MotorStorm (PS3)
Oh the controversy. But we’ll be the first to say it: Load it up now and it doesn’t look anywhere near as good as it did twelve months ago. Maybe it’s the hi-def nature of the graphics, but all the graphical quirks like dust disappearing in squares around the outline of the vehicles or the flat surfaces (and spectators)of the roadside scenery look that much more noticeable now.
The gameplay is also quite hit-and miss, with the bad bits being that much more frustrating when you’re not in as much awe of the visuals any more. Unfair crashes, getting stuck on scenery and flipping onto your roof at the slightest bump is simply annoying as hell. If this were released today, we’d probably give it 6/10 for being good-looking, having nice crashes but little else.
Above: A shot from a PS2 game? Nah, it's MotorStorm up-close
Destruction Derby (Saturn, PSone)
Back in 1995, this used to define the ‘next generation’. 3D graphics, damage modelling, spectacular crashes, survival arenas… it did everything the 16-bit consoles that came before it couldn’t do. But unlike some other games of its time (such as the first Ridge Racer), it’s aged faster than Techno. The music does it no favours, being as mid-‘90s as you can get, and the voice clips from the other drivers repeat immediately, as they only seem to have one line each.
Oh, and every track is totally flat. You can’t flip any of the cars. You can’t jump. The damage modelling is basically a ‘damaged’ texture that replaces the ‘undamaged’ one. The handling is appallingly simple, success feels empty, the championship structure is best described as ‘basic’ and… can we play something else now, please?
Above: It's amazing how many shortcomings you can hide behind cutting-edge graphics
