A Black Falcon
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Or read this on my site with better formatting: http://www.blackfalcongames.net/?p=299
So, because it was the Olympics, I was watching that a lot... on my HDTV, at least. Often at the same time, I was also playing a lot of this game again for the first time in a while on my CRT. I have considered writing a review of Rush 2049 for a long time, but I've finally done it! This review took a while to finish, and with how long it is, it's easy to see why. Yes, this is the longest review of a single game I have ever written. This is an over 80KB text file! I'm sure there are things that could be cut, but whenever I got back I just end up adding more, so I should stop now and just post it...
Also, sorry for all the bad screenshots. Unfortunately I don't have a way to capture them from real hardware myself.
Table of Contents
-----------------
Introduction
The Controls and Handling
Arcade San Francisco Rush 2049: Drive the Future!
Home Console Rush 2049 - Rush 2049 for the N64 and Dreamcast
Modes and Options
Car Customization
Cheats
Graphics and Sound
The Modes: Race Mode
The Race Tracks In Detail
Race Track 1 / Marina
Race Track 2 / Haight
Race Track 3 / Civic
Race Track 4 / Metro
Race Track 5 / Mission
Race Track 6 / Presidio
The Modes: Stunt Mode
The Stunt Arenas In Detail
Stunt 1 / The Rim
Stunt 2 / Disco
Stunt 3 / Oasis
Stunt 4 / Warehouse
The Modes: Battle Mode
The Battle Arenas
Battle 1 / Stadium
Battle 2 / Melee
Battle 3 / Tundra
Battle 4 / Atomic
Battle 5 / Downtown
Battle 6 / Plaza
Battle 7 / Roadkill
Battle 8 / Factory
The Modes: Obstacle Course and the Obstacle Course Track
Conclusion
Introduction
Title: San Francisco Rush 2049
Developer: Atari Games, aka Midway Games West (for the Arcade, N64, and Dreamcast versions)
Arcade Version Release: October 1999
Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast Versions Release: September 2000
Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Dreamcast port] Version Release for Gamecube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2: September 2005; Port Developed by Digital Eclipse.
San Francisco Rush 2049 is a futuristic racing game, and the second, third, or fourth game in its series, depending on how you count. It is the second full arcade game, third arcade release, and third console release, so I usually consider it to be the third game. This fast-paced and high-flying arcade racing game is a classic '90s arcade racer in its final form, with some of the best gameplay, graphics, and design ever seen in the field. Rush game tracks are intricate and full of alternate routes and shortcuts, and this game has more and better on both of those fronts than any Rush game before. In addition to exceptional level designs, the game also perfects the series' controls, and has one of the all-time great videogame soundtracks as well.
I have written about S.F. Rush 2049 several times before, including a Game Opinion Summary of the game from some years ago, and an article about the version differences between the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions of the game. I have not, however, written a full review. I have usually avoided writing reviews of my favorite games, because praise is really hard to do well! Critisim is, sadly, easier, though the two are at least equally important, and praise may be more important. And I want to cover three different versions of the game all at once, so it's a complex review to put together. I tried to organize it reasonably, but I don't know if there is an ideal way to review this with so much to cover. But when you really, REALLY love a game, how do you write about it well? And that is the problem I have here; I don't just like this game, I adore it. Rush 2049 is one of the true greats, a game which has a permanent place near the top of my list of the best games ever made and, as I have said before, "the greatest game ever made in which you drive a vehicle". It is that good. This is the game I have owned the longest that I am absolutely certain I have played every single year since I bought it in early 2001, and playing it again now the game is still unmatched. This game is quite likely my most-played console game of all time. It surely does not come close to the amount of time I've put into my most-played PC games, most notably Starcraft (1), Warcraft III, and Guild Wars (1), but for console games it is on top of the list.
