Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 1...

Hello friends. I hope that you are doing well. I wanted to do a follow up on my love of Sonic Team. Writing about the developers made me realize that I hadn’t played any new Sonic titles in a few years. Part of the reason why was because a lot of the people that made up the core of the original Sonic Team had retired or moved on to different companies. Plus many of the latter 3D Sonic games seemed to be lacking the soul of the titles that I really vibed with. So I stayed clear of them for a long time. Sonic Mania Plus was the title that reignited my passion for the franchise. The original Sonic Mania came out in 2017. It featured a literal who’s-who of the most passionate members of the fan community. Instead of Sonic Team it was developed by Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, Hyperkinetic Studios, PagodaWest Games, Tantalus Media, and published by Sega. It seemed that it took that many people to rekindle the magic from the early ‘90s.

Sonic Mania played like a highlight reel of the greatest moments from the first few Genesis / Mega Drive titles, including Sonic CD. It wasn’t a collection of levels that could be found in an anthology like Sonic Origins (highly recommend!). Instead Sonic Mania had tons of new elements poured in. It was a way for new players to discover exactly why the series was so beloved, and inspire them to check out all the other games in the series. Playing it did more than send me back in time, it updated the experience and pulled it into the modern era. It was instantly embraced by gamers, and critics alike. To remind you about how much I loved the originals I said Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as my #3 favorite game of all-time. An improved Sonic Mania Plus was released in 2018. In it the developers added even more elements, and most important brought Ray the Flying Squirrel, and Mighty the Armadillo back into the spotlight. These rare characters were easily my favorite duo from the franchise. By extension I said Sonic Mania Plus had now replaced Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the list. It turned out that wouldn’t be the only game in recent memory to give Sonic 2 a run for the money.

Sonic Superstars was developed by Arzest, and Sonic Team. It was published by Sega on October 17, 2023. It was reported that the game was a way for Sega to return back to the familiar 2D gameplay while committing the Sonic engine to 3D graphics. That kind of game was more commonly known as a 2.5D title. Several classic titles had sequels in that format for some time. The ones from Capcom including Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Mega Man 11, and DuckTales: Remastered were examples of this. Several of the previous Sonic titles were strictly in 3D, and had mixed reactions from players. The company wanted to move away from sprites in order to make their game appeal to a broader audience. Unfortunately they stopped the plans for a Sonic Mania 2, and instead created Sonic Superstars. It was a shame really. I don’t blame the studio for their decision. Developing on 3D was more cost effective for the publisher. It was just good business, although many of us long-time fans did prefer sprite art in certain genres. With that said the game itself very much looked like, and felt like a classic title.

Sonic Superstars preserved the aesthetic of the early titles in a way that was hard to describe. The environments, architecture, landscape, and level layouts in the early Sonic games weren’t quite comic book, anime, or cartoon, but something in between all three. It’s hard to understand exactly what I’m referring to unless you played through them. The construction of the stages, or zones in Sonic Superstars honored the original Sonic Team art. The 3D environments were not a recreation of classic zones but instead they were new places that complimented everything that came before. I’m talking about islands, deserts, snowy mountains, and hidden temples. I instantly felt at ease running through the environments because they were so well done. There were branching paths, long coaster-like sections, narrow platforms, and tight jumps to navigate. They mirrored the best elements in any of the classic 2D Sonic titles.

The team at Arzest understood the nuances in the graphics, and design of the classic (pre Sonic Adventure) games. Superstars was layered with obvious, but also subtle nods to more than 30 years of Sonic history. There were no throw away details to be found. As a lifelong fan I was able to appreciate the big, and the little things. For example the the look of the menus, and loading screens had familiar geometric shapes, dashes, and jagged angles. The original title, and its sequels would use the bright colors, and shapes in every loading screen. We had seen variations of these elements in other games. These were sometimes synonymous with late ’80s / early ‘90s graphic design. If you knew your history however they were a direct nod to the original series Japanese box art. This was far from the only thing the developers used to make the game look, and feel like a Sonic game.

There were different bonus stages in Superstars that took equal turns in 2D, and 3D mechanics. As with all of the bonus stages throughout the franchise they required patience, and timing to become proficient at. One of which that I never thought would return were the spinning mazes from the original title. Way back in 1991 the idea of a rotating level was thought impossible on the Sega hardware. The Sega Genesis did not have a mode that allowed the hardware to scale or rotate sprites, unlike the Super Nintendo’s fabled Mode 7. The rotating mazes in the first Sonic were a programming masterpiece from Yuji Naka. It wouldn’t be the only time he showed his peers how much performance he could get out of the hardware. The bonus stages in the original Sonic were difficult, but not impossible to navigate. The updated version from Superstars actually featured layers of the spinning maze to navigate through. Plus they added new game play features with branching maze paths, and switchable paths to make them fresh. Revisiting the bonus stages could reward players with gold Sonic tokens which could be used to buy elements for the multiplayer games. More on that in a moment.

Capturing the aesthetic of those early games was only a small part of what Sonic Team, and Arzest were able to achieve. Moving the visuals to 3D allowed the developers add effects that were impossible on older technology. For example they could light the zones in a warm morning glow, or a bright midday sun. They even had some stages set at dusk, lit by moonlight, or with weather elements including clouds, dust, and fog. These details added tons of atmosphere without breaking the classic feel. Moreover the game gave audiences the ability to play through the adventure with different characters. Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles were all playable from the get-go. A new character Trip the Sungazer could be unlocked as well.

The attention to detail that went into the menu design, bonus stages, and world building was doubled on the heroes. The artists at the studio managed to create some of the best 3D models I had ever seen in the classic style. They also layered them with personality through their various animation cycles. Little things like the way the characters looked up, and down, when they balanced on the edge of a platform, and even how they changed their stance during an idle were are pulled from their earliest appearances. Moreover they added new details, for example when pushing a heavy object we could see the mascots struggling. They made facial expressions, and their legs trembled as they pushed a heavy weight. These were negligible to casual audiences, but instantly noticed by the veteran players. What I greatly appreciated in the animation was how the entire story was told through pantomime. There was no dialogue, no exposition, not explaining what was happening. The characters traveled through an adventure without any recorded audio. Dr. Eggman was especially memorable as he mocked the heroes. He would open his mouth wide as he laughed at them from the comfort of his Egg Mobile, then quickly panic with flop sweat as his plans fell apart.

