A fast, accessible Kemco Top Gear SNES, snappy retro racing. Split screen two player, ideal for short sessions with friends.
Your verdict
Category
Racing1 player3+
Description
Top-down car racing simulation featuring realistic world circuits. Published by Kemco, released in Europe in 1992. Top-down racing on world circuits with Formula cars and championship and time trial modes. First Top Gear on Super Nintendo.
Top Gear review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The first of the series sets its signature: a screen split in two whatever the configuration, a rippling road in false perspective, and a sky reduced to a few colour bands sufficient to place the hour and the country. The cars, seen from behind, stay deliberately simple, since all the visual information passes through the movement of the asphalt.
Signed by Barry Leitch, the music propels the races with supercharged synth-rock themes of irresistible energy, now emblematic of the series. Each circuit pulses with a rousing groove perfectly in tune with the speed. This striking sonic identity stays etched in the memory of racing game fans.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Charging at full speed on circuits the world over, managing your nitro and fuel while overtaking swarms of rivals: this arcade racer bets on snappiness and clarity. The split-screen and the rousing soundtrack make it an essential two-player. Immediate, fast and bursting with energy, a pure racing pleasure that keeps you beating your time relentlessly.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Doling out the nitro, threading every corner and then climbing back through the pack before you run out of fuel delivers a racing tension that two-player mode multiplies tenfold. Memorizing a course, beating a time or eyeing the next circuit revives the urge to set off again. The challenge is harsh and repetitive, but this arcade racer keeps a nervy hook.
An arcade racer from Gremlin and Kemco, Top Gear offers circuits from around the world in rear view, with fuel management, manual gearbox and a much loved split screen two player mode. The sense of speed, the catchy soundtrack and the snappy pace keep a strong retro pull. The repetitive scenery and a high difficulty make themselves felt. A timeless racer for fans of 16 bit arcade driving games and nostalgics of split screen duels.
