The Tom Baker narration was a nice touch, but by the time Ecco hit the Dreamcast, I was kind of burned out on the whole Ecco thing. They were always audio-visually impressive games, but I was never satisfied with the controls (though they did err on the realistic side).
I was quite satisfied with "Ecco" on the Dreamcast, more so than the Genesis version(s).
Back on the subject of "driving" games, though; if there's one genre where graphics really do matter, it's the "driving" genre. At least to me, it seems that the better the graphics, the better the experience (all other things being equal).
For example, no matter how good the graphics are in other genres nowadays, you can always go back to some old shoot-em-up, platformer, CRPG, simulation, adventure, or whatever and still have fun and get into the game. I can play the latest "Doom MCXVII" and enjoy it, but I can still have a blast with the original Doom. If you're open-minded enough to look past the dated graphics (which most of us are), you can have a great time! The thrill is still there. And in some cases, the old games are still the best! For example: even with today's technology, I don't think they've surpassed the solid gameplay of the original Pac Man/Ms. Pac Man with the sequels.
But with "driving" games, the "you-are-there" feeling is very important. In the past, the programmers did the best they could with the graphics, which were generally amazing for their time, but today's driving games deliver at-least equal thrills with a better "immersion" factor, due to the far superior graphics and physics simulations. When you're playing a "driving" game, you want to feel like you're driving(!), so the better the simulation is, the more you're enjoying it.
The original "Outrun" holds up surprisingly well, considering its age, and is still fun. But "Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast" has much better, smoother, and interesting graphics. "Outrun" was great for it's time, but it's hard to go back to it when "Outrun 2006" blows it out of the water on just about every level, and is much more exciting and fun, even though it's largely the same game at its core.
What does this have to do with "Metropolis Street Racer?" Well, some of the sequels (that Mark mentioned) seem to be largely the same game, but with improved graphics. Even if the gameplay is largely the same, the better graphics makes it hard to go backwards. Driving games seem to be one of the genres that becomes the most dated, in my opinion.
The Tom Baker narration was a nice touch, but by the time Ecco hit the Dreamcast, I was kind of burned out on the whole Ecco thing. They were always audio-visually impressive games, but I was never satisfied with the controls (though they did err on the realistic side).
I was quite satisfied with "Ecco" on the Dreamcast, more so than the Genesis version(s).
Back on the subject of "driving" games, though; if there's one genre where graphics really do matter, it's the "driving" genre. At least to me, it seems that the better the graphics, the better the experience (all other things being equal).
For example, no matter how good the graphics are in other genres nowadays, you can always go back to some old shoot-em-up, platformer, CRPG, simulation, adventure, or whatever and still have fun and get into the game. I can play the latest "Doom MCXVII" and enjoy it, but I can still have a blast with the original Doom. If you're open-minded enough to look past the dated graphics (which most of us are), you can have a great time! The thrill is still there. And in some cases, the old games are still the best! For example: even with today's technology, I don't think they've surpassed the solid gameplay of the original Pac Man/Ms. Pac Man with the sequels.
But with "driving" games, the "you-are-there" feeling is very important. In the past, the programmers did the best they could with the graphics, which were generally amazing for their time, but today's driving games deliver at-least equal thrills with a better "immersion" factor, due to the far superior graphics and physics simulations. When you're playing a "driving" game, you want to feel like you're driving(!), so the better the simulation is, the more you're enjoying it.
The original "Outrun" holds up surprisingly well, considering its age, and is still fun. But "Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast" has much better, smoother, and interesting graphics. "Outrun" was great for it's time, but it's hard to go back to it when "Outrun 2006" blows it out of the water on just about every level, and is much more exciting and fun, even though it's largely the same game at its core.
What does this have to do with "Metropolis Street Racer?" Well, some of the sequels (that Mark mentioned) seem to be largely the same game, but with improved graphics. Even if the gameplay is largely the same, the better graphics makes it hard to go backwards. Driving games seem to be one of the genres that becomes the most dated, in my opinion.