2023-08-21 16:38:15
A Hill Climb style title.
From the first information, Classic Racers Elite aroused our curiosity, whether it was the minimalist approach to racing or the appeal of the 1960s, when everything was much more free and spontaneous. Developed by Real Vision (founded by an Eden Studios alumnus), Classic Racers Elite is a no-frills racing game. Start and go, some would say. The game presents us with nothing and, in fact, there is not much to say. There are two modes, Championship and Free Race. In the first we have a succession of races of increasing difficulty that are grouped into championships and in which we are linked to a certain class of car. In the second mode, you can use any car on any circuit already covered in the championship. That’s all, there’s not much more to show. Each race comes with a leaderboard that allows you to compare yourself to other global racers. It’s unclear if they’re on consoles or PC, but either way, it doesn’t really matter. There’s no customization, no tweaks to make, or other details to tweak other than the color of the car. There are two types of races: races against the clock on rally-type circuits (always on asphalt) or on tracks, as well as slaloms. These are the ancestor of the current gymkhana, worn at arm’s length by our dear Ken Block. In no case will we face other AI-driven cars, which is a bit of a shame.
There are sixteen cars in total, none licensed (and understandably so), which are named with fancy epithets. For example, the 500 Abarth becomes Bartha, the Ford GT 40 becomes Fred GT 50, the Ferrari 330 P4 becomes Cavallino 330 P5. Each car has its own behavior and sound, although some are more similar than others. In general, the physics model of the vehicles is decent, with a very arcade approach to driving, with very short braking distances (shorter than in real life, that’s for sure) and steering patterns that are more reminiscent of a Need for Speed than other representatives of more simulative racing, such as Project Cars. There are 17 circuits in all, none of which are homologated, but in the end it is not that important. For the trained eye, it is easy to recognize the Paul Ricard, the circuit of Sarthe (that of the 24 hours of Le Mans) and Monaco, on the circuit of Monte-Carlo, in the Principality of Monaco. There are also many mountain stages which are famous in France. Thanks to the trick of reversing the circuits, they can easily be doubled, and thanks to the additional trick of cutting off certain sections, we arrive at a total of 50 passable circuits.
A particular project.
The original PC game was developed by one person, Jonathan Marole, over several years. The console conversion was done by Zero Games Studio and the job is well done. We don’t know what the original code looked like or how it worked on PC, but we found some technical issues. First, an annoying tearing in the middle of the screen is noticeable from the start. For the uninitiated, tearing is a phenomenon by which the image is cut in two, with a clear separation between the two parts. We also noticed a certain lightness in the physics of the cars: they tend to take off a little too easily following small jumps or violent bumps. There’s also a complete lack of damage physics, and collisions are overdone as well. If, for example, you hit a wall or a haystack at high speed, the car may come to a sudden, unnatural stop. Other issues are related to lighting, where the sun moves across the sky too much and is sometimes hidden by car roofs, causing discomfort when driving. Structural issues which therefore need some tweaking and some fix patches, by the way there is no PS5 support, it’s exactly the same game as on PS4.
As the screenshots show, Classic Racers Elite does not shine with its graphic care or its aesthetics. He sticks to what was possible to see on the PlayStation 2 or the PlayStation 3, a proposal taken up by other illustrious predecessors before him (and which is therefore not necessarily a bad thing, according to tastes). ). The sound of the cars is different for each of them, but it always remains a bit fake and lacks depth. Despite this, the game is enjoyable overall and, even at high speeds, we didn’t notice any glitches regarding frame rate drops or other such issues. Classic Racers Elite unsettled us in several ways, first of all by being developed by a single person. Subsequently, we saw the result of this choice in a game that clearly shows all its limits. Despite this, and although we are used to very high level titles, we can only take our hats off to the finished product. Indeed, we are faced with a “perfect” game in its simplicity, which is a demonstration of what a single person can do. It is obvious that our judgment is influenced by this set of information, but it should be said that we would not have been so understanding if the game had been published by a larger software company.
VERDICT
Classic Racers Elite is a racing game developed by one person, Jonathan Marole of Vision Reelle, which was later ported to consoles by Zero Games Studio. The fact that there is only one man behind the whole game makes it clear that there are limits to criticism and comparisons cannot be made with more iconic games. Even so, the title is honest, it’s pretty simple and can be finished in a couple of hours, but overall it’s satisfying and gives you a taste of the 1960s. Not a masterpiece, but it’s worth worth a try if you’re a racing fan (perhaps taking advantage of some discounts).
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#Classic #Racers #Elite #PlayStation