Game Review: RC Revenge (and Pro)

Game: RC Revenge
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Acclaim
Release Date: 16th August 2000

The remote control car racing genre had plenty of titles from 1999-2001; ReVolt, Stunt GP, RC de Go! and RC Revenge in addition to a few others. While they all had a their own unique twists on the racing formula, RC Revenge was one of the most conceptually interesting, featuring tracks based on movie sets, transitions between car and boat racing, and items that were possibly inspired by the Mario Kart series.

Interestingly, around six months after the release of RC Revenge on Playstation, RC Revenge Pro was released on Playstation 2 as an enhanced port of the original game. As they're pretty similar, I won't be doing a seperate review for Pro, but rather comparing both games in places and giving individual scores for each at the end.

(RC Revenge for Playstation)

In both games there are 4 racing modes; Championship Mode, Single Race, Time Trial and Multiplayer Race. Cars and tracks are unlocked in Championship Mode, with 2 bonus cars unlocked for beating every Time Trial record on normal and reversed tracks. The original game has 15 cars/boats which can race around 20 different tracks (set in 5 movie themed worlds), while the enhanced port has 19 cars/boats racing on 24 tracks (in 6 movie themed worlds).

Championships consist of one race on a course from each of the worlds, with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum championships available to race, as well as mirrored versions of each. Points are awarded to racers for their finishing positions and winning races and championships unlocks tracks and cars for use in other modes. The other modes are fairly self explanatory and have no real unique features.

(RC Revenge Pro for Playstation 2)

The handling of cars in both games feels a lot looser than you'd expect in most racing titles; cars can turn in incredibly tight circles and will drift at the slightest touch. This makes them feel fairly realistic as remote control cars, and once players are used to the handling isn't too much of a problem. When racing on the boat stages the handling changes significantly; the only game I was reminded of was Hydro Thunder for the Dreamcast, as the forward momentum of the boats gives more of a drift style to the handling.

Items are acquired from boxes scattered about the track, which range from a heat ray, to an oil slick, to water balloons, and there's even a shockwave item which takes out anyone in close enough range. With 11 to choose from in total, and some vehicle specific weapons in RC Revenge Pro, there's a good amount of choice although none of them seem as well thought out as the weapons of Mario Kart, and there's nothing in place to stop players from taking 2 or 3 hits from weapons in a row.

(RC Revenge Pro for Playstation 2)

Graphically RC Revenge isn't bad for the Playstation era, although some parts aren't particularly high resolution or impressive. While the enhanced port is an improvement on the original game's graphics, it's nothing special for the Playstation 2 era. It's best feature is running at a higher resolution and frame rate than the original. Musically the game is fairly average with some rock/techno themed tracks and wacky sound effects on top.

Overall RC Revenge is a fairly mediocre remote control car racing game which can be fun at times, but has no real unique qualities. Its remote control car racing can be found in Stunt GP and ReVolt, its item system can be found in Mario Kart and its boat racing in Hydro Thunder. Other than this, the game's track design isn't particularly good (though Acclaim do get points for including a track editor in which players can make better ones), and aside from the various championships there's not a lot else to do.

Rating: 57/100 (RC Revenge)  58/100 (RC Revenge Pro)
Grade: D