Indeed, not only does the game still hold up near-impeccably, it really does not have any competition; the more time passes, the greater Rush 2049 appears in hindsight. Nobody makes games like this anymore, and indeed they haven't since around the time of its release. Rush 2049 is a near-perfect masterpiece, the combination of a base of work from one of the best arcade developers ever, Atari Games, by that point also known as Midway Games West. The studio had been bought by Midway in 1996, and after a few years Midway renamed them, though the Atari Games name appears on the arcade machine. The arcade version of Rush 2049 ended up being Atari Games' final arcade game release, as Midway gave up on the dying arcade industry in 2001. Midway Games West would be shut down in 2003 after making their last game, the 3d platformer Dr. Muto. As for Rush 2049, the arcade game, it's fantastic! The game builds on my favorite arcade game ever, San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing, in some great ways. Midway Games West's console team made the home versions of Rush 2049 for the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast, and both released in fall 2000. They make significant improvements across the board over the arcade original, and this is the version I love the most. This kind of game, with arcade sensibilities but the full feature set of a home console game, is something you got sometimes back in the '90s to early '00s, but you do not see anymore. That is really sad, because that combination resulted in some of the most fun racing games ever, with this one at the top of that list. Racing games of the past decade-plus do not even try to compete with this game, to their detriment.
But that's enough background, on to the review. This will be long. I will start by discussing how the game plays. After that I will cover the original arcade game a bit, before moving on to the home versions, including their systems, modes, graphics, music, and general gameplay. Rush 2049 is a futuristic racing game set in the year, well, 2049. The fairly silly backstory, which is only mentioned in the manual and never in the game itself as there is no in-game story, is that there has been a second gold rush, 200 years after the first one, and so San Francisco is a boom town yet again. Sure, that works. No story is needed in a game like this, but why not write something amusing for the manual? So, the game is set in a familiar and yet futuristic city, with the major landmarks present but also futuristic elements as well. It's a fantastic mix which works great, and the choice to return to San Francisco, after Rush 2 was set across the USA, is brilliant; the city is just plain more fun to drive in in videogames than any other I have seen due to all its layout and hills.
As an aside, there is also a Game Boy Color version of Rush 2049. It is an entirely different game, as you would expect, and plays in isometric 2d. Unfortunately, it is very average. If I review it, it will be covered separately; this is about the arcade and TV console game.
The Controls and Handling
I decided to cover this first because the controls and engine are the core of every game, and Rush 2049's engine and San Francisco Rush 2049's controls are great and engine just as good. Rush games have a unique handling system which is divisive, but I love it. The game is based around a physics engine, and it sticks to the physics. This engine has its quirks, but the game won't actually cheat you, it follows its physics model. Indeed, Rush 2049 does not get the credit it deserves for its good car modeling; it's not realistic, but it's not supposed to be! What it is is well-modeled, consistent, and challenging. Cars in Rush games turn slowly and in predictable ways, and leave the air the moment they hit even the tiniest bump in the road. All vehicles in this game have several stats which rate their capabilities, including speed, acceleration, and weight. Each of the 13 starting and 6 unlockable vehicles has different starting stats, and they change on top of that depending on which parts you equip. This is no sim or tuner game with a huge garage of options available, but on consoles you do have some car parts to choose from for your frame, transmission, engine, and tire type. There are also visual customization options as well for your car colors and wheel rims. In the arcade version you have fewer choices as you would expect, but there are still some.
Before I continue though, while the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast or Arcade versions of the game mostly handle identically, there is one difference between them, to the Dreamcast's advantage: on the DC the game has analog acceleration and braking on the DC controller's analog triggers, while on N64 you have only digital on-or-off acceleration and braking since N64 controllers only have an analog stick, not buttons or triggers. While you can play the game just fine by feathering the accelerator to replicate the same result as pushing that DC trigger down halfway, driving at less than full speed is easier to do on the DC, and this is to your advantage at times so the DC as a result does have slightly better control. Otherwise they really are the same, though, and I do like the feel of the N64 analog stick a bit more than the Dreamcast one.
There are also three handling options to choose from, Beginner, Normal, and Extreme. On consoles you can change this as a setting, while in arcades specific cars are tied to each type. I always play at the maximum Extreme handling setting, because it just isn't Rush with anything less than the most challenging handling! I, at least, like that the car fights you as you turn, as it tries to go straight most of the time. This is not a drift game at all, it's more traditional, series quirks aside. As you turn you skid a bit, but there are no massive powerslides here, and there is no drifting beyond the bit of tire-squealing skidding you do during longer turns. I love this, and once you learn the controls, you have good control over your car here. With practice you will know when when you can stay at full speed all the time, when you need to let go of the accelerator to make a turn, and when you need to brake or handbrake to not go off the road. If you don't get your speed right or turn too early or too late it is very easy to go off the road on these complex courses, so there is a high learning curve here. There are also several terrain types which you move over at different speeds, including pavement, dirt roads, and grass or dirt-covered off-road areas. You want to stay off of that last type when you can, but sometimes you can successfully make a shortcut over some grassy areas. Collisions are also done very well. Cars bump into eachother fairly realistically, far better than many games of the time, and whether you crash or not depends on how fast you were going and at what angle your car was at when you hit something. Brush against a wall and sparks will fly, or hit someone also moving and you will grind against their car. It's well done. The game also makes great use of rumble, and a rumble pak or such is highly recommended for any console version of the game! Most of the rumble elements are the usual, such as when you hit things, but the subtle rumble that starts when you begin a skid is useful during gameplay, it makes it easy to tell when you are fully in control and when you have started to lose it.
