Motorcity, a show to watch, a game to play - A 1UP classic from April 20, 2012

Hello friends, I'm happy to see you at the end of another week. I normally don't talk about web based games but this is a preview for an article I'm doing at Jim Hill Media. In order to get into the E3 I have to have at least two game-related pieces posted at his site within a few months of the show. Besides that the game and show I'm mentioning today is pretty cool.

Visitors to the Disney websites have probably noticed that the "Games" button is listed prominently next to "Stars and Characters." No longer considered a passing trend online gaming is a billion dollar industry that has caught the eye of Disney. The company has done well targeting younger gamers and families through the Club Penguin online community but has found it a little harder to find a game that caters to the larger gaming public. Previous efforts to tie in characters and games online have fallen a little flat among visitors. The Tron Legacy Lightcycle game was good visually if a little limited in the control arena. Fans of the arcade original could always try the Classic Tron game online as well. The introduction of Marvel characters has helped slightly, see Spider-Man in the Iron Spider for proof, however Disney’s finally hit their stride with a new game titled Drive. The game is actually available for both online and mobile (iPad / iPhone) devices.

Drive is based on the new Disney XD series titled Motorcity. The series follows the adventures of a motor gang named the Burners fighting against an evil industrialist named Abraham Kane. Lead by Mike Chillton and his friends, Julie, Dutch, Texas and Chuck the Burners drive all over a futuristic version of Detroit in high-powered hot rods. The character and vehicle designs are reminiscent of Genndy "Samurai Jack" Tartakovsky with a sprinkling of Duncan Roleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Steven T. Seagle's "Ben 10" series. I would even venture to say that I see some influences from Jaimie Hewlett (Tank Girl / Gorillaz) as well. The animation featured in Motorcity is a mix of 2D and 3D. The game has some 2D cut scenes but the gameplay is entirely 3D based. The world of Motorcity appears part futuristic and part modern urban, with beams of light outlining the edges of the buildings and graffiti filling in the cracks. Players might be surprised as to how great the game looks and plays for a browser title.

Players are introduced into the world of Motorcity when starting the game. In particular they meet Mike and his car, a highly stylized muscle-car-meets-import monstrosity appropriately titled "the Mutt." The Mutt is reminiscent of the Barracuda / Challenger clone featured in Ben 10, aka Kevin's car There is even a cartoonish Ed "Big Daddy" Roth-styled dog driving a hot rod painted on the car door. The show and game are clearly made for and by gearheads. Boys who might be fans of the Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 series will be paying particular attention to this title. Battle Force 5 ran on Cartoon Network and featured a bunch of high tech cars and multi-ethnic teens. That series had a moderately successful toy and videogame line.

Motorcity was undoubtedly Disney's answer to the Hot Wheels show but not a direct copy. Car-based cartoon shows were nothing new to television but seem to skip a generation. Speed Racer captured the imagination of boys in Japan and North America in the late 1960's. The Mach 5 was a dream machine for many young men but there really wasn't another show featuring a high tech car in the spotlight until the 80's. Car-based animated shows really took off in 1984 when the Transformers hit the airwaves. The heroic robots were known as Autobots and transformed into all sorts of vehicles. Since then there were many variations on the theme. Turbo Teen (1984), Pole Position (1984), M.A.S.K (1985), Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines (1985), Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors (1989) were some of the shows that had toy tie-ins as well as decently written episodes. Some of the Jayce shows were written by award winning author J. Michael Straczynski.

The first episodes of Motorcity have yet to hit the airwaves so audiences playing the game have a preview to the world. Hopefully the other vehicles featured in Motorcity are as mind numbingly awesome as the Mutt. I can almost see the toys on the shelves right next to the Pixar Car's, both sets putting the squeeze on Mattel. I'm not too proud to admit that I might be picking some Motorcity cars myself when and if they do come out. Of course some adults are too proud to admit that this show seems genuinely interesting. Those viewers might want to check out the Japanese animé titled Redline which shows that cars and stylized animation can be cutting edge and entertaining. But again I digress...

The game itself is an interesting combination of driving and shooting. The play mechanics featured in Motorcity Drive have a classic arcade feel. Night Stocker and Night Striker introduced the mechanics of driving and shooting to arcade goers over 25 years ago. In Drive gamers can use the mouse to steer and shoot at robot targets using the keyboard. The setup is a little harder on mobile devices but the experience is the same. Players do not have to worry about running off the track as they are automatically guided around and over the futuristic world. Players do have to actively steer out of the way of giant electric pylons and laser blasts from flying robots. The shooting mechanic is fairly straightforward, simply move the crosshairs over an opponent and shoot. Players can earn upgrades to their weapons and switch between different types of lasers. The gameplay is reminiscent of the classic on-rails shooter Panzer Dragoon by Sega.

