Metropolis Street Racer was intended to be an early launch title for the Dreamcast and compete directly with Gran Turismo 2.  However, it's release was plagued by delays since it was announced. Of course, Sega and Bizarre Creations deserve some credit for the delays. Unlike Gran Turismo 2, MSR was not released before it was finished and, frankly, it's well worth the wait. Metropolis Street Racer can be described as the perfect combination of intelligent Gran Turismo racing with the style and power slides of Ridge Racer, and it’s great.

MSR, unlike other racers, doesn’t just reward the speed at which you complete a challenge but also skill and style that goes along with it. In MSR, finishing first isn’t your only goal; it’s finishing first and making it look good too. With this in mind, MSR skips the standard point based system that racers generally use but instead gives Kudos. You get Kudos for completing a challenge within its parameters, taking corners with style, and avoiding collisions with walls or other vehicles. Races are broken up into several chapters that contain challenges for the player to complete. Finish the challenges, earn enough Kudos and new chapters, secrets, and additional vehicles will be made available. 

Since the first screenshots were released, MSR has not disappointed in the graphics department. While games such as Sega Rally 2 had noticeable slowdown and pop-up, early preview movies and pictures of MSR seemed to show a game that looked like a second or third generation title. Of course, it’s been more than a year since Sega Rally 2 was released but, even now, MSR is a good looking game.  It no longer delivers the jaw-dropping impression as it once did before, but it's still good looking. Draw-in is nearly non-existent and much of the texture work is fantastic. Asphalt, brick, and gravel look incredibly detailed. London, Tokyo, and San Francisco have all been recreated in amazing detail. Just as Shenmue recreated a small town in Japan, MSR recreates the likeness of these cities. You can’t drive anywhere you want; there are set tracks you must follow, but the effort is certainly commendable. There are little nitpicks such as the slowdown that occurs at the start of races when everyone peals out at the same time, or that some of the car models look rather simplistic. The only major complaint is the amount of aliasing and shimmering that is seen. It could be from the lack of mip-mapping but, whatever the case, it’s visually worse than Ridge Racer V. The lack of brightness is another complaint that is usually associated with this title but I didn’t have a problem with it. I didn’t notice a problem in this area although I generally play videogames in a dim environment so it’s possible my eyes are better adjusted to it. 

It’s apparent that a lot of time was spent on the controls of MSR, as it’s easily the best feature about the game. MSR strikes out into unknown territory that mixes some simulation features of Gran Turismo and some of the arcade elements from the Ridge Racer series. The weight distribution of your car is a consideration in MSR as braking will shift weight to your front tires and accelerating will shift weight to the rear. At the same time, flamboyant power slides are not only allowed, they’re encouraged to advance in the game. Each car differs in control depending on engine placement and manufacturer as well, which can’t be said of most other racers that tend to have cars with similar driving attributes. While graphics are a nice showpiece, it’s the control and game play that count and, thankfully, Bizarre spent time to make the arcade/simulation combination perfect. 

If there is just one thing wrong with MSR, it’s the soundtrack. Like Ridge Racer V, the developers tried to emulate radio stations in the different cites you race in. However, the music selection that goes along with it, ranging from euro-pop, to rock, to jazz, is a bit crummy to say the least. Luckily, if there is a song or two in the line-up that you do like, you can create your own virtual CD in the game and play that instead of the radio stations. Still, even the best tracks leave much to be desired. Unlike the soundtrack, the sound effects are much better, particularly the engine roar when you rev it up and when you peal out. However, to truly get the full effect, you’ll have to use the camera view that is closest to the street as the game muffles the sound the further away it is from the source. 

In short, Metropolis Street Racer is a game that every racing fan must own. If you liked the Gran Turismo series, or if you’re a big fan of the Ridge Racer series, there’s probably something in Metropolis Street Racer that will appeal to you. It may not have the car selection of Gran Turismo or the press-start-and-go simplicity of Ridge Racer, but it does have a wide variety of tracks, a Kudos system that encourages self-improvement and a perfect mix of arcade and simulation game elements that make it a keeper. The Dreamcast just added another excellent title to its line-up.