Aerial maneuvers also are fully controlled by the physics model. The low gravity, and resulting constant high-flying jumps whenever you hit any kind of bump, is perhaps the Rush series' hallmark feature and I love it. However, being in the air is tricky, because you need to land! As I said, the physics model controls you in the air as well, so like in real life, you cannot move around in the air like you could in, say, a 2d fighting game. Instead, the angle and direction you were going when you left the ground is the direction you will go in. You can adjust your speed a bit, and can twist the car around in the air with the cars' wings if you are in a version or mode of the game which has wings, but you can't redirect your line once you are already in the air. Landing is also difficult, as you need to land flat, and not too fast. If you're tossed too far into the air even landing flat won't help, you'll explode on landing because you were going too fast; you'll need to hope you land on a slope and land perfectly, to redirect your momentum that way. Acceleration and braking is also a vital part of landing, as if you accelerate while landing you are much more likely to spin out than if you brake. Whenever you don't land perfectly, your car will go rolling and flipping around on the ground, more or less so depending on your speed. Here again the brake button is essential, as you want to be stopping as you roll onto your wheels, not your roof; use the brakes, accelerator, and directions to nudge the car in the right direction. While you will land on your roof as often as you land on your tires, it is possible to save yourself from difficult situations with skill and luck. When you do land upside down, though, your car will explode. I've always found the idea that Rush cars all have dynamite strapped to their roofs or something amusing.
Earlier, I mentioned that the cars have wings in some versions and modes. In the first two Rush games, and in the arcade version of this one, there is no way to control your car in the air beyond the slight changes that changing your speed brings. You get used to it, but having no control over your car in the air makes the games very challenging at times; you either get the jump right from the ground, or you're doomed. It makes for some great and challenging gameplay, but it can be frustrating at times. Atari Games / Midway Games West realized this, and in a work of genius, the home versions of the game add wings to the cars that allow you to twist and rotate while in the air. This feature is one of the very best things about Rush 2049, and is the most important feature that turned a very good arcade game into the best racing game ever made. It does make landing easier, and I know some hardcore Rush 1 or 2 fans prefer that games' lack of air controls to the wings of home Rush 2049, but I have always considered this an amazing, inspiring idea! The possibilities it opens, for maneuvering your car through narrow spaces in the air, for flipping and spinning in the games' Stunt mode, and more, are incredible. I loved, and love, the "flying" winged cars of Rush 2049 so much that back in the early to mid '00s, this game got me hooked on flipping TV remotes in the air like the cars in Rush 2049. It took quite some time, and several broken remotes, before I finally broke that habit... but why not do that? It's such an amazing concept, executed incredibly well!
I very much doubt that the AI cars follow all of the physics rules, though, I must admit, as instead of having dynamic AIs, each computer follows one of the games' pre-designed possible computer car routes. Some of the resulting turns look maybe too tight without as much skidding as you might expect. The AI has been much improved over the original Rush, however; there AI cars just followed each other in a line through the level, in a very close pack, so one mistake doomed you. Here different AIs will do better or worse on each track, and they can mess up and crash as well, which is welcome. When facing off against the computer your AI opponents are challenging, but those good at memorization may get used to their routes through the tracks. I mostly don't mind this, but there is one thing I find disappointing here: AI cars cannot enter shortcuts; bump one onto one and they will reset onto the track, even in Deaths Mode (described later). While they are tough enough competition on the main roads that I'm fine with with them staying away from shortcuts as that would make the game even harder, it would be nice if they would stay on them if you bump them onto one, at least. I'm sure this could have been done better, it is distracting and weird at times. Ah well. Still, your computer opponents in Rush 2049 will put up a tough fight, and I do think that the AI is mostly fine at it is; it's plenty challenging, and each race will be different due to the random nature of what can happen during a race, both between AI cars and between you and them.