A great portion of the design work, and animation stylings featured in Superstars were coming from the talented hands of Tyson Hesse. The creator was a master cartoonist, and storyteller. As a fan he had the insight as to what made Sonic a beloved character to the community. He helped Sega make the Sonic universe relevant to a new generation through his art, and direction. When the “Ugly Sonic” movie trailer was released the fan backlash was immediate. Thankfully Sega and Paramount realized their mistake and consulted with Tyson to help redesign the characters for the movie, and it’s sequels. In addition to that he directed several animated shorts, including Sonic Mania Adventures. The series of cartoons told an entire story featuring the cast of Sonic Mania Plus, but did so without any dialogue. It demonstrated that storytelling through pantomime could be universally understood. It was expanded upon in the Sonic Superstars follow up. The animated short Trio of Trouble explained what Dr. Eggman was up to, and how he had recruited the services of Fang the Hunter, and Trip the Sungazer. Directors Evan Stanley and Tyson Hesse again manage to do all this without any dialogue.

For the fans that wanted to dive even deeper into this world IDW Publishing released the Fang the Hunter series. It was the precursor to the Trio of Trouble, and everything that happened in Superstars. The animation, comic, and game were beautifully made. There was much more that I wanted to highlight in Superstars. I'll dig deeper in the next entry to this series. Did you get a chance to play this game? If so what were your thoughts. I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. 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!

A crazy good time! Sega’s Crazy Taxi - A 1UP classic from May 4, 2009

The final games featured for this series aren't the most popular driving games ever. They don't represent the pinnacle of graphical achievement either. However they are three driving games that represented the arcade experience very well. They created easy to play yet difficult to master experience. Best of all they were able to immerse the player into the experience very quickly. Allowing you to get a slice of a world, very similar to ours only slightly cooler and more fantastic. We'll begin with the most famous of the lot.

Sega's Crazy Taxi, released in 1999 was the freshest thing in the driving genre. The format had become cluttered, every driver looked and played the same for a while. Sega made a driving adventure unlike anything they had tried before. Most publishers would want to capitalize on their racing experience and just release another title in that format. Thankfully Hitmaker (AM3) didn't go down that road and instead placed gamers in a world where driving as recklessly as possible was greatly rewarded.

Players were placed in the role of a cabbie, trying to earn as much money as possible within a set time limit. Time bonuses could be earned by how quickly a person reached their destination and also for how many stunts the driver pulled off. Doing power slides and huge jumps were the best money boosters. Avoiding collisions and using shortcuts were the best for gaining time. The best players learned to balance everything while careening into oncoming traffic and looking for a destination. The game was a blast to play. I can remember putting plenty of quarters in the machine during a time when great arcade games were few and far between. It made a perfect transition on the Dreamcast console, along with plenty of mini games to keep me going.

The people at Sega poured every arcade nuance they had learned over the years into Crazy Taxi. The cabbies and their taxis all had personality, like grown up versions of characters from Top Skater or Jet Set Radio. They accepted a day job yet never lost their own personal flair. The cars were sleek low riders or bulky pre-war iron. The cities they raced in were as imaginative as the towns featured in Daytona and Super GT. Only now we could take the time to enjoy peeling around the streets, cutting through parks and alleys in a wide-open world rather than be forced to only catch a glimpse of the city from the rear view mirror. All of the drifting hijinks from the earlier Sega racers returned here, all of the responsive steering and indestructible transmissions were in full effect.

The music helped frame the experience, again, not unlike what Pennywise had done for Top Skater, So. Cal. punk favorites the Offspring provided all of the songs in the original Crazy Taxi. All I Want becoming the de facto anthem.

Latter Crazy Taxi games went through the motions but didn't recreate the charm of the original title. For what it was worth Crazy Taxi might be considered Sega's best driving series if not for all those other damn fine games Yu Suzuki had put out.

Did you ever play any game in the Crazy Taxi series? Did you have a favorite cabbie? Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

Feel the Rush! Atari's San Francisco Rush! - A 1UP classic from April 29, 2009

In the late 90's the US arcade scene was tapering off. San Francisco Rush by Atari was created as a rival to anything Sega had and especially to counter the popular Cruis'n USA series by Midway. The 1996 title showed that Atari was behind the curve. However even their worst Rush showing was better than the best Cruis'n game.

Atari did an accurate representation of San Francisco to race around in. The hilly city was a good setting for an arcade racer. All Atari had to do was polish out some corners and lengthen a few streets to make it perfect. They developed a series of tracks around the city, exploiting obvious as well as hidden shortcuts with their model. They also introduced a series of cars which handled differently and had their own strengths and weaknesses. The Volkswagen-inspired cars said a lot about the still lingering hippy vibe from San Francisco. Rarely did the cars mesh so well with the theme of the game. Rush was a blast to play as cars made fantastic jumps at top speed clearing entire blocks in one go. Not many racing games ever featured cars that could leave the ground. With a few rare exceptions none of the Sega racers featured any jumps, let alone those on the scale of Rush. Expert players could "thread the needle" through a series of jumps and shortcuts that would frighten even the most seasoned racing veterans. Those that took a jump just a little bit off would end up crashing miserably and lose their spot in the race. As imaginative and arcade-like as the game was it felt like it was lacking something.

I believe the graphics were the biggest detractor to the Rush series. The tracks and cars seemed very simplistic, details were sparse and the city of San Francisco felt lifeless. AM2 was memorable for their racing games but the sum of their parts were more than great cars and tracks. None of the Rush games carried the same level of atmosphere that Sega had poured into their games. Filters to convey motion, realistic lighting effects, models made up of millions of polygons, landscape and textures which were weren't flat and generic. Atari touted the latest 3DFX technology but it wasn't enough to make Rush appear more than a very pretty computer game in the arcade. However this was also a sign of the times.

Only Japan seemingly had enough of an arcade market to keep on developing dedicated cabinets and hardware for every title. In the US corners had to be cut which meant that the tech that went into arcade titles was very scaled back and based on systems not much nicer than the PC's available in homes. All of the atmosphere and technology from the Sega games couldn't be reproduced with such limited resources. This did not stop the Rush series from taking a foothold and keeping Atari going. The 1997 follow-up Rush the Rock Alcatraz edition did well as did the last in the series, 1999's San Francisco Rush 2049. All of these games eventually found their way to the consoles where a generation that didn't have an arcade scene could see what they were missing out on. There were some arcade titles that never made the transition to the home, not because the technology wasn't there but because of the interesting ways the game was presented. On the next blog we'll look at one of the more obscure and odd titles in the driving genre.

