Review: Top Racer Collection - Nostalgia at full speed!

Developed and published by Brazilian studio QUByte Interactive, Top Racer Collection is a tribute to classic games that marked the childhoods during SNES's golden age.

Unlike the rest of the world where the Top Gear franchise was not so well accepted, in Brazil, it was a success both due to its gameplay and striking soundtrack, which was created by composer Barry Leitch.

This collection is made up of a remake of the three classic Top Gear games (which had to be renamed Top Racer due to copyright issues) and an extra version of the first Top Racer, but with modified cars, paying homage to a popular Brazilian vehicle and cars from other game franchises such Horizon Chase (Brazilian game that also pays homage to Top Gear, developed by Aquiris Game Studio).

Check out all the news and details of each game now. For this review, the game was played on a Nintendo Switch, but it also has versions for other platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

Top Racer

Being the first game in this collection, it has the fewest resources compared to the others.

Its gameplay will be the basis for its successors throughout this review, where in the next games, only new features will be implemented and commented on.

A feature that we will only find in this game and in Crossroad is that regardless of whether we play in single-player mode, the screen will always be split, with the lower screen dedicated to a rival.

However, the rival's AI is a huge issue. While the other opponents have simple artificial intelligence, your rival, regardless of the car they are using, from the moment you overtake them, will ignore the other obstacles on the track and will run faster than you. This type of difficulty is frustrating, and makes the game extremely challenging even for those already used to racing.

Regarding the game modes, we initially have the Campaign mode where we travel through 10 different countries, totaling 32 unique tracks. If you don't reach a certain position, you will not qualify for the next race, having to start the cup or race again.

In addition to the campaign mode, we can play the Quick Race mode to race on any track in the campaign (all tracks will be open from the start). It's gret for those who want to practice or race again on their favorite track.

The Time Trial mode allows us to compete against the other 19 opponents on any track in the game, seeking to beat our personal time records offline or with other players around the world, publishing your time in the online ranking.

To finish off the game modes, we have the Custom Cup, where we can create our own tournament by selecting 4 tracks (even repeating the same track) and compete in this cup.

Top Racer 2

In the second game, we have a graphical leap, which for the Super Nintendo era was already quite notable. We no longer have the split screen all the time and have much more info in the game interface.

In addition to all the game modes we found in the previous one, in this sequel we have the possibility of purchasing improvements for our car in addition to customizing the color. It also has a slight improvement in the AI and the largest number of tracks in the franchise, 64 in total!

It's interesting that, when accessing alternative modes to the campaign, we initially have enough credits to make the biggest improvement to our car. It's worth noting that has been improved in this game is that the vehicle is damaged when crashed, so we must be careful when colliding with opponents and collecting nitros scattered around the track and even money, resources that did not exist in the first game.

Top Racer 3000

Taking a futuristic approach and seeking to become the best racer in the universe, Top Racer 3000 explores Sci-Fi themed cars and tracks in different galaxies.

In this game, we again have the possibility to improve the performance of our car as we progress through the campaign and collect money. The damage system still exists and now cars can reach absurd speeds, easily exceeding 400 kilometers per hour!

Another new feature is that there are spots throughout the tracks that allow the player to repair the car, gain speed bonuses and recover the car's battery, which no longer uses fuel.

In the collection, this is the only game that has Versus mode, where it is possible to play with up to 4 local players in split screen and with an exclusive scoring system.

Top Racer Crossroads

In this official MOD, we can play the first Top Racer with other cars, paying homage to other games such as Horizon Chase and even to a traditional and popular Brazilian car in the 90s: Fiat Uno.

There is a Brazilian meme where this car, when equipped with a ladder on its roof (which was often used by technical support companies) can reach absurd speeds. Honoring this meme, the QUByte team added it to the game!

Unlike the original version, this one has a less aggressive AI, I recommend that this one be played before the non-MOD version so as not frustrate the player.

Achievements

Those who love achievements and enjoy achieving 100% in their games can find a title with several achievements in Top Racer Collection, most of which are easy to complete, but with some which are very challenging, which can take a few hours.

The trophy list is simple, repeating the same feat to be done in the four games, such as finishing a race in first place, playing a custom cup, playing the Time Trial mode, completing the campaign. What will take longer is reaching first place in all races in each game.

Extras

In addition to the achievement system, it is possible to access the gallery from the Extras menu, where we have access to the original manuals for each of the games in the franchise.

For the most enthusiastic, we also have all the songs from all the games available on this menu!

A new function that will help everyone finish the campaign is Quick Registration, where we can save our progress during the campaign at any time, in three different save slots.

New filters are available, allowing games to be played in their original mode, smoothed, with an expanded screen or even with the classic screen resolution.

Top Racer Collection is a Brazilian tribute to these games that brought joy to so many people in their childhood in the 90s. With renewed menus, the games received a polish without straying from their 16-bit beauty, maintaining all their original essence, causing a satisfying nostalgia for everyone who had so many good times playing on their old Super Nintendo.

New players may not end up being truly interested in the title because there aren't many games in this style and art currently, mainly because it doesn't bring any nostalgia for them.

The AI difficulty in the first title is unbalanced, which is discouraging and causes a lot of frustration when playing it. Seeing your rival running extremely faster than you is demotivating and might further push people away from this title.

Initially, the gameplay is identical to that of the SNES in terms of button layout, for new players this can be extremely strange, so to speed up you must press the X button (equivalent to Y on Xbox and Triangle on PlayStation). For those who prefer the traditional modes of accelerating and braking today, it is possible to use other control options or even edit them in your own way.

I give Top Racer Collection a 7/10. It delivers four excellent games that will guarantee you many hours of fun, as well as satisfying nostalgia for older players.

Have you ever played the old Top Gear or this new collection? What's your favorite car and track?