Arcade San Francisco Rush 2049: Drive the Future!
This article is mostly a review of the home console versions of Rush 2049, and the Nintendo 64 version in particular. The arcade version is an arcade exclusive and has never been released on any home platform, unless you emulate it and I haven't, so while I have played arcade Rush 2049, it was for a relatively small amount of time, particularly compared to the hundreds of hours I have played the console versions. But the arcade version is the core experience which the home version only builds on but does not significantly change beyond adding wings and modes, so I will start here. Rush 2049 is the third arcade Rush game release, following San Francisco Rush and its enhanced re-release San Francisco Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition. This game brings Rush into the future, and that was a great idea indeed! Most of my favorite racing games are futuristic ones, so I love the choice to go futuristic. The tracks are a mixture of Tron-inspired neon, modern cityscapes, and outdoor environments, and the three mix surprisingly well. Amusingly, the advertisement billboards that are present all over the game include some for real companies such as Dickies and Slim Jim. These are present in the home version as well. I wonder if they paid to be in the game, or if Midway had to pay... you never know. So, fitting the theme, the arcade version's ad tagline was "Drive the Future", and it's a good line for sure. The games' machine and poster art is also fantastic stuff! Oddly they don't seem to have used that subtitle with the home releases, though they do use the same cover art. Arcade Rush 2049 runs on a standard Midway arcade board, with fairly good but not mind-blowing graphics for a 2000 release.
The original arcade Rush 2049 game is a very good, but straightforward, racing game. Unlike the later console versions all you can do here is race in single races against AI or human opponents. This being an arcade game, it is a stripped-down experience, perfect for a quick game. I mentioned earlier the more limited car customization available in the arcade game, but the basics are still here, including different cars with different stats and handling types. The core gameplay is as described above. I have played the final revision of arcade Rush 2049 within the past few years, and it is a weird experience. on the one hand, Rush 2049 for arcades is Rush 2049, a version of my favorite racing game. The graphics look just like the home console game I will describe; the tracks are very similar to how I know them; the controls and handling are the same, absent wings aside; and the gameplay is fantastic and incredibly fun. But... without the added modes of the home game, without the wings, with its slightly different variation on the games' soundtrack, and more, I just do not unreservedly love the game like I do the home version. San Fransisco Rush 2049 for arcades is a really good game despite that, though, and due to its differences from the console game it is absolutely worth trying if you ever see any Rush 2049 machine variant somewhere.
There are five tracks in the original arcade game, four new courses and one rehash, a redone version of the Alcatraz track from San Francisco Rush the Rock: Alcatraz Edition and the first two Nintendo 64 Rush games. Tracks in Rush games are linear paths, but the many shortcuts, alternate routes, and wide trackside areas you can drive through give the game a very open feeling that most racing games of the time do not match, while still being focused on a single course. I really love this concept, as I prefer racing games to have closed courses over open city driving, but it is also fun to have some choices along the way. Rush 2049 is the perfect merger of those two track design philosophies. I will cover the home versions of the tracks in detail later, but track one is a short loop, while tracks two through four are medium length. All four are shorter than any track from Rush 1 or 2, though, and the choice to make tracks shorter was a good one. The tracks have more jumps, thrills, tricky segments, tough shortcuts, and the like than either previous Rush game, packed into a smaller space! This means that the long periods of normal-road driving from the previous Rush games is now mostly gone, if you wish. I don't miss them, and you can see some of that if you stick to the road, anyway. Rush 2049's tracks also don't have many of the cheap moments of the earlier games, so expect very few blind walls sitting right in the middle of the track, and there is only one or two times where the real path is a side-area and the "main road" is actually a dead end. There also are now switches on the tracks which modify things in interesting ways, to open shortcuts by moving walls, making ramps appear, or more. Some switches stay lit when activated, while others are time-limited, so learn them all. These are different between the home and arcade versions, though. These are huge improvements which make this game a lot more fun to drive in than the previous two games; you still need to do a lot of memorizing to succeed, but it feels less cheap with these better-designed, more fun, and less unfair tracks. The home versions alter the courses, as the locations of shortcuts are different between versions, but the main shape and layout of each track is very similar between home and consoles. Track five, Alcatraz, was cut from the console versions though, as it had already been in both other N64 Rush games. They added a huge amount of new content to those versions to replace the absence.