Did you ever play the Rush games? Did you have a favorite late '90s arcade racer? Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

Rad Mobile vs Race Drivin', Japanese design vs American hardware - A 1UP classic from April 28, 2009

A few years after Power Drift Sega released another scaling sprites-as-3D racer called Rad Mobile. It was called Gale Racer to my friends overseas. The 1991 title was a coast-to-coast race set in-cockpit. At the core it was AM2's updated take on OutRun. Entire states could be cleared in seconds, there were hidden paths, multiple endings and cops to avoid! The graphics were very nice for the time but the details were what sold this game.

The arcade cabinet was an updated version of the Power Drift deluxe one. It rode on hydraulics to immerse the player further into the experience of racing. Hanging from the rearview mirror was a Sonic the Hedgehog. It was his first arcade cameo, a nod from Yu Suzuki to Yuji Naka for making Sega's console a real contender. The steering wheel provided force-feedback and on the dashboard were buttons to start the engine, turn on the headlights and windshield wipers. All of these things were used as the game progressed. It was nice seeing weather and time elements happen on the course. To help move the day and night along faster Yu logically had the race start on the west coast and had the cars run east. The tracks were all fantastic, some freeways suspended miles over the city or cutting a path through a valley. The most memorable level in any arcade racer is easily the Springfield portion of Rad Mobile.

It was the 12th stage in the game. Off to the side of the road was an open gate. The open track was welcoming as the rest of the racers had to contend with oncoming traffic. There was a rainstorm happening so they had to turn on their windshield wipers. It was right about then that racers realized they were on train tracks. Suddenly the cabinet would blair out a train horn and the player could see a locomotive bearing down on them in the rearview mirror. The fence on the side of the road would open up for a section of the track so the player could choose to jump into the streets and contend with oncoming traffic or take their chances and stay on the tracks. Of course most arcade gamers would stay on the tracks and take their chances with the train. It was a white-knuckle ride that has yet to be reproduced in any arcade racer. Best of all if you were a good enough driver you could beat the game on one credit, a rarity for most racing games.

The supercar that powered through this race was allegedly the Porsche 959 racing car. However most of my friends agreed that it looked a lot more like the Mclaren F1, although that supercar wouldn't debut until a year after Rad Mobile. Was this a case of design following culture or an odd coincidence?

A year before Rad Mobile the US was giving the arcade crowd an equally fantastic racer. 1990's Race Drivin' was the sequel to the groundbreaking polygon racer Hard Drivin'. Billed as the world's first authentic driving simulation game. It was a bit ugly and slow in the graphics department but more than made up for it with advances in the technology. Atari had closed the legacy on their arcade racing scene by leaving the free-wheeling Sprint games behind. They knew players wanted realism especially now that Badlands had shown that the Sprint formula was dead. Race Drivin' was as close as players would get to the feel and physics of driving without actually taking the family car out for a spin.

The Hard Drivin' and Race Drivin' cabinets were memorable for their attention to detail. These cabinets and controls were nothing at all like the freewheeling steering from the Sprint games. The steering wheels had rock-solid force feedback. Actually fighting the players for control if they were careening off course! The game also featured accurate gas, brake and even clutch pedals along with a five-speed shifter. On top of everything was a metal key that was built into the cabinet that players had to turn in order to start their cars. This game was the antithesis of every arcade racer ever. It rivaled the logic of Japanese design and trumped the details from any other western developer. However the tracks were anything but daily driving courses. They were designed to test your driving skill and patience. The game was very unforgiving. You would be penalized for driving off the course and every little bump seemed to cause your car to blow up. Every jump and landing had to be perfect or you'd be shelling out another quarter. The stunt and latter super-stunt tracks were the reasons why people really played the games. What good was realistic physics and force feedback steering if you weren't willing to drive the car like a mad stuntman? The wild jump and loop from the first title were blown out in the sequel. Players had to contend with a loop with the top portion cut out as well as a corkscrew loop as well. It was an amazing experience for a racing game.

Between Rad Mobile and Race Driving players could see how differently each country approached the racer. Sega would learn from Atari (then owned by Namco) and top Race Drivin'. They combined the US polygons with the memorable Japanese track designs and gave us Virtua Racing. Later on they would also give us Daytona. Atari would eventually catch up to the trends and release a series that many here hold in very high regards. Come back tomorrow to revisit Atari's last great arcade racing hurrah.

Do you enjoy realistic, or arcade style racing games? Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

Power Drift and Mario Kart, racing becomes fun - A 1UP classic from April 27, 2009

Power Drift by Sega was an attempt by AM2 to make realistic 3D tracks out of 1988's 2D technology. Yu Suzuki and company used a series of scaling sprites, one right after the other to achieve the desired effect. They did something similar with the helicopter game Thunder Blade. It was odd and cumbersome, with lots of clipping problems given the high speed circuits of Power Drift. However the game play was something new and fresh.

For the first time arcade goers were treated to 3D tracks which dipped and banked. Arcade gamers had seen some similar tracks but never to the extremes that Power Drift delivered them. Courses were compact and the changing elevations were extreme. The tracks here have been rightfully compared to roller coaster tracks. The deluxe version of the arcade cabinet was a very memorable. It was on hydraulics so it would pitch the players up and down, left and right to further immerse them into the experience.

The best part of this game was in the diversity of racers. Each had their own car and personality. Yelling at rivals or taunting opponents on the multiple courses. The cars themselves were very unique. No two looked alike and they were all highly-stylized and low to the ground so we could clearly make out the virtual driver. In order to race on the tracks the team at AM2 invented an ultra-compact, short car, more like a super-powered go kart for the game. These karts were loads of fun. They turned out were the perfect format to bring the arcade experience home.

In 1992 Super Mario Kart gave the masses the first taste of kart racing. A kart is the closest thing a person could get to a bare-bones racing experience. Many professional Formula-1 racers get discovered via kart racing because the focus is more on skill than horsepower. With the addition of the popular characters from the Mario series, each with their own strengths and weaknesses and Nintendo would be swimming in success (and money!).

Nintendo did the genre one better and incorporated weapons and power ups to the experience. Damnable shells that would knock you out of contention on the final lap or power ups that would boost you past the finish line a hair in front of the computer. There was no real "random" quality to the power ups but we saw past that and enjoyed the experience. The multiplayer modes were fantastic and have always been among the best party titles ever. There have been many updates to the Kart series but for most on 1UP the SNES version was the gateway experience. Fantastic tracks, different vehicle classes and an absurdly demanding race AI kept players on their toes. When combined with the frenetic combat element then the races became much more memorable than just about every arcade racer ever. Mario Kart even accomplished this on a flat track, the technology to create Power Drift-style 3D tracks was still a ways off for consoles.

