The Game
Shortly following the launch of the Dreamcast, Speed Devils filled a gap in the Dreamcast’s line up. This odd and sadly forgotten racer seems rather straightforward on the surface, though was loaded with relatively new additions to the racing genre at the time.
Those familiar with William's Cruisin’ series will immediately recognize the feel of Speed Devils. Tight controls mean braking is unnecessary, drifting doesn’t exist, and taking a corner is only a matter of being in the right place. The sense of speed is excellent, and a generic backdrop storyline involving underground racing is stuck in the background for effect.
What separated Speed Devils were the unforgettable courses. Hollywood stands above the 12 available tracks. A t-rex tries to eat your car, a shark destroys a bridge, and a giant animatronic gorilla with no relation whatsoever to a giant movie monster to avoid any lawsuits tries to slam its fist through your roof. Tornadoes, rockslides, broken bridges, UFOs, and various other challenges litter these wild designs.
While it may feel like Cruisin’, its closest competition is the N64 game Beetle Adventure Racing. Both have the same zany style and ridiculous shortcuts. Speed Devils carries the advantage of extensive upgrades in a fun career mode, not to mention damage to your car which affects performance. Earning money can be done by winning or beating speed traps throughout the level.
The Present
Surprisingly, the graphics still manage to hold up on today’s market. The low resolution is slightly difficult to adjust to, and background objects are clunky, but there’s a nice sense of stylistic choices to appreciate.
Controls definitely feel archaic, and in the early going, it’s tough to adjust to the speed. The car you’re given is slow, and can barely take a hill. This would be suicide in an arcade racer these days. It takes longer to get into the feel than it did back in 1999.
Article comments
1 - blok
Hey, I know this review is close to 2 years old now and the game itself is closer to 10 years old, but I had to leave my comment. This was easily my favourite racing game on DC, and one of my favourite racing games ever on any console. Not because it was the best in any one area,like graphics, game play, control, value, but because it was just a VERY FUN game to play, alone or with friends. I just remembered the only other racing game that I had more fun on was Rush 2 for N64.