So, because it was the Olympics, I was watching that a lot... on my HDTV, at least. Often at the same time, I was also playing a lot of this game again for the first time in a while on my CRT. I have considered writing a review of Rush 2049 for a long time, but I've finally done it! This review took a while to finish, and with how long it is, it's easy to see why. Yes, this is the longest review of a single game I have ever written. This is an over 80KB text file! I'm sure there are things that could be cut, but whenever I got back I just end up adding more, so I should stop now and just post it...
Also, sorry for all the bad screenshots. Unfortunately I don't have a way to capture them from real hardware myself.
This is the only screenshot almost certainly from an emulator that you will see here, which means the rest will look awful, but at least are real hardware. Check the video links out to get a better sense of the game!
Table of Contents
-----------------
Introduction
The Controls and Handling
Arcade San Francisco Rush 2049: Drive the Future!
Home Console Rush 2049 - Rush 2049 for the N64 and Dreamcast
Modes and Options
Car Customization
Cheats
Graphics and Sound
The Modes: Race Mode
The Race Tracks In Detail
Race Track 1 / Marina
Race Track 2 / Haight
Race Track 3 / Civic
Race Track 4 / Metro
Race Track 5 / Mission
Race Track 6 / Presidio
The Modes: Stunt Mode
The Stunt Arenas In Detail
Stunt 1 / The Rim
Stunt 2 / Disco
Stunt 3 / Oasis
Stunt 4 / Warehouse
The Modes: Battle Mode
The Battle Arenas
Battle 1 / Stadium
Battle 2 / Melee
Battle 3 / Tundra
Battle 4 / Atomic
Battle 5 / Downtown
Battle 6 / Plaza
Battle 7 / Roadkill
Battle 8 / Factory
The Modes: Obstacle Course and the Obstacle Course Track
Conclusion
Introduction
Title: San Francisco Rush 2049
Developer: Atari Games, aka Midway Games West (for the Arcade, N64, and Dreamcast versions)
Arcade Version Release: October 1999
Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast Versions Release: September 2000
Midway Arcade Treasures 3 [Dreamcast port] Version Release for Gamecube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2: September 2005; Port Developed by Digital Eclipse.
San Francisco Rush 2049 is a futuristic racing game, and the second, third, or fourth game in its series, depending on how you count. It is the second full arcade game, third arcade release, and third console release, so I usually consider it to be the third game. This fast-paced and high-flying arcade racing game is a classic '90s arcade racer in its final form, with some of the best gameplay, graphics, and design ever seen in the field. Rush game tracks are intricate and full of alternate routes and shortcuts, and this game has more and better on both of those fronts than any Rush game before. In addition to exceptional level designs, the game also perfects the series' controls, and has one of the all-time great videogame soundtracks as well.
I have written about S.F. Rush 2049 several times before, including a Game Opinion Summary of the game from some years ago, and an article about the version differences between the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast versions of the game. I have not, however, written a full review. I have usually avoided writing reviews of my favorite games, because praise is really hard to do well! Critisim is, sadly, easier, though the two are at least equally important, and praise may be more important. And I want to cover three different versions of the game all at once, so it's a complex review to put together. I tried to organize it reasonably, but I don't know if there is an ideal way to review this with so much to cover. But when you really, REALLY love a game, how do you write about it well? And that is the problem I have here; I don't just like this game, I adore it. Rush 2049 is one of the true greats, a game which has a permanent place near the top of my list of the best games ever made and, as I have said before, "the greatest game ever made in which you drive a vehicle". It is that good. This is the game I have owned the longest that I am absolutely certain I have played every single year since I bought it in early 2001, and playing it again now the game is still unmatched. This game is quite likely my most-played console game of all time. It surely does not come close to the amount of time I've put into my most-played PC games, most notably Starcraft (1), Warcraft III, and Guild Wars (1), but for console games it is on top of the list.
