The first time I ever heard about this game was back in 1999 in an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, and when I saw the pics of the game I was blown away by how sharp the graphics look ( even in it's pre-alpha stages, it looked really good ). It looked way better then any of the Dreamcast games the were also shown at that time. And that's when I started to keep an eye out for this game, wondering when it was gonna come out. Then I was finally able to test the game out in the Official Dreamcast Magazine demo disc ( Vol. 11 ), but was really disappointed, I was playing a small London track racing against another car and I had a hard time steering my car, bumping into everything. And the car I was racing against was really hard to catch up with. After that I changed my mined and decided not to buy the game.
So almost a year went by and around October 2001 I was looking around a video game shop looking for a game to get. Not much of a good selection there, so I saw Metropolis Street Racer and picked that. When I got home to play it, I was surprised at how great this game was, it wasn't any thing like the demo disc ( that should tell you how bad the demo was ). One of the best racing games for the Dreamcast, with great graphics, nice controls and an innovative rating system. Now let's get to the review. ( finally! )
Gameplay
Like in any racing game you got your typical modes: Quick Race ( just race for fun ), Time Attack ( try to beat the fastest lap time ) and Multiplayer Mode ( play against another player in split screen ), but probably the most time you will spend playing this game will be in the Street Racing Mode ( of course! it's the main feature of the game!! ). In this mode you'll be playing in a total of 25 freakishly long chapters, opening up a new car as you complete each chapter. You get to race in three different locations, San Francisco, London and Japan, all of which you can play in their actual time zones ( courtesy of your Dreamcast's internal clock ). In each chapter you'll have to go through 10 races, each with a different style of race. And it usually goes by this order: Hot Lap ( try to beat the time set for you in a certain amount of laps ), Timed Run ( try to complete a track(s) before time runs out while avoiding traffic ), Challenge ( a different event in each one, like over taking your opponent or pass a certain amount of cars before time runs out ), One-on-One ( race against one car ) Street Race ( race against more then one car on one track ) and finally Championship ( race against multiple cars over several tracks ).
There are also Special Stages in certain races. To be able to play in them you have to met the requirements, like having to play as a certain car or play at a certain time. And if you actually beat the special race, then you'll get a special reward. Even if you can't met the requirements, you can still enter these races, but you won't get a reward out of it.
And let's not forget about Kudos, it's what the whole game revolves around. In a race you can gain Kudos by doing three things: Skill, Style ( they speak for themselves ) and Gambling. By gambling your usually challenging the goals of the race, like making the time limit lower or letting your opponent get a head start ( if you lose these then you'll lose Kudos ). And you can lose Kudos by....well....sucking, either by hitting walls or hitting another car, anything you bump into you'll get a penalty for. I know the doesn't sound very fun but you get used to it, and hitting stuff just a little bit ain't gonna do that much harm. You also need Kudos to be able to proceed to the next chapter, each chapter requires you to have a certain amount of Kudos before you can enter that chapter. Also, if you discard a car from your garage you'll lose Kudos depending on how much you drove it ( if it's been driven alot, then you'll lose lots of Kudos ). One way to help you get lots of Kudos in a race is to use a Joker card, if you win the race then it will double the amount of Kudos won, but if you lose, you'll also lose a double amount of Kudos.
Graphics
The graphics in MSR look great, from the nice looking car models to the realistic looking cities. The cities have alot of detail to them that has them looking like there real life counterparts ( the developers went to each location to video tape and take pictures, now that's dedication! ). And they look really good at night when all kinds of lights and neon signs bright up. The cars in the game are all real and has good detail to them, from car manufacturers like Toyota, Ford, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan and so on. Also the car effects look real good during different weather conditions, like night time ( that's not a weather condition o_O;; ) and fog, when the cars lights are on.
Sound/Music
The sounds aren't any different from any racing game, like car noises or skidding around. The music on the other hand is great, with a cool radio system. You get to here all kinds of music genres here, from rock, R&B, jazz and even country. And there's even commercial breaks in between songs which are very funny, all of which making the whole driving experience some what realistic. But there is one song that I think is bad, M.C. Moe Moe's ''Let's Get it On Tonight'', everytime this rap song comes on I just start cracking up or change the station. It sounds like a Will Smith song gone really bad!!
Repaly Value
I dunno if your gonna be coming back to this to replay the 25 chapters anytime soon, like in any racing game you'll probably be messing around with time attacks or playing in the multiplayer mode. It was hard enough going through those chapters the first time, I got up to the 20th chapter and quit and didn't touch the game again until 6 months later.
Overall
It's a great street racing game with alot of innovative features. If you have the patience to go through the Street Racing Mode's 25 chapters, then I'm sure your gonna enjoy this game.
Overall - 9
Overall Rating: 9/10