As memorable as the kart games were they were sadly few and far between. The last notable kart series with cartoonish graphics was the decent Street Racer series which saw a release on the SNES which many likened to Mario Kart, as well as on the Genesis / Mega Drive and a polygon version on the original Playstation. The combat kart racing would continue via the Nintendo series, but to many this type of game was too chaotic. They preferred something a little more sensible and realistic. In the arcades they wouldn't find it. Next time we'll look at two racing titles, one from Japan and one from the USA, that redefined what reality meant to the arcade crowd.

Are you a fan of Kart racing games? Did you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

The racing fan that started a revolution - A 1UP classic from February 22, 2013

Sega has been featured many times on this blog for the various racing games they created. The company actually got into the arcade market before the video screens were integrated into the cabinets. In the early days of the arcade the electronic machines had mechanized components and moving parts, these were known as electro mechanical games. One of their first arcade racing hits was Moto Champ. The title from 1973 featured scale motorcycles on an illuminated track. The opponents moved via magnets under the game screen while the player controlled their own bike via a wire frame attached to some handlebars.

The mechanical games gave way to full video screens not long after. Developers that did not change with the times were forced to shut down. Sega would quickly change from mechanical to digital entertainment. Their first breakout racing game was Monaco Grand Prix in 1980. The game was set with a top down perspective, similar to what Atari had done in their Sprint racing games. It was memorable for the use of color as well as day and night transitions. Racers could only see the portion of the track illuminated by the car headlights, making for some very harrowing action. The game was difficult but rewarding. A year later they created a game that was featured in the film Wreck-it-Ralph. Sega Turbo from 1981 did not actually feature a racer named Turbo, nor did it involve any plot but it did set the template that would make the company famous. The game used a behind the racer POV and followed players through road courses, rewarding them with points as players passed opponents. The game was one of the first to use scaling sprites to create the effect that players were racing bast buildings and countrysides. A few years later Sega used that same technique on more powerful hardware. They created a new legacy with the 1986 game OutRun.

The brains behind the game was Yu Suzuki, the head of Sega's R&D unit AM2. His studio would develop an amazing streak of hits. The games could be seen as a celebration of his love of cars, especially the Ferrari. Suzuki, like so many other Japanese men grew up idolizing the racing cars from the West. They were celebrated on film and television, car enthusiast magazines sprung up and gave a nation cause to debate and discuss the ultimate driving machines. The auto industry in Japan had to increase their pace to help the nation recover from World War II. In order to do that the manufacturers had to try and replicate the things that made the Western companies successful and then improve upon them. They looked at the daily drivers from Europe and the USA and found ways to make small, economical cars for young families. They studied British and German sports cars and began developing contemporary models all their own. Both the family sedan and sports cars would be made more appealing if they could be made domestically and cost less than an import. To help raise their profile the large manufacturers began investing in racing R&D. Toyota formally entered professional motor sports in 1957 but it was Datsun (later renamed Nissan) that got the ball rolling in 1936. Other companies, including Mazda got noticed by building light but powerful engines. The companies began to change the local and international perception of Japanese made autos.

Mr. Suzuki's formative years were during the transition of Japan's auto industry from domestic to international powerhouse. He was around to read about the most innovative racers from Italy, Germany and Britain as they visited the Suzuka Racetrack during the Formula-1 season. He was able to see how well Japan was at recreating the sports cars and duplicating the success of the legendary designs and designers. Take Todd Green's racing Datsun for example. His VQ 35 Datsun roadster was originally created by the Japanese to be a less expensive answer to the Porsche racers. Mr. Green pushed the capabilities of the car and even design to challenge the legendary British AC Cobra.

The Cobra was considered one of the ultimate sport cars. Texan Carroll Shelby (RIP) shoehorned a Ford racing engine into the light frame. The power-to-weight ratio that Shelby had unlocked in the Cobra and later Ford GT-40 went on to capture numerous racing victories and set plenty of speed records. The renamed Shelby Cobra was the envy of car fans around the world. Its styling and bold curves were copied numerous times. The Japanese did not have the Hot Rod revolution that changed car culture in US through the 50's and 60's, they however earn their own driving legacy. The Datsun VQ 35 was joined by the more famous Fairlady Z as cars that would shape post-war Japanese youths and turn them into car fans. Mr. Suzuki and the young designers at Sega were not immune to what car culture was doing to the nation. When Suzuki started he almost instantly began developing a legacy of racing games. OutRun was his most famous contribution but his team never stopped pushing the genre. A spiritual successor to OutRun appeared in 1993. Outrunners was actually developed by sister team AM1 and not by Suzuki. It featured a whole new slew of cars in addition to the trademark Ferrari Testarosa from the original game. The Bad Boy was added to give the Italian car a run for its money. Those that knew of Shelby recognized the inspiration behind the car. The blonde driver wearing a cowboy hat was a clever nod to the Texan.

AM2 did not always focus on realistic racing games, one of their most memorable entries, Power Drift was based on the silliness of go-cart racing. Another, Rad Mobile, demonstrated that storytelling elements could be incorporated through the race itself. The game had players driving in the dark and through the rain in a first person perspective, they actually had to turn on the windshield wipers and lights in order to see the track! The publisher had evolved quickly from the old electro mechanical cabinets they used to make. In fact they began pushing the technology for digital developers. They were among the first to move games away from 2D sprite based graphics to 3D polygons. You can learn how Sega Rally and Virtua Racing changed the genre on my older blogs. The studio had a unique take on the great American pastime of stock car racing with Daytona USA. By the time Super GT was released it could be considered the peak of Yu Suzuki's legacy.

Yu had created a template that defined the arcade racer. The cars were always bright and colorful, they seemed to glide over the road and could be nuanced by drivers into impossibly fast power slides. The control for the majority of the Suzuki-produced racers was nuanced. It was the result of years and years of refinement to bridge the gap from realistic driving to stunt racing. Those that had played through the majority of the games knew that they could be difficult but rewarding as well. The road rockets raced on tracks that would be the envy of the Disney Imagineers. Nothing would have killed a Suzuki racer more than strict realism, his games were gorgeous spectacles. In fact if more tracks in the real world looked liked the ones featured in the Sega racers then there certainly would be no shortage of supporters. The level design of each track had more in common with theme park design and urban planning than driver safety. In some levels towering spires of crystal and steel were the eye-candy off in the distance while roller coasters wound around the track itself. As former 1UP boss guy John Davidson said the races in the Sega games took place on the most utopian day ever. The cities that hosted the races were more breathtaking than any real world city and set a standard that would be hard to top.

