realize that you must make sharp turns in order to avoid being thrust into the barriers or off the track altogether. Sharp turns are controlled using the shoulder buttons and are quite difficult to become accustomed to, let alone to master in any sane amount of time. You must race against three other competitors on tracks filled with gaps, jumps, and blocks which protrude from the track floor. Such obstacles make for a ride that is not intended to be smooth, but the ability to jump usually eliminates the necessity to come to a complete stop when you encounter any of the obstacles. While these obstacles initially appear as nothing more than bothersome, you'll gradually learn to look farther down the track and to anticipate the upcoming hurdles. Scattered around the track are power-ups which you'll need for accelerating and jumping. The fact that these power-ups are occasionally placed far out of your way makes for the need to stray from the track every once in awhile and get the needed boost to use later during the race. The tracks themselves are interesting, though a bit poorly thought out. Several tracks feature curves which catch you completely off-guard and require you to memorize their position so as to react appropriately on the next lap. On one track, 360 degree loop gives you the classic feeling of total disorientation, if only you can go fast enough to avoid just falling onto the other side of the loop prematurely. The different courses are pleasing, but a bit more time could have been spent tweaking their design, especially when you're dealing with bikes which handle differently than vehicles we are accustomed to controlling. There are six different tracks to race your way through, and each comes complete with its unique set of idiosyncrasies and challenges.

The visuals in this game are, for the most part, quite good, save for a bit of slowdown here and there. Though I do not see any real light sourcing in the game, simulated light sourcing produced by contrasting tonal values on the tracks and different environments proves to work just as well, and is quite eye-catching at that. The tracks appear crisp and show an artistic adroitness usually lacking from racing games. The feeling of night racing is captured well and adds to the desolate atmosphere in which the game takes place. The bikes are interesting, though I could have done without the force field which surrounds them, which looks like a neon thread circling the racers. In all, a nice graphical effort on a system which takes many criticisms when it comes to its 3-D engine. The sounds remain only average, with mindless techno and uninspired sound effects adding only minimally to the game. If this is what the music of the future is reduced to, you can count me out. One of the largest problems I had in reviewing this game was an uncertainty as to what, exactly, the intentions of the developers were. The game is fair, but might have turned out exactly or not even close to what they had in mind. While this is definitely a game that you have to let grow on you, it isn't overly thrilling even at that point. It does, however, differ from anything else out there and deserves at least a look, as well as credit for the originality used in the execution of the game. As a whole one can sum the Scorcher experience in one word: Weird.


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