Welcome to the second of the new series Games We Want on Xbox Live, where I tried and tried (and tried) to think of a game to bring to XBLA, all I kept thinking of was RC Pro Am, but I believe I expressed my love for that enough before (link), but right behind RC Pro Am, I instantly thought of Super Off Road. I have such fond memories of going to the arcade that was in the local movie theater and being late to a flick cause I wanted to play another round of Off Road.
It was a rare treat to see one of these machines back then, more so now (all I am left with is Crazy Taxi and Time Crisis in most places). Game play for Off Road was simple enough, control with the wheel, win the race, on the way you grab cash upgrade your wheels and win another race.
Now, the true arcade version of Super Off Road was “Ivan Stewart’s Super Off Road” .. I am not sure if he is even alive anymore, but if he is, I bet he wouldn’t mind some pay if they came out with this title having his name on it to keep it true to arcade. Honestly though, that is the last of my worries, as long as the game features four cars that can be played off just one console sharing a screen (ala Bomberman Live) or take the racing online. If possible, crank it up to 8 cars, but I am not sure if that would get too crowded.
Very important part of this all, an XBLA game that can incorporate the 360’s Racing Wheel. You can’t get more arcade perfect than that. Pricing on this game is iffy, I mean, I could see it being fine at 800 points, but 400 would be the sweet spot and guarantee that people would be online with this. Especially the people who already own a racing wheel (a refreshing change of pace from the normal 360 racing game which tends to be just racing simulations).
Something interesting about this becoming a reality or not, is that it has been released on “Midway Arcade Treasures 3″ compilation title, the yet game was not developed or published by Williams, Midway, or Atari Games. Either way, unless it was made by Sony or Nintendo, which it wasn’t, there isn’t a company out there that wouldn’t work with Microsoft.
(This article dedicated to the XBL Radio forum guys)
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