The goal of one recent Kickstarter campaign has been to recreate the feel of the Suzuki-produced gems for modern PC gamers. I think that the '90s Arcade Racer did the job well.

The Japanese contributions to the auto industry could not be disputed. From the daily driver to the record breaking racer there was nothing that the nation did not help improve upon. The people had also built a unique car culture over the past century. They embraced foreign cars, sub cultures and icons with sincerity while adding their own unique spin to everything. Manga and animé titles celebrated vehicles and shaped the entertainment industry. Video games did more than their fair share to help popularize driving. Sega went from pioneering electro mechanical games to actual video racing games. Unfortunately not everything that the Japanese did was embraced by the global, or even local community. Even the best laid plans could not save some ambitious games. The next blog will look at one of the most unique racing games ever produced.

Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

The Best There Ever Was, Part 3 - A 1UP classic from March 16, 2005

More like Wild Bill than Billy the Kid.

Billy Harris is "the one." Billy Harris is the final legend among Legends. Billy Harris is the greatest playground legend ever. Some would go so far as to say that he was the greatest basketball player, period.

"They used to have jump ball. Muthafucka throw that shit up, I jumped up and grabbed that bitch and shoot it in. They stopped the fucking game! They don't know what the fuck to do! Is this shit legal or what? Y'all figure this shit out. When y'all get it figured out I'll finish whopping y'all ass."
- Billy Harris in Nike Battlegrounds.

The best basketball journalist of our time, Scoop Jackson, did the homework so I didn't have to. Scoop separates fact from fiction in SLAM #30 with the help of Bhatie Demus, Courtney Goldwire and Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lacy Banks. Billy's life is so extraordinary that is really does tell that many writers working for the common goal. Breaking down Billy's life, understanding what happened and separating fact from fiction proved to be a hard undertaking.

I've added some text from the SLAM article as well as dialogue from the Battlegrounds DVD in which Billy shares some of his stories. The text is uncensored. Billy and Fly Williams were snuck in the early part of the DVD, introduced by the poet SEKOU (THA MISFIT), yeah I've never heard of him either and I'm sure Nike threw him in there to try and be hip and "urbane." That whole DVD would have worked better without the cages, hype, narrator and circus atmosphere, but I digress. This is the story of Billy Harris, not a two-minutes and bleeped-out like it was on the DVD, you have been warned...

Billy has seen every possible aspect of the playground to pro back to playground life that any legend has ever had. Scoop illustrated that wonderfully in SLAM. The life of Billy Harris was not an easy one. Billy had the most potential and carried more of the ghetto on his shoulders than any other playground legend mentioned in this article. Every game he played was a battle for more than himself. It was a battle for the hood; it was the one thing that kept his community going. Billy had become bigger than a legend. He was a god.

Accomplishments mean nothing compared to the life Billy had. This life included drugs, women, cash for favors, pimping and dependency. However Billy would redirect our attention to the game, he would say, "Check the books" and they would prove that he was right. Billy had nothing to hide. His ability to play the game so incredible that it scared coaches and opponents alike. He was too much for one team, too much for one city to contain. Billy was drafted and then cut by the Chicago Bulls. Although he was the best draftee on the team (and apparent that he was the best player period) he was still cut.

"The fact that Billy didn't make it had nothing to do with talent. Politics and many other aspects made it impossible for him to make it. If they had a three-pointer when he was playing, he'd average 60 or 70 points. Easy. Because most of his points came right as he came across half-court. He had character, but was outspoken. Like Muhammad Ali said, 'It's not bragging if you can back it up.' Billy always did. Honestly, I don't think the league was ready for him."- Sonny Parker, NBA and playground legend as told to Scoop Jackson.

Billy could foretell his fate and knew that he was not cut out for professional basketball. His game proved to be too much for a league not ready for change. It was enough that the ABA was radical enough for the NBA to incorporate. Billy's all-around ability would have pushed the league into the 22nd century.

 
Sadly very few people realize or acknowledge the sacrifices that Billy, and many legends like Fly Williams and Earl Manigault made in order to bring the playground game up to the prominence it is now. A lot of cats today assume that the street game has always been big and that the money that is out now has always been around. Get it straight. It was people like Billy that brought the game up and more people should praise the names that came before like Chicago University coach, Marquette University and NBA star Bo Ellis, "If I leave here without saying what I have to say, I will feel awfully bad. I want to say thank you to this man sitting on my right, Billy Harris. Bill Harris is by far the best basketball player I've ever been associated with. I don't consider this man a playground legend, though. Because when we were coming up, playground legends were young men that didn't really go to high school, didn't graduate, didn't go to college. This man has a degree. He played in the ABA. He worked downtown in suits. So I don't consider him a playground legend, because he's accomplished things. But I do consider him one of the coldest players I've ever seen coming out of Chicago-on the court and mentally. Because without his direction and guidance, [a lot of things] would have been non-existent to me. The reason I've had a lot of success in my life is because of people like Billy Harris." (Jackson 114)

I will begin to put down the numbers. Each statistic gets more unbelievable than the previous. These are not myths or fables, there is proof for all of the claims and the four journalists that brought Billy's story to SLAM will testify that this is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Billy was an amazing scorer, averaging no less than 30 points per game in high school in college. He never played a team game for less than 30 points, period. His shooting was deadly accurate, somewhere in the 65-70% range from anywhere on the court. However Billy was more than a shooter. He could drive, he could dish and he could dunk. He could defend the basket and more than any other legend he could read his opponents. Billy's athleticism matched every mental aspect of his game and vice versa. Billy understood how to score and how to utterly destroy his opponents.

"You know it's a curse. People think it's a good thing to be able to read other people, being able to smell bullshit. But it's not. Because what happens when you sense that bullshit inside your family? When it's right next to you every day? What do you do then? (Jackson 110).

This is all hyperbole without telling you who gave Billy Harris competition. In the mid 60's every playground, college and high school legend in Chicago and the surrounding cities was gunning for Billy.

This is not myth but fact: Billy never lost a game of 1-on-1 in his life. For the 14 years he was in his prime. From the age of 16 to 30 he never lost a game of 1-on-1. Period. At his peak Billy would handicap himself. He would play a game to 24 and give his opponents 22 points. "West side" rules so possessions would alternate after every basket. If they made one basket from the three-point line then the game was over... Billy never lost. Billy would even give opponents a half point if they could touch the backboard with their shot. Hit the backboard four times and the opponent would win? Even with those odds Billy never lost.