Indeed, not only does the game still hold up near-impeccably, it really does not have any competition; the more time passes, the greater Rush 2049 appears in hindsight. Nobody makes games like this anymore, and indeed they haven't since around the time of its release. Rush 2049 is a near-perfect masterpiece, the combination of a base of work from one of the best arcade developers ever, Atari Games, by that point also known as Midway Games West. The studio had been bought by Midway in 1996, and after a few years Midway renamed them, though the Atari Games name appears on the arcade machine. The arcade version of Rush 2049 ended up being Atari Games' final arcade game release, as Midway gave up on the dying arcade industry in 2001. Midway Games West would be shut down in 2003 after making their last game, the 3d platformer Dr. Muto. As for Rush 2049, the arcade game, it's fantastic! The game builds on my favorite arcade game ever, San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing, in some great ways. Midway Games West's console team made the home versions of Rush 2049 for the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast, and both released in fall 2000. They make significant improvements across the board over the arcade original, and this is the version I love the most. This kind of game, with arcade sensibilities but the full feature set of a home console game, is something you got sometimes back in the '90s to early '00s, but you do not see anymore. That is really sad, because that combination resulted in some of the most fun racing games ever, with this one at the top of that list. Racing games of the past decade-plus do not even try to compete with this game, to their detriment.
But that's enough background, on to the review. This will be long. I will start by discussing how the game plays. After that I will cover the original arcade game a bit, before moving on to the home versions, including their systems, modes, graphics, music, and general gameplay. Rush 2049 is a futuristic racing game set in the year, well, 2049. The fairly silly backstory, which is only mentioned in the manual and never in the game itself as there is no in-game story, is that there has been a second gold rush, 200 years after the first one, and so San Francisco is a boom town yet again. Sure, that works. No story is needed in a game like this, but why not write something amusing for the manual? So, the game is set in a familiar and yet futuristic city, with the major landmarks present but also futuristic elements as well. It's a fantastic mix which works great, and the choice to return to San Francisco, after Rush 2 was set across the USA, is brilliant; the city is just plain more fun to drive in in videogames than any other I have seen due to all its layout and hills.
As an aside, there is also a Game Boy Color version of Rush 2049. It is an entirely different game, as you would expect, and plays in isometric 2d. Unfortunately, it is very average. If I review it, it will be covered separately; this is about the arcade and TV console game.
Track 4/Metro, as you head up a hill.
The Controls and Handling
I decided to cover this first because the controls and engine are the core of every game, and Rush 2049's engine and San Francisco Rush 2049's controls are great and engine just as good. Rush games have a unique handling system which is divisive, but I love it. The game is based around a physics engine, and it sticks to the physics. This engine has its quirks, but the game won't actually cheat you, it follows its physics model. Indeed, Rush 2049 does not get the credit it deserves for its good car modeling; it's not realistic, but it's not supposed to be! What it is is well-modeled, consistent, and challenging. Cars in Rush games turn slowly and in predictable ways, and leave the air the moment they hit even the tiniest bump in the road. All vehicles in this game have several stats which rate their capabilities, including speed, acceleration, and weight. Each of the 13 starting and 6 unlockable vehicles has different starting stats, and they change on top of that depending on which parts you equip. This is no sim or tuner game with a huge garage of options available, but on consoles you do have some car parts to choose from for your frame, transmission, engine, and tire type. There are also visual customization options as well for your car colors and wheel rims. In the arcade version you have fewer choices as you would expect, but there are still some.
Before I continue though, while the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast or Arcade versions of the game mostly handle identically, there is one difference between them, to the Dreamcast's advantage: on the DC the game has analog acceleration and braking on the DC controller's analog triggers, while on N64 you have only digital on-or-off acceleration and braking since N64 controllers only have an analog stick, not buttons or triggers. While you can play the game just fine by feathering the accelerator to replicate the same result as pushing that DC trigger down halfway, driving at less than full speed is easier to do on the DC, and this is to your advantage at times so the DC as a result does have slightly better control. Otherwise they really are the same, though, and I do like the feel of the N64 analog stick a bit more than the Dreamcast one.
There are also three handling options to choose from, Beginner, Normal, and Extreme. On consoles you can change this as a setting, while in arcades specific cars are tied to each type. I always play at the maximum Extreme handling setting, because it just isn't Rush with anything less than the most challenging handling! I, at least, like that the car fights you as you turn, as it tries to go straight most of the time. This is not a drift game at all, it's more traditional, series quirks aside. As you turn you skid a bit, but there are no massive powerslides here, and there is no drifting beyond the bit of tire-squealing skidding you do during longer turns. I love this, and once you learn the controls, you have good control over your car here. With practice you will know when when you can stay at full speed all the time, when you need to let go of the accelerator to make a turn, and when you need to brake or handbrake to not go off the road. If you don't get your speed right or turn too early or too late it is very easy to go off the road on these complex courses, so there is a high learning curve here. There are also several terrain types which you move over at different speeds, including pavement, dirt roads, and grass or dirt-covered off-road areas. You want to stay off of that last type when you can, but sometimes you can successfully make a shortcut over some grassy areas. Collisions are also done very well. Cars bump into eachother fairly realistically, far better than many games of the time, and whether you crash or not depends on how fast you were going and at what angle your car was at when you hit something. Brush against a wall and sparks will fly, or hit someone also moving and you will grind against their car. It's well done. The game also makes great use of rumble, and a rumble pak or such is highly recommended for any console version of the game! Most of the rumble elements are the usual, such as when you hit things, but the subtle rumble that starts when you begin a skid is useful during gameplay, it makes it easy to tell when you are fully in control and when you have started to lose it.