Gamers don't have unlimited energy. If the Mutt takes too much damage then it's game over. To help players out the car has a couple of limited use weapons that can clear all opponents off the screen. Saving this weapon until it is absolutely necessary can make all the difference between reaching the next level and having to start all over. Drive is possibly the best free game on the Disney site and far superior to Cars 2 World Rally. Players can post high scores on the online leaderboard and even unlock Achievements for each level similar to an Xbox 360 title. Hopefully we'll be seeing more online games from Disney that has this level of polish and presentation, at the very least expect to see this game available for download on Xbox Live or Playstation's Network with some more cars and features to round out the experience if Disney Interactive does not develop a fully-realized console experience. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Almost SEGA Good! A 1UP Classic...

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Pardon the lateness of this entry (I usually have something posted before lunch). This time around I wanted to write a little bit about my hometown, the fine city of Long Beach California. There are plenty of places to write about, but I think fans of videogames might like to learn a little bit more about downtown and a stretch of road called Shoreline Drive.

Back in the day Namco/Atari released Pole Position. One of the most famous CART-Champ Car tracks was titled Seaside. A not so subtle lift from the real track featured in the Long Beach Grand Prix.


There are many beautiful tracks all over the world, from Monaco to Mexico, Brazil to Japan. But of all the tracks ever put in a game, or raced in the real world, I'd dare say that Seaside Drive is almost SEGA good!

Almost SEGA good? What the heck does that mean?

SEGA arcade racers have always featured some of the most jaw-dropping visuals in any racing games. Even non race fans like my brothers were wowed by the creativity that went into the track designs in games like Daytona USA and Scud Race (SEGA GT).

Even if the track was an oval for example, the designers at SEGA AM2 wanted it to be memorable. In Daytona 2 the oval track was built indoors, with a nature preserve on the inside track and large sails blocking out the sun high overhead. A building like that would dwarf every other sport stadium. It would only work in a virtual world and I was grateful that SEGA always went that extra step making tracks memorable.

Scud Race had players drifting exotic supercars through tight city streets, Indiana-Jones style temples, under the ocean and through an airport! The best track in my opinion was the Medium Difficulty track on Daytona 2. Not only was the race course challenging but it was built, supposedly, in and around an amusment park. The finish line was directly underneath a dragon boat, part of the track went through a haunted mansion, another part through a smokey western town, then arctic village then through a suspended bridge that roller coasters twisted around.

The only arcade racer ever to come close was Hydro Thunder.


But I digress. This blog isn't about comparisons, at least not between arcade racers. This is about SEGA and the one race course that I think is almost SEGA good.


The main portion of the Long Beach track goes near downtown on Shoreline Dr. There is a skyline and bridges to go under but many tracks real and virtual also have that. What makes Long Beach so special? Go further down Shorline and you'll go under a special bridge.


Wait a minute is that what I think it is?

We've all seen the ferris wheel in games like SEGA's Virtua Racing and even Sony's Gran Turismo. But is that? No, it couldn't be! A roller-coaster track on a bridge?! A roller-coaster track that Indy-cars get to race under?!


Looks pretty damn sweet, but alas it is just a sculpture that pays tribute to the amusment park that used to be located on Shoreline Dr. The Pike used to be a pretty rocking amusement park back in the day. It featured the Cyclone Racer, at the time the second-largest roller coaster in the USA, and built on a pier! From the late 70's to the 90's the Pike was taken apart and Shoreline Dr. was pretty bleak and empty. In recent years however the city has gone back and begun to restore some of the lost heratige.


Back to the subject at hand. The track at Long Beach! Just because the roller-coaster track isn't real doesn't mean we're out of eye-candy. While still racing on Shoreline Dr. we pass Rainbow Lagoon, a park where the famous Long Beach Jazz Festival happens every summer.


The Lagoon is in the shadow of a hotel and the artist Wyland's current largest mural Planet Ocean.

Pull a hairpin turn on Shoreline and head back the way you came. On the left you'll see the Pacific Ocean and the Queen Mary.


You'll also pass the massive bleachers of Grand Prix spectators. Go right next the the awesome Aquarium of the Pacific and even melt your brakes on the infamous turn 3 before getting back on Shoreline Drive


Even though the roller-coaster track on a bridge isn't real Long Beach still has one of the best race courses in the world! A course that is so awesome it defies tradition and is almost SEGA good! If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!