"Nobody knows these stories. Nobody. You wanna know why? Cause I ain't told them."
- Billy in Nike Battlegrounds.

Scoop tested Billy, asking him if he would give Dr. J, Jordan, Magic and Bird those same odds. Defiantly Billy answered, "I'd give them 22 and the game's 24. They would never beat me? Ain't no motherfucka alive, walking around, that can say that they beat Billy Harris one-one-one. You can put it on the radio, TV, whatever. Ain't nobody ever going to step up and say that they beat me. They are not going to win. You don't understand-I played against n*ggas that would rather kill you than let you beat them. And I figured out a way to destroy those n*ggas."

In team games no one ever put any number of points on Billy. Billy says it with conviction. He never played a bad game in his life. Each and every game he played was nothing but his best. "I played basketball like it meant life or death. Pressure? Where the fuck does pressure come from? The pressure is on me. I'm playing against me! I'm searching for the perfect game. That's what I did." (Jackson 112)

It sounds too good to be true. A player this good could never have existed. Scoop went searching for proof of the claims. Billy's friends, coaches and family all backed up the stories. More incredible were the enemies that also supported Billy's claims. People that hated Billy could not bring themselves to lie against his game.

 
Still Scoop went on a hunt for just one bad game, the missed shot for all the money, the crack in the armor. Ed Curry, fellow Chicago playground tournament champion and spokesperson told Scoop, "You won't find it. That son of a bitch never had a bad game, and he didn't lose. I can say that I've seen every great ballplayer that's ever played in this city-played against most of them-and there was no one like Billy. There's no one in the pros today like Billy. He was one of a kind, and he didn't care. He didn't care about the other four players that played with him, and he didn't care about the five guys that used to try to guard him. People think Michael Jordan is one of a kind? No. Billy Harris was one of a kind." (Jackson 110)

Every playground legend is grounded in reality. Up until now every playground legend had a rival, a peer. The playground legend was never perfect. There was always that one bad game, the shot missed with money on the line. This made every legend real. Scoop could not find it in the case of Billy Harris. The further Scoop dug, the more witnesses and record books would back up the claim.

"I go play now and I get a little tired now, but I'm real slick, ya dig? Play a little bit. Chill. Fuck you up a little bit. Chill. You understand what I'm saying? Because I know how to orchestrate this. My shit's that tight." Billy in Nike Battlegrounds.

I am not going to talk about why or how Billy was blacklisted from professional basketball. Lacy Banks, a reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times lost his job (and went to court to get it back) for writing an article about Billy and posting the conspiracy subject that contradicted the Chicago Bulls reasons were for cutting Billy after drafting him in 1973. Scoop writes that the conspiracy was to keep him out of the NBA because Billy would not conform.

 
"What these people don't understand is the very things that if they do now they can sign a 80-million dollar deal. That's bullshit! They got n*ggas crossed out. I'm the n*gga that took that shit to Division 1 and made it work! You understand me? All this shit, crossover, behind the back when I'm going on a muthafucka, one hand jumper coming with the spinnin' fuck. [gestures as if he's doing basketball tricks] All of that. I did all that shit dude? I pick up a paper, here's a bunch of muthafuckas talking about they're street legends. Man, fuck you, you ain't shit, and if somebody believes that shit, so be it."
- Billy in Nike Battlegrounds.

30-years later a new generation of streetball players and "legends" (some with only a few years experience) get shine on TV, shoe contracts, national tours and earn street cred for the NBA all because some fat rappers, businessmen and promoters can cash in on the talent. That is phony. Billy Harris is real.

Billy deserves respect for everything he has ever done for the game. Billy deserves recognition as the greatest playground legend ever. Just because there aren't mix tapes featuring people like Fly and Billy doesn't mean they weren't real or their games weren't as good if not far better than the best we have today. In the NBA they said that nobody would ever be able to create better highlights than Bob Cousy backindadaze. Eventually Pistol Pete came around... Years later the legacy of greats came and evolved the game, Dr. J, David Thompson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and (injuries notwithstanding) LeBron James. Many, many more have come and gone in the playground. But it doesn't matter much. NBA or playground Billy would have balled them all up. Believe it.

Addendum: Months after writing this series Lang Whitaker wrote of another ballplayer named Jesse Dunn in the second issue of Streetball by SLAM magazine. If reports are to be believed (Lang has never lied before) then we may have discovered the Angel to Billy's Devil. But that story is for another day...

Were there any street legends that you heard of in any discipline that were better than the pros? Let me know in the comments section please. 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!

The Best There Ever Was, Part 2 - A 1UP classic from March 15, 2005

Skip to My Lou, a Professor and a Bone Collector.

Rafer "Skip to My Lou" needs no introduction. He was 12, barely 13 when he began competing at the Rucker. He was the first real street phenom in a long time. With skills so blessed it would only be a matter of time before the tapes his coach and family recorded found their way to the offices of upstart company AND 1. The rest as they say is history.

Skip did it all, playground, high school, college, pro... There are so many self-proclaimed legends that don't have a fraction of the experience and reputation that Skip has (remember that when I mention a certain Bone Collector a little later). Below are some of his many thoughts taken from the first Season of ESPN Streetball:
"Volume one was just a guy just trying to show who he belongs out there playing with the bigger guys, and before you know it everybody's anticipating every game I had to play.
When I walk on court on the playground, they view me as the best one out there. If I'm going into and NBA arena I'm just an ordinary player. I'm just another guy in an NBA uniform.

Bone Collector said that the only person he really wants to play against is Skip. He wants to throw between my legs; I'm going to let him throw between my legs so he can get his ooh and ahh. Cause after that I don't see nothing else spectacular he's going to do.
Reporter: How about he try and stop you?
Skip: Impossible. [Laughs]

Streetball, everyone is still sold on this one-on-one ability. Headache, Main, they have a lot of ability, these guys can play ball. I play those guys over here. They think it's simple. They don't understand how hard it is to be the last man on the bench in the NBA.
In fact everybody's trying to get it, everyone wants it, most people come out their try to take it from somebody that already has it. You know, people tend to come out there, thinking you're supposed to automatically give them respect just because they're out there playing with you. But they're not, they have to earn it.

As I'm getting older, you know, sooner or later you're going to have to walk away from the playground game and just, you know, let it go. When do you walk away? I found myself taking a back seat most every summer now just to let those guys get more shine. Because I'm being seen during the winter and I'm being seen during the summer. So I'd rather let them shine as much as they could during the summer because that's their thing.