Aerial maneuvers also are fully controlled by the physics model. The low gravity, and resulting constant high-flying jumps whenever you hit any kind of bump, is perhaps the Rush series' hallmark feature and I love it. However, being in the air is tricky, because you need to land! As I said, the physics model controls you in the air as well, so like in real life, you cannot move around in the air like you could in, say, a 2d fighting game. Instead, the angle and direction you were going when you left the ground is the direction you will go in. You can adjust your speed a bit, and can twist the car around in the air with the cars' wings if you are in a version or mode of the game which has wings, but you can't redirect your line once you are already in the air. Landing is also difficult, as you need to land flat, and not too fast. If you're tossed too far into the air even landing flat won't help, you'll explode on landing because you were going too fast; you'll need to hope you land on a slope and land perfectly, to redirect your momentum that way. Acceleration and braking is also a vital part of landing, as if you accelerate while landing you are much more likely to spin out than if you brake. Whenever you don't land perfectly, your car will go rolling and flipping around on the ground, more or less so depending on your speed. Here again the brake button is essential, as you want to be stopping as you roll onto your wheels, not your roof; use the brakes, accelerator, and directions to nudge the car in the right direction. While you will land on your roof as often as you land on your tires, it is possible to save yourself from difficult situations with skill and luck. When you do land upside down, though, your car will explode. I've always found the idea that Rush cars all have dynamite strapped to their roofs or something amusing.
Earlier, I mentioned that the cars have wings in some versions and modes. In the first two Rush games, and in the arcade version of this one, there is no way to control your car in the air beyond the slight changes that changing your speed brings. You get used to it, but having no control over your car in the air makes the games very challenging at times; you either get the jump right from the ground, or you're doomed. It makes for some great and challenging gameplay, but it can be frustrating at times. Atari Games / Midway Games West realized this, and in a work of genius, the home versions of the game add wings to the cars that allow you to twist and rotate while in the air. This feature is one of the very best things about Rush 2049, and is the most important feature that turned a very good arcade game into the best racing game ever made. It does make landing easier, and I know some hardcore Rush 1 or 2 fans prefer that games' lack of air controls to the wings of home Rush 2049, but I have always considered this an amazing, inspiring idea! The possibilities it opens, for maneuvering your car through narrow spaces in the air, for flipping and spinning in the games' Stunt mode, and more, are incredible. I loved, and love, the "flying" winged cars of Rush 2049 so much that back in the early to mid '00s, this game got me hooked on flipping TV remotes in the air like the cars in Rush 2049. It took quite some time, and several broken remotes, before I finally broke that habit... but why not do that? It's such an amazing concept, executed incredibly well!
I very much doubt that the AI cars follow all of the physics rules, though, I must admit, as instead of having dynamic AIs, each computer follows one of the games' pre-designed possible computer car routes. Some of the resulting turns look maybe too tight without as much skidding as you might expect. The AI has been much improved over the original Rush, however; there AI cars just followed each other in a line through the level, in a very close pack, so one mistake doomed you. Here different AIs will do better or worse on each track, and they can mess up and crash as well, which is welcome. When facing off against the computer your AI opponents are challenging, but those good at memorization may get used to their routes through the tracks. I mostly don't mind this, but there is one thing I find disappointing here: AI cars cannot enter shortcuts; bump one onto one and they will reset onto the track, even in Deaths Mode (described later). While they are tough enough competition on the main roads that I'm fine with with them staying away from shortcuts as that would make the game even harder, it would be nice if they would stay on them if you bump them onto one, at least. I'm sure this could have been done better, it is distracting and weird at times. Ah well. Still, your computer opponents in Rush 2049 will put up a tough fight, and I do think that the AI is mostly fine at it is; it's plenty challenging, and each race will be different due to the random nature of what can happen during a race, both between AI cars and between you and them.
