Micro Machines by Sega
Sega Genesis—1993
When Codemasters decided
they wanted a piece of the
video game pie, they
icensed Micro Machines
from Galoob, one of the hottest toy properties from the late 80s and early 90s. The
first version produced was for the NES in 1991, but over
the next five years this title showed up on virtually every
gaming platform known to man, including the Amiga, the
Master System, Phillips CDI, and Game Boy to name but
a few. In 1993 Sega owners got to experience the fun for
themselves on Genesis and Game Gear. Next year,
Nintendo's 16-bit machine got a piece of the action with
Ocean handling the porting duties. With both versions
based on the NES original, you could argue all day on the
playground who got the best upgrade. Twenty years
later, RGM is settling the fight.
And they're off!
Micro Machines is all about racing at a scale making RC
cars look positively kaiju by comparison. Most racing
games of the time limited you to one vehicle, or one type
of vehicle (car, truck, boat, etc...) through the course of
the game. Not Micro Machines. Part of this game's
charm comes from the myriad vehicles with which a budding driver had to familiarize him or herself. Racing 4x4s
across the breakfast table presents far different hazards
from blowing apart rival tanks on your bedroom floor.
Each vehicle responded uniquely in terms of acceleration,
top speed and handling–zipping a speed boat through
treacherous bathtub waters required an
alternate
finesse from flying a helicopter through a greenhouse.
You get three races with each of the eight vehicle types
for a total of 24 races, with the 25th being a Formula-1
finale to determine the champion. There are also three
bonus levels with a ninth vehicle type, a Ruff Trux
monster truck. These are timed, single-lap races that earn
you an extra life if completed. You also get to choose
your driver from one of eleven different kids, with ratings
from gAce!h (the best) to gDireh (the worst). All the kids
drive equally well (or poorly) under your control\the
ratings reflect how the CPU plays them. After every
third race, the worst-performing kid gets cut and you
select a new rival for the vacant seat. Simple to learn,
challenging to master. That's Micro Machines.
Words by Michael Crisman