Rad Racer is a game that nearly every NES player out there has at least heard of. The funny thing is that I had played this game a lot as a little kid, but I had no idea that Square Enix (formerly Square Soft) was the developer behind it. I guess back then, I assumed that every NES game with that pixilated cover art was made solely by Nintendo and no one else. So, mistaken identities aside, Rad Racer always stands out in my mind as one of my fondest childhood memories. The best part is that many years after my first go with this game, it still hasn’t lost much of its appeal.

You have a choice of driving one of 2 cars- the sexy Twin Turbo, or the F1 Machine. None of the cars differ much in speed or handling, but I do recommend driving the Twin Turbo because you’ll race against different kinds of cars on each course. With the F1 Machine, you’ll only be racing against other F1 Machines of different hues of the same color on each course. Assuming that you’ve chosen the Twin Turbo, you be competing against cars like the Volkswagen Bug, Lamborghini, Corvette, Testarossa, and a few other licensed automobiles. As you progress through the courses, the CPU cars drive more aggressively. I mean, they really try to get in your way! So take caution when you hit that turbo and speed through a traffic-littered straightaway.

Square did an excellent job of creating a game that made you feel like you were (almost) right there on the scene. Although there are a few locations that look a bit on the skimpy side, the majority of the courses feature rich, well detailed backgrounds. Rad Racer features a method of background animation, called parallax scrolling, which make your locations come alive with realistic movement, depending on which way you are turning. This technique is best shown off in the nighttime city courses, like San Francisco Highway (my personal favorite). There’s nothing more beautiful than racing on a dark roadway, with skyscrapers, bridges, and small city lights lining the background. This was the first racing where I saw the time of day change in a few the courses. That made my day when I first saw that! A major thumbs up to Square in the graphics department.

The music is quite cool and very enjoyable to listen to. There are only 3 music selections, but they fit the game very well. Better yet, you can change songs anytime you want during the race; just press the “down” key to change the music. And hey, if you don’t like the music, you can always opt to race without it.
The sound effects are pretty standard. Your car’s motor sounds about as normal as can be expected from a NES racing game. Some may find the screeching sounds to be annoying after a while, but I don’t think it will bother too many people. I can honestly say that I’ve played worse racers with some truly aggravating noises.

Play or Stay? This is definitely a keeper! Sometimes it’s more fun to just pop in that grey cartridge and take a trip down memory lane. This game was later followed by Rad Racer II, released in 1990 also on the NES. It wasn’t developed nearly as well, in my opinion. As it stands, Rad Racer has yet to appear on the Virtual Console. It would be very cool of Nintendo to see to its release on that platform. It’s a ride I’d pay 500 points for. And please…fasten your seatbelts.