Game 78: 1000 Miglia

Name:1000 Miglia: Great 1000 Miles Rally
Number:78
Year:1994
Publisher:Kaneko
Developer:Kaneko
Genre:Racing
Difficulty:3/5
Time:1 hour

I can't help but compare 1000 Miglia to Outrun. Both are arcade titles, (though this wasn't ported to home systems) both are arcade-style, not simulation, two people in the car, non-linear style, beautiful scenery. However, in just every way, this game is so much worse than Outrun. So. Much. Worse.

Taking place during the famous race of the same name, Mille Miglia, a race in Italy from Brescia to Rome and back again, which is 1000 miles, hence the name. That doesn't have much to do with the game here. This is a series of 1 minute tracks that feel like they want to be laps, but aren't. That's a great way to play an endurance race, isn't it? I beat this and it didn't take me an hour. I'm not saying I want Desert Bus as a racing game, I just feel weird about seeing an arcade racer using a endurance race as a back drop.

And arcade-style it is. Everything about this screams arcade. From the turning, to which doesn't even pretend to be realistic, to the cars on the road to the ramps. I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any ramps in a real race like this. All of the game's difficulty, which isn't much, seems to amount to a strict time limit of a minute. None of this is exciting.

You drive along a set course, with quite a few turns. You get messages that pop up whenever you're about to hit a turn. You wouldn't make them otherwise, because you can't see in front of you. Its a sight whenever the game has you make a zig-zag or something, because the front wheels defy the laws of physics. Other drivers are there, but they're usually going slower than you. Hitting them or anything doesn't kill you, but you'd wish it did. You have a hard minute time limit, if you haven't reached the finish line, don't worry, you're not in a hurry anymore.

The whole game feels very weird, but not in a good way. I don't feel like my car is on the road. I don't even feel like I'm really driving it. I feel like I'm playing Dragon's Lair for cars. A very precise set of button presses and then I win. I guess my actions do have an effect on how things go, but it sure doesn't feel that way. I either make that turn or I crash. My speed seems to have nothing to do with it. That's not the way a game should make you think.

I keep forgetting it, but you have the option of picking your car at the start. I think this affects your top speed, but I only say that because some vehicles have your car make white lines pass by. I eventually settled on the Bugetti car, because that seemed cool to me and I'm on a French kick. None of them are really among my favorites, and even if they were these feel like butcherings of them, graphically at least.

Even the ending feels lame

And that's the game. There's not much to this. I think this is the kind of thing that puts me off playing arcade titles. There's not much to this beyond stealing your money with some okay gameplay to compensate. I'd be willing to bet the other 1000 Miglia from Simulmondo is a much better experience. Its probably better value for money compared to this game too.

Weapons:
None.

Enemies:
There are other cars on the road. They're all the same ones you can drive, which is nice. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
As the game wore on, it did get more complex, but not necessarily more interesting. Other issues affected that. 2/10

Player Agency:
I don't really feel like I'm in charge of this, acceleration on my part seems useless. So this is basically a game where I sometimes turn. 2/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
Just race dude. 0/10

Graphics:
While some of the backgrounds and items look appealing, nothing looks good at speed. And the cars never look good, there's something wrong with them. 2/10

Story:
None.

Sound/Music:
Everything sounds like it should, but there's no music. At least no music worth listening to. 2/10

That's 9. I don't rate games based by year, but that seems like crap for 1994. You had much better options back then. I don't think there's much point in mentioning other reviews. Kaneko, the company behind this, wouldn't release another game that would qualify for my list, with or without arcades.

Coming up, the last pre-FPS push, Cholo...which is actually still a FPS game.