On the other hand I watch these guys every summer and I don't think they grasp what's going on. You know. You think it's all about them. They're supposed to be there. AND 1 is supposed to do this. They're supposed to take 'em in you know. And I'm trying to tell them that there's guys out there better than them. Every last one of us on that AND 1 Mix Tape Tour. There's a guy that's better than Skip to My Lou, there's a guy better than Hot Sauce, there's a guy better than Dribblin' Shane and Sik Wit It and AO. Every open run that I've been to and every place that I've gone. I've seen guys better than us. AND 1 can take those guys, come up with a new game. And that's what I'm trying to tell them that. You know, enjoy this moment. Enjoy this time. And enjoy what AND 1 is doing for us and what we're doing for AND 1.

These guys never asked me about the proper way they should take. They never asked me the things they should do. The more they just let those questions stay in the air, I can't really help them with that, you know. They think it's simple, they think I got there, just someone placing a call. What they do is look at me and just say 'you made it through streetball, why can't we?'

 
Playground legend is a person that holds his own summer after summer after summer. And he's consistently just destroying everybody that they put in front of him. A streetball player, he's more of a guy that has a lot more flair, a lot more tricks. You know, he's like a person that's going to put on a show all by himself.

Reporter: Which one is going to the NBA?

Skip: None of them made it. None of them made it."

For everything Skip's done for the game and AND 1 he was rewarded with his very own signature shoe during the 2002 And 1 Mix Tape Tour. It was the first signature shoe for a playground legend and a testament for all his hard work and years of sacrifice. However some of that shine would disappear two years later. In 2004 AND 1 would release a special color-way version of the Ballistix Mid for the Professor.

The Professor played exactly one summer with the AND 1 crew, won the sponsorship contest and was added to the team. Now he has his very own signature shoe! Note that none of the other mix tape players (that have been touring around the country for years and years) have had a signature shoe. It was almost as if all the hard work that Skip and the other players had endured for years and years adds up to one lucky [white] boy named the Professor. A kid that never made any type of college or high school name for himself was now some sort of playground hero? What is the world coming to?

As long as I'm riding this wave of controversy it's time to do some comparisons between Skip and the Bone Collector. Those that think I'm hating need to relax. I'll admit that BC is a talented player, great handle and court presence and a very clever entertainer on the playground. But real, solid, all-around basketball skills? That still hasn't been established.

 
Larry "Bone Collector" Williams was born in Texas but raised in part in Pasadena California. He says that his life growing up was very hard. He had a lot of obstacles to overcome, what exactly he had to face growing up is unknown.

His rise in the playground circuit has been very quick. Seemingly overnight. BC started playing high school basketball as a freshman in Pasadena but stopped because he and his father determined that the coaches were going to hurt his chance to get college attention.

He did play some with Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Then moved to the Globe Institute of Technology in Lower Manhattan. His grades being his biggest weakness in college. Big schools like Providence and Florida A&M have shown interest in him, however his grades still needed improvement before they could offer him a scholarship.

On the court he was okay for Globe, averaging 9.5 points and 2.5 assists per game. Not quite the stellar numbers that you would expect for a "legend?" His then coach didn't have much praise for him, calling him the "Turnover Collector" for the number of times BC would lose the ball in games.

Eventually BC got a better hold on that handle and became an overnight sensation at the Rucker and EBC tournaments, winning the 2002 MVP in the process. His ego seemingly grew as quickly as his name, often times saying things like "I'd like to think that right now I'm the best player in this whole league." The whole league including NBA, college, high school, streetball and even playground legends.

 
His self-glorification doesn't end there. "I'm the 50 of this shit right now, plus Eminem and Hova. All on the same label."

 
BC on AO from mix tape fame: "All I got to tell this dude is that you are a pussy. I played you in Philly. AO is from Philly and he quit. First half. Nigga had three fouls, got mad at the ref and threw the ball at him. I was averaging 40 out there. He knows, ask AO how much I had. That is the only reason he knows me."

Now BC has announced that he is ready to go pro. He hired the SBA sports management group to help him prepare and they are taking him on a European trip with the SBA All-Stars and helping him get to play in the USBL so he can have scouts judge his game and rank him for the draft.

 
In a world where then 16-year-old man-child LeBron James was already anointed as the "Chosen One" before his high school junior prom, it should make you wonder how far BC will go in the league. At 24-years-old BC could have been aided in his development if he had gotten into a Division 1 college, and would have graduated by now. Instead he is competing in the draft with high school phenoms, NCAA champions and international players of all shapes and sizes. It is almost enough to make you wonder if BC should have stayed on the playground.

More realistically streetball fans, wanna-be legends and streetball players should at least have chastised all the people that hyped his game while not helping him look at the bigger picture. Those selling tapes and DVD's, those using him in commercials. They throw some money his way and convince him he's as good as he thinks he is. A couple of good summers at the Rucker? A DVD appearance? A television commercial? Where are the Bone Collectors real credentials? Does he qualify to be a playground legend?

The real legends held down the Rucker for a decade, they scored 40 in a half on Dr. J, they stacked nickels on the tops of backboards to show their vertical. Skip began his reign at the Rucker when he was 12 and 13. Even Rory "Disaster" Grace from the Notic and AND 1 open-runs or the "Computer Chip" from the AND 1 open-runs didn't really get into streetball until recent, and even then both would have gotten steamrolled by the competition at the Rucker. Skip didn't just entertain, he produced points along with his assists. He had a jumper and could lay-up with both hands from all sides. Skip and many of the other legends did well in high school and college. Some got a chance to shine in the pro ranks. None thought that they could simply make themselves eligible for the draft because they had a couple of good summers at the Rucker, called out a pro player and talked shit the entire time.

Yeah BC will still become rich and famous. Maybe he'll release a hit-single as a rapper and "retire" from the game. But it should make you wonder how it got to this point. Where does a streetball player get all this money? How many unknown ballers had to come before BC? How many ballers had to get used by the system and not see anything in return? How many kids are being sold the game instead of told the game? In the universe of playground legends Bone Collector is still a child. I don't know if he will ever grow up and be ranked among the men that came before and the men that will come after.
If you want to read more about the Bone Collector check out these links:

BC Link 1
BC Link 1
BC Link 1

So if it isn't Skip 2 My Lou or the Bone Collector then who was the best ever? That remains to be seen! If you think you know who the greatest streeball legend was then let me know in the comments section please. 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!

The Best There Ever Was, Part 1 - A 1UP classic from March 10, 2005

The story of Fly and the Black Widow.

