Ivan Ironman Stewart's Super Off Road (NES/SNES)
This post is the first of a new feature I'm bringing to the blog called Quick Reviews. These will be dedicated to the games that don't really have enough to warrant doing the full reviews that I've been doing the last few months. More specifically, these will probably feature mostly older retro games that aren't as expansive as others (like how RC Pro Am isn't as large of a game as Legend of Zelda) or some newer games in the sports and racing genres. These reviews will be much simpler (like the games they will be featuring). I will focus a little on the gameplay, as well as mention some of the good and bad sides of the game and if they're worth it. So, let's get to the first one.
Super Off Road is a home version of an arcade game, brought to NES and SNES. These cabinets were extremely hard to miss if your local arcade ever featured it. They were big and had three big steering wheels mounted on them in red, blue, and yellow. And they were a lot of fun, I was pretty much glued to one of those wheels whenever I went to the mall. So when I heard there was a console version I just had to have it, let's see how it is.
The Good
While there aren't a ton of track variations to race on, there's enough that while playing through the game, you won't be racing on the same one twice in a row.
The first chunk of races are all qualifying ones, and if you fail to place first, second, or third, you can use a continue to make it to the next race. The controls themselves are pretty fun and not too wonky as some older racing games can be. Once you make it past the qualifying races, you're in the championship races where you no longer have the option of continues, so you must place in the top three to make it to the next race. After completing all of these, you're brought to a standings screen to see how you did through it all.
There's also an upgrade system after each race where you can use the money you've earned from where you placed as well as any you picked up during the races. Here you can upgrade your trucks top speed, acceleration, shocks, tires, and purchase nitro boosts (which can also be picked up during the races). This is your chance to try and get the edge on your competition, which is a fun touch for the game.
The Bad
The competition isn't very well balanced in the NES version, regardless of how upgraded your truck is. I had one race where I didn't touch the boost button and nearly lapped the other three trucks. The next race, I upgraded a couple things on the truck, used almost all my boosts and still almost finished in last. On the SNES version it makes a bit more sense, you start off a little behind everyone and need to upgrade your truck to keep up with everyone.
The colors on the SNES are a lot better (which makes sense given the capabilties of it over NES). The original Nintendo version looks like more of a sepia tone, and one of the trucks you race against is almost the exact same color as your truck, so each race starts with the challenge of figuring out which one is yours. Which is puzzling considering they could have just given the fourth truck a completely different color instead of one so similar.
Is it worth it?
While this game is worth it, it may not be for everyone. But, if you ever found yourself playing this in the arcade, you'll want the home version, even if you can't use the big steering wheel from the cabinet. Between the two versions, I would go more with the SNES one. It's a bit more balanced, and the graphical improvements are much prettier to look at.
Super Off Road is a home version of an arcade game, brought to NES and SNES. These cabinets were extremely hard to miss if your local arcade ever featured it. They were big and had three big steering wheels mounted on them in red, blue, and yellow. And they were a lot of fun, I was pretty much glued to one of those wheels whenever I went to the mall. So when I heard there was a console version I just had to have it, let's see how it is.
The Good
While there aren't a ton of track variations to race on, there's enough that while playing through the game, you won't be racing on the same one twice in a row.
The first chunk of races are all qualifying ones, and if you fail to place first, second, or third, you can use a continue to make it to the next race. The controls themselves are pretty fun and not too wonky as some older racing games can be. Once you make it past the qualifying races, you're in the championship races where you no longer have the option of continues, so you must place in the top three to make it to the next race. After completing all of these, you're brought to a standings screen to see how you did through it all.
There's also an upgrade system after each race where you can use the money you've earned from where you placed as well as any you picked up during the races. Here you can upgrade your trucks top speed, acceleration, shocks, tires, and purchase nitro boosts (which can also be picked up during the races). This is your chance to try and get the edge on your competition, which is a fun touch for the game.
The Bad
The competition isn't very well balanced in the NES version, regardless of how upgraded your truck is. I had one race where I didn't touch the boost button and nearly lapped the other three trucks. The next race, I upgraded a couple things on the truck, used almost all my boosts and still almost finished in last. On the SNES version it makes a bit more sense, you start off a little behind everyone and need to upgrade your truck to keep up with everyone.
The colors on the SNES are a lot better (which makes sense given the capabilties of it over NES). The original Nintendo version looks like more of a sepia tone, and one of the trucks you race against is almost the exact same color as your truck, so each race starts with the challenge of figuring out which one is yours. Which is puzzling considering they could have just given the fourth truck a completely different color instead of one so similar.
Is it worth it?
While this game is worth it, it may not be for everyone. But, if you ever found yourself playing this in the arcade, you'll want the home version, even if you can't use the big steering wheel from the cabinet. Between the two versions, I would go more with the SNES one. It's a bit more balanced, and the graphical improvements are much prettier to look at.
