With Virtua Racing, M2 proves the Switch is a capable showcase for Sega Model 1's divine austerity. As a three-course arcade racer with one car, Virtua Racing only goes as far as its $8 price tag. Through the lens of arcade and Sega enthusiasts, however, this port of Virtua Racing looks like it should be preserved under glass. How lucky we are to be able to pick it up and enjoy it.
Nothing looked as good as Virtua Racing.
This was true in 1992 when Virtua Racing debuted as a superstar for Sega AM2’s Model 1 arcade hardware. It was also true of Virtua Racing’s 1994 port to the Genesis, employing the SVT processor to deliver polygonal graphics to an aging console. Both were quickly antiquated by Sega’s breakneck hardware development in the early 90’s, but there was a window of time—and a time when graphical technology seemed to matter more than anything else—when Virtua Racing captured the zeitgeist. Playing Virtua Racing felt like looking into the future.
As life stretches on it becomes difficult for people, especially those who either weren’t around or weren’t into gaming in the early 90’s, to see Virtua Racing’s place in history. If I were ten years younger I may have trouble separating Virtua Racing from Hard Drivin’, not understood its direct competition with Nintendo’s Star Fox, or let Daytona USA occupy the space in my mind where I think of Important Arcade Games. Considering the vast library of title from Sega’s history, Virtua Racing would seem an unlikely candidate for a remodel.
And yet, here Virtua Racing is at $8 on the Nintendo Switch. If that fact stretches belief, consider the port was handled by M2, a Tokyo development studio renowned for their commitment to preservation and accuracy. After M2’s assistance with the PlayStation 2 Sega Ages re-releases, Sega (or M2) had only shown an interest in converting 2D or pseudo 3D to modern platforms. Virtua Racing serves as a long-awaited statement of intent; if it’s successful, it may finally open the door to another chapter of Sega’s history.
Virtua Racing most closely models a Formula One simulation. Players control a simply-constructed but instantly recognizable open-wheel car across three distinct courses. The car has a handling model absent of conventional, arcade-style drifting and very reliant on proper braking and methodical turning. Acceleration carries the gratification of F1’s 1.5-second 0-60mph rush, doubling as a quick reset should the player make a mistake. A pit option is available to repair sustained damage, but it’s only viable when selecting the marathon 20-lap races.
Virtua Racing is a game of seconds. You’re constantly positioned against a ticking clock that can only be extended by passing gates and achieving a time bonus. This adds a few more seconds to your clock. Never mind placing first, it’s difficult to finish the default five laps should you make more than one mistake. Virtua Racing was made to devour quarters and assumed its patrons would keeping paying just to see it in action. Like all of Sega’s contemporary arcade hardware, Virtua Racing was crafted in a time when gaming’s business model was very different from what we’re used to in 2019.
Minimalist variety is present in all three of Virtua Racing’s courses. Big Forest, as the beginner course, has the widest lanes and the smallest chance for error. It’s where the player can learn the difference between braking, letting off the gas, and braking while accelerating for different methods of speed management. Big Forest’s signature moment lies with the amusement park that punctuates its final turn. The static Ferris wheel I remember from Virtua Racing on the Genesis now reveals a tilt-a-whirl, pirate ship, and looping roller coaster. Big Forest’s aesthetic is emblematic of the Virtua Racing experience.
Bay Bridge is the intermediate course and opens with an approximation of San Francisco’s signature landmark. AM2’s signature palm trees give way to a tunnel (with the audio feedback convincingly shifted) before the lanes narrow and the player is deposited in a huge turn next to a pair of windmills. A brief ascent next to concrete retaining wall conceals the horizon. On the other side is the realization that you should have been braking, leaving most drivers to spin out on Bay Bridge’s next-to-last turn. Like Big Forest, Bay Bridge is a shorter course with similar 45-50 second lap times.
Acropolis stands as the expert course. Beautiful blue water populated with sailboats stands out as it consumes the right side of the course. Columned architecture of antiquity and mountainside residences project its Grecian setting. Acropolis’ signature is visible with its hairpin turn, a monster of a 180 with a barrier on the inside and spin-out-ready artificial grass on the outside. Dealing with the hairpin is easily the most challenging aspect of Virtua Racing. Handling it with any kind of consistency is the only way to actually finish Acropolis without time running out.
Amid the threat of time is the problem of other racers. Initiating anything more than soft contact with an opponent results in an Out Run-style crash that will all but tank your chance to reach #1. Negotiating particularly tight turns between two AI racers adds another layer of difficulty to the Virtua Racing experience and provides a sense of spontaneity for each race. This version of the game, however, comes with a helper mode that removes all penalties from making contact. Your lap times aren’t ranked in the same category, of course, but it’s a viable and modern option to ease potential frustration.
If AI opponents aren’t satisfying, this port of Virtua Racing has some neat multiplayer options. Expected are online duels on each course. I tried this three times and the only race I was able to finish had a one-second delay on my input which. This was less than ideal. Better is Virtua Racing’s commitment to local multiplayer with eight-way split-screen option on board. This is near impossible in handheld mode, but I was able to stack a 1x1x1 tower of screens vertically, turn the Switch on its end, and play that way. It’s weird! But it works.
Absent of this port of Virtua Racing are all the additions and adjustments that originally arrived with Sega’s 32X and Time Warner Interactive’s Saturn conversions. The extra cars, tracks, and options present were not compatible with Virtua Racing’s original arcade code and not included in this release. It’s a bummer to not have a hyper-idealistic tome of Virtua Racing content, but factoring in the price (and the purity) of M2’s work, it’s entirely rational.
The greatest addition to Virtua Racing is its conversion from thirty to sixty frames-per-second. Or from fifteen to sixty if you’re coming straight from the Genesis version. Sixty frames were also present in the version of Virtua Racing that appeared in North America on Sega Classics Collection, but the Switch port has the additional benefit for a 16×9 conversion as well as split-screen options. Watching Virtua Racing operate this smoothly is enough to radicalize anyone into believing that sixty frames is the true way forward for the medium, and, by extension, life itself.
When I first downloaded Virtua Racing I played it for about ninety minutes. I wanted to finish first on each course. This took one try with Big Forest, five with Bay Bridge, and like twenty with Acropolis. I played online for a while, tried some split-screen matches with my wife, then I set it down. Throughout the next day I intermittently picked it up and played Bay Bridge and, each time, marveled at playing this version of Virtua Racing on a handheld device. This game that barely escaped the 80’s can still feel like a technical work of art almost three decades later. If there’s any downside it’s that it creates a reasonable expectation for Virtua Fighter, Wing War, and Star Wars Arcade, too. Despite excellent work from Bluepoint Games and Digital Eclipse, M2 remains the undisputed king of preserving and accessing older games on modern hardware.
With Virtua Racing, M2 proves the Switch is a capable showcase for Sega Model 1’s divine austerity. As a three-course arcade racer with one car, Virtua Racing only goes as far as its $8 price tag. Through the lens of arcade and Sega enthusiasts, however, this port of Virtua Racing looks like it should be preserved under glass. How lucky we are to be able to pick it up and enjoy it.