"Current streetball players, they owe their whole livelihood to the cats that played the game before. You know, just as we owe our existence to our mothers and fathers. You know these cats playing ball on the streets owe the checks that they getting, the shine that they getting, the exposure that they getting to these cats."
- Scoop Jackson in Nike Battlegrounds.

I'm going to try and keep my editorials to a minimum this time around. I apologize in advance for the gratuitous use of the "N" word in later parts, these are the players speaking and not me. I didn't censor anything because I figured that sometimes the truth doesn't sound as harsh as it should. For the most part I'll try to let the legends tell their stories and warnings in their own words. I hope you enjoy.

James "Fly" Williams: Get this straight, that until he said his real name, people assumed that Fly was James' real name. His game was so incredible that people assumed that his parents had labeled him Fly from birth. James was Fly before Curtis Mayfield had even filmed "Super Fly."
On the blacktops Fly was always good, very good. But in his teen years Fly shot up some six inches seemingly overnight. The next thing people knew was that Fly was 6' 4" and had the speed and handles of people a foot shorter. Some of Fly's life is accounted in the book Heaven is a Playground.
"You can go from east to west, north to south, borough to borough. I'm the only one dropped 50 in a half, regularly. You know, like a kid with diarrhea. You know I was tough man, played two or three different games. You know what I'm saying? 60 here, 45 here, 55 there. I used to add them up in the course of the day. I scored about 200 and change, you know."
- Fly in Nike Battlegrounds.

Fly was flamboyant, in the way he played, the way he dressed and the way he presented himself. On the court he was cutthroat and playful at the same time. Often times making the audience laugh at his antics and making his opponents steaming mad. Fly had exceptional dribbling skills and made players fall with his mad handles. Sometimes he would dribble the ball out of bounds just to get a drink of water and then return to the game and finish off his opponent. He could do all of this to regular players and could hold his own against the best NBA and playground legends like World B. Free, Earl "the Pearl AKA Black Jesus" Monroe and Earl "the Goat" Manigault.

"I was born too early, with the money they givin' out now. They should have thought about me 25 years ago. I'm gonna tell it like it is. I'm gonna keep it real, you know. If anybody come to me, I'm gonna keep it real, anything I tell ya it's not no myth bro."
- Fly in Nike Battlegrounds.

Fly dominated in college at Austin Peay State University and won several scoring titles as a freshman and sophomore, twice scoring 51 points in a season. He was drafted into the ABA and maintained his sense of humor and flamboyant game. In the ABA he was pitted against Dr. J and David Thompson, both sky walking prodigies whose game paralleled Fly's.

When the ABA folded many players were drafted into the NBA but Fly remained on the outside. In the case of Fly there is no blacklist, no conspiracy. Fly understands that his game was too advanced for the rules; he knew that his attitude was also bad and wouldn't allow him to get along with any coach.
The downward spiral of Fly began in the late 70's and by the mid 80's Fly had been reduced to a drug-dependant shadow of his formal self. His basketball skills drained by a hard life on the streets, Fly got through by hustling. After being shot and left for dead in a botched robbery Fly was brought back to life in the ER. Knowing that it was as close as any man could come to getting a second chance Fly swore of drugs and crime.

Fly became a motivational speaker and today spends his time with kids and people on the street. Trying to turn them around by sharing the darkest moments in his life. He knows that people might not be ready to hear about how hard life can be, but Fly's lessons are as important as the lessons any other playground legend has ever lived. The only difference is that Fly is not too ashamed to hide the truth from those willing to listen and learn. The current crop of street players has Fly wondering, have they earned a name or are they simply being labeled street players for someone else's gain?

"The street legends today is guys they give a name to. I mean we earned it man, you know, year after year. I mean a guy plays now for two years and he's 'Kid Dynamite'. "
- Fly in Nike Battlegrounds.

To read a detailed account of the life of Fly visit this SLAM Reprint Article.

Some 20-odd years later in New York (on Fly's turf), a 19-year-old Tyrone "Alimoe AKA Black Widow" Evans was one of the hottest players at the Rucker. The son of Jerry Tarkanian, the coach at Fresno State in California, spotted Alimoe, Rafer "Skip to My Lou" Alston and Chris Parker and offered them tickets to fly to Fresno.

"At the time we were like the hottest dudes in the tournament. Get you guys supposed to go to Fresno City and then Fresno State. But at that time I was caught up in the street life. So what I do, Tarkanian sends me a plane ticket; I take the plane ticket and try to cash it in. I go upstate to Sullivan Community College, which is an hour and a half away. Therefore I can still come back to the hood. See if I had gone out to Cali I'm thinking at 19 'He gonna make me run, make me play D.' I like New York; cause New York let me get away with everything. They like me for what I am. I don't gotta work, I was lazy at the time.

I had a guy that was paying me. I can't say his name. He would just hit me and my boys off just for playing with him in the summer. Its wintertime, ain't no games, he's still hittin' us off. So you know how that is. Got a new chain, I'm in all the parties, all the rappers know me.

 
I just messed most my life up listening to everybody tell me 'You better than Jordan. You nice.' So I don't gotta go to school, I'm nice. I'm gonna do this forever. But when you get to 24 it ain't funny no more. You know what I'm saying? Cause guys asking me 'Al you were supposed to make the league since you were 17. What's up' Now it ain't funny no more. See what I'm saying?

If you ain't strong yourself it's a lost cause. I take my hat off to Skip for that, he's seeing the bigger picture. Me, I'm standing around there, hanging around, drinking all day, smoking weed, whatever. Rafer goes to Fresno State. Rafer is on ESPN getting double-doubles. From there Rafer gets drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks.

 
I called Tarkanian for a recommendation. I can't get in contact with him. That's karma kicking you in your ass right there; you understand what I'm saying? No matter how good they telling me I am, no matter how much I work, I don't have no resume. And it came from that choice that I made. You know what I'm saying?

A lot of guys say AND 1 raping you, they making 400 million, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all I got right now is AND 1.

Guys just think AND 1 is just for highlights. They take that too far and think we really don't know how to play. And they wrong. It's up to us to change their perception on how they think of us. It's up to us.
[On the fans of streetball and the players] That's like saying 'forget the NBA, this is good for me.' Know what I'm saying? NBA ain't for everybody."
- Alimoe from Season 1 of ESPN's Street Ball.

Fly, and Alimoe were two brilliant players, but were they the best from the street? Let's dig in a little deeper in the next blog. If you know the stories of any street legends that could have been then let me know in the comments section please. 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!