3D Pixel Racing Thoughts

(UPDATED: May 16, 2014)

I have never played "3D Pixel Racing," but I have some thoughts on it that I'd like to share. So therefore, this post only features THOUGHTS regarding this modern retro racing game. What happens when you try to make a modern racing game with a real retro look and feel? You get this game- 3D Pixel Racing. It is a game with a look and feel similar to a non-racing game- 3D Dot Game Heroes. Only that you're racing cars here rather than battling monsters.

Time to begin posting my thoughts on this game.

LATEST UPDATE(S)/REVISION(S):

MAY 16 2014 - included more material to "Cars" section

--- 3D Pixel Racing at a Glance ---

"3D Pixel Racing" was an independent-type racing game released by a company called Microforum Games and developed by Vidia. The game offers a retro feel with 3D pixels... or as we call them, voxels (volumetric pixel). Both the cars and the tracks have a real 3D feel to them. Rather than something vivid and realistic-looking, the entire landscape is mostly voxelized but with a few unique effects like lens flares and weather effects.

The game can be purchased for the Nintendo Wii (0 Wii points for the Lite version and 500 Wii Points for the full version I believe) and for Apple iOS systems.

Cars.

The cars in this game are all fictional, but you can somewhat make up what each car somewhat represents. The logos for the certain cars also kind of resemble certain real-life companies, such as this one Ferrari-looking car that has a fictional prancing horse logo similar to Ferrari. All cars have their own varying levels of performance. The cars are all rated on these qualities:

• Speed - how fast your car goes.
• Grip - how well your car grips the road.
• Handling - how well your car handles the road at speed and in cornering.

Cars can be colored upon confirming. You can then choose between Automatic or Manual/Standard transmission. More cars can be unlocked apart from the ones available. This is a pure arcade racer. There are no options for tuning up your car, and cars can't be upgraded or modified other than for the color of each car. Cars don't take damage other than for tire wear and fuel consumption. Here is a brief overview of each of the 11 cars:

• Runner - an all-around average sports car. Resembles a Ferrari Testarossa.

• D-Rive - a sports car with great grip and handling, but minimal top speed. Porsche-like bodystyle.

• CC-Three - an exotic sports car with great grip, okay speed, and average handling. Resembles a Lamborghini Diablo.

• Shadow - a rally car that has great handling at the expense of average speed and grip. Resembles the Lancia Delta Rally Car.

• Runner-T - a sports car with excellent speed and grip. Handling is very good. Resembles a Ferrari F40 convertible.

• Duel - Despite its excellent grip and handling, it isn't very fast. Resembles a Chevrolet Corvette C4.

• N-Racer - a stock car with great speed and grip, but handling is very poor. Resembles the Hornet High-Class stock car made famous in SEGA's Daytona USA series.

• Arrow - With the same stats as the Shadow, its forte is in handling. Grip is above average, and speed is average. Resembles the Toyota Celica GT-Four rally cars of the 1990s.

• Chaser - excellent grip and very good top speed, but its handling is above average. Resembles a Porsche 911.

• Chaser S. - excellent grip and very good handling, but its top speed is above average. Resembles the Nissan 300ZX.

• Pole F-One - excellent speed and very good grip. However, its handling is very poor. This car resembles the Renault F1 cars from the mid-2000s.

Now on to the tracks.

Tracks.

3D Pixel Racing takes you on an international tour with over ten tracks to race on. The Demo version only gives you England to race on. The paid version offers you tracks in Italy, the United States, Brazil, and the Solomon Islands. You can unlock races in other countries such as Japan, Thailand, and Egypt among others. You can select any course in the game to race in the normal direction or the reverse direction. Weather conditions can be implemented ranging from dry conditions to wet conditions to night conditions.

More tracks can be unlocked through progress in the game.

Gameplay.

The racing action is all fairly standard. Races usually last for three laps around each course. You can make pit stops at certain tracks if pits are enabled. Pit stops involve changing tires and refueling. One important thing to remember- if you try to cut sections or fall off of certain sections of track, you will respawn at an area before the certain corner or section. So drive carefully and try to properly clear each portion of the course.

Besides normal single races, you can compete in championship play, Time Trials, Capture the Flag, and Hot Pursuit. Extra material can be unlocked through your progress through "3D Pixel Racing," including characters and cars. Up to four players can play simultaneously (or at least for the Wii version).

What Others Have Said.

The impressions I got from people whom have played the game say that this is a great-looking game, but its controls prevent it from becoming a great game.

Video Preview.

Now that you know about this game, here is a video preview of this title. Click on the link below the video to view it in YouTube:


^ 3D Pixel Racing Trailer (Wii - iPhone - iPad)


This section has given you insight on the game. Coming up next, thoughts on why I offered these thoughts on "3D Pixel Racing."

--- 3D Pixel Racing: My Thoughts ---

To me, I have recently thought about "3D Pixel Racing" because it has a number of elements that interest me in a project I wouldn't mind starting. My mind seems to want to make my own voxel racing game in the same vein as what "3D Pixel Racing" brought. While I do love this idea, I want to offer my own sort of appeal. I don't really think the cars are something I'd design with my own model. At the same time, however,

One of my inspirations to think about this would-be project is the fact there are multiple voxel-style games out there. However, no proper racing style game with voxel graphics is out there. The most popular games with voxel-like graphics are games like Minecraft. Other popular titles include Build and Shoot (formerly "Ace of Spaces"), Cube World, Stonehearth, and more. No true racing games with voxel-style graphics are anything popular. So this gives me more incentive to either make or envision a proper voxel-style racing game and make it better than "3D Pixel Racing." I have "3D Pixel Racing" as motivation and inspiration, but I tend to think of having us racing/driving game fans represented in such a popular sub-segment of independent (or "indie") games.

It is sad that this game's success has been mostly crippled with the control style. So I feel the least bit miffed that some little things can make such a big impact on declining and degrading what could have been very valuable. At the same time, I feel proper representation for us racing game fans is needed. If I do decide to go forward with my own voxel racing game project, I'll be sure to do my best to offer the sort of experience I have envisioned.

Cross-Promotion.

If I do decide to come up with any sort of concepts for such a game, you may see my work in my media-related blog called "John's Creative Space." If you would like to visit my blog on creative works, you are welcome to visit johnscreativespace.blogspot.com.








Thank you for visiting John's Race Space! I hope you enjoyed this blog post and my thoughts. Be sure to Follow and Subscribe if you enjoyed this blog post and my blog in general. More importantly... thank you for reading my post and for visiting my blog! Hope to see you again in the future!

"Like" me on Facebook, Follow JRS, Follow me on Bloglovin', and/or Contact Me via E-Mail!
Subscribe to John's Blog Space (JBS)	Subscribe to John's Creative Space (JCS)	Subscribe to John's Race Space (JRS)	Subscribe to StyleSpace (SS)

Share this post