Arcade San Francisco Rush 2049: Drive the Future!
This article is mostly a review of the home console versions of Rush 2049, and the Nintendo 64 version in particular. The arcade version is an arcade exclusive and has never been released on any home platform, unless you emulate it and I haven't, so while I have played arcade Rush 2049, it was for a relatively small amount of time, particularly compared to the hundreds of hours I have played the console versions. But the arcade version is the core experience which the home version only builds on but does not significantly change beyond adding wings and modes, so I will start here. Rush 2049 is the third arcade Rush game release, following San Francisco Rush and its enhanced re-release San Francisco Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition. This game brings Rush into the future, and that was a great idea indeed! Most of my favorite racing games are futuristic ones, so I love the choice to go futuristic. The tracks are a mixture of Tron-inspired neon, modern cityscapes, and outdoor environments, and the three mix surprisingly well. Amusingly, the advertisement billboards that are present all over the game include some for real companies such as Dickies and Slim Jim. These are present in the home version as well. I wonder if they paid to be in the game, or if Midway had to pay... you never know. So, fitting the theme, the arcade version's ad tagline was "Drive the Future", and it's a good line for sure. The games' machine and poster art is also fantastic stuff! Oddly they don't seem to have used that subtitle with the home releases, though they do use the same cover art. Arcade Rush 2049 runs on a standard Midway arcade board, with fairly good but not mind-blowing graphics for a 2000 release.
The original arcade Rush 2049 game is a very good, but straightforward, racing game. Unlike the later console versions all you can do here is race in single races against AI or human opponents. This being an arcade game, it is a stripped-down experience, perfect for a quick game. I mentioned earlier the more limited car customization available in the arcade game, but the basics are still here, including different cars with different stats and handling types. The core gameplay is as described above. I have played the final revision of arcade Rush 2049 within the past few years, and it is a weird experience. on the one hand, Rush 2049 for arcades is Rush 2049, a version of my favorite racing game. The graphics look just like the home console game I will describe; the tracks are very similar to how I know them; the controls and handling are the same, absent wings aside; and the gameplay is fantastic and incredibly fun. But... without the added modes of the home game, without the wings, with its slightly different variation on the games' soundtrack, and more, I just do not unreservedly love the game like I do the home version. San Fransisco Rush 2049 for arcades is a really good game despite that, though, and due to its differences from the console game it is absolutely worth trying if you ever see any Rush 2049 machine variant somewhere.
There are five tracks in the original arcade game, four new courses and one rehash, a redone version of the Alcatraz track from San Francisco Rush the Rock: Alcatraz Edition and the first two Nintendo 64 Rush games. Tracks in Rush games are linear paths, but the many shortcuts, alternate routes, and wide trackside areas you can drive through give the game a very open feeling that most racing games of the time do not match, while still being focused on a single course. I really love this concept, as I prefer racing games to have closed courses over open city driving, but it is also fun to have some choices along the way. Rush 2049 is the perfect merger of those two track design philosophies. I will cover the home versions of the tracks in detail later, but track one is a short loop, while tracks two through four are medium length. All four are shorter than any track from Rush 1 or 2, though, and the choice to make tracks shorter was a good one. The tracks have more jumps, thrills, tricky segments, tough shortcuts, and the like than either previous Rush game, packed into a smaller space! This means that the long periods of normal-road driving from the previous Rush games is now mostly gone, if you wish. I don't miss them, and you can see some of that if you stick to the road, anyway. Rush 2049's tracks also don't have many of the cheap moments of the earlier games, so expect very few blind walls sitting right in the middle of the track, and there is only one or two times where the real path is a side-area and the "main road" is actually a dead end. There also are now switches on the tracks which modify things in interesting ways, to open shortcuts by moving walls, making ramps appear, or more. Some switches stay lit when activated, while others are time-limited, so learn them all. These are different between the home and arcade versions, though. These are huge improvements which make this game a lot more fun to drive in than the previous two games; you still need to do a lot of memorizing to succeed, but it feels less cheap with these better-designed, more fun, and less unfair tracks. The home versions alter the courses, as the locations of shortcuts are different between versions, but the main shape and layout of each track is very similar between home and consoles. Track five, Alcatraz, was cut from the console versions though, as it had already been in both other N64 Rush games. They added a huge amount of new content to those versions to replace the absence.
