FAST Racing NEO: all three speed classes. - General

Looks utterly bonkers and the faster segments had me grinning like an idiot. I still gotta pick up the original... [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzasnULJnhM[/media] For those not in the know, the FAST Racing series are futuristic racing games for Nintendo's recent consoles by the independent German developer Shin'En, who are known for getting [i]insane[/i] technical results out of Nintendo's relatively weak hardware. Their WiiWare efforts - including the first title of this series, FAST Racing League - were notable for packing retail-levels of content into WiiWare's paltry 40MB limit and for being some of the best-looking games on the Wii despite that same restriction. FAST Racing NEO is the second installment - due out on the Wii U eShop on December 10th - and likewise packs aesthetics that have been compared in fidelity with the PS4's capabilities. The gameplay for the series could best be described as mixing F-Zero or Wipeout with Ikaruga. There's a phase-shifting mechanic in play, where your vehicle can switch between two colored phases at any time (black/white in League, blue/orange in NEO) to match the colors of upcoming obstacles - for example, boost pads that speed you up if you match their phase but slow you down if you don't, or jump pads that only activate while you're in phase with them. Alongside that is a standard boost gauge that you can fill by collecting on-track powerups. Both also contain online play and up to two players locally at 60FPS, and up to four locally at 30FPS. The upcoming game - and to a lesser extent, its predecessor - have been lauded for "scratching the F-Zero itch" as Nintendo's own series has been dormant for over a decade outside of Captain Falcon's Smash appearances. While Shin'En's efforts in general have been fairly obscure in the past, Nintendo themselves have been pushing FAST Racing NEO quite a bit recently, giving it a spot in the most recent Nintendo Direct along with it being one of the headlining games at its PAX "Nindies" showcase a few months ago. Even better, the announcer for the last main F-Zero game, F-Zero GX/AX, has retaken the mic for FAST Racing NEO, pushing the series even further into spiritual successor territory. The video above highlights the three speed classes - Subsonic, Supersonic, and Hypersonic - which are much like the standard 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc classes in Mario Kart in that each increases the vehicle speed as well as the AI difficulty. On that note... [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4eujD0JITQ[/media] The game also includes what is called Hero Mode, which - much like Mario Kart's Mirror Mode - locks the speed at the fastest class (150cc/Hypersonic) and mirrors the layout of all the tracks, while bumping the AI up even higher. Hero Mode goes one step further, however, and increases the F-Zero parallels by having your boost gauge pull double-duty as a shield gauge. Collisions now drain energy just as boosting will, and if you crash and run out of energy or even just fall off the track once, it's game over. In addition, you now [i]must[/i] finish in first place in each race to pass a cup. To give you at least [i]somewhat[/i] of a fighting chance, though, you no longer have to rely solely on track pickups for gauge refills as boost pads in Hero Mode will also slowly replenish your energy while you're in phase with them. Other than that? Well... Let's just say GX's trademark brutality is back.

I want this game, but is on Wii U :(

Wow, what the fuck. That game looks fantastic.

fish-eye lens does not equal fast

[QUOTE=abcpea;49250963]fish-eye lens does not equal fast[/QUOTE] 900 MPH does though. like, dunno about you but i'd say that's fast.

its just a number. speed means nothing when the track is so big and straight

Soundtrack sounds like something from F-Zero X

The graphics are kind of underwhelming, I sort of expected a bit more from the Wii U. I mean, I even feel WipEout HD, a 2008 PS3 title, looks better and was also in 1920 x 1080 @ 60fps: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIBa-3Z9hZk[/media] [quote]and likewise packs aesthetics that have been compared in fidelity with the PS4's capabilities[/quote] And this is just absolutely wrong. [editline]5th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=abcpea;49250963]fish-eye lens does not equal fast[/QUOTE] It's clearly rectilinear projection, not fish-eye. Wide FoV =/= fish-eye projection

[QUOTE=VinLAURiA;49250664]Both also contain online play and up to two players locally at 60FPS, and up to four locally at 30FPS.[/QUOTE] They've got a [I]lot [/I]of work to do if that's what they're going for by December 10th. I played this at indiecade and the build was at a noticably muddy resolution and struggling to hold ~20 fps with two players.

-snip-

Wow I had no idea these games even existed. I kinda love that soundtrack though.

[QUOTE=paul simon;49251221]The graphics are kind of underwhelming, I sort of expected a bit more from the Wii U. I mean, I even feel WipEout HD, a 2008 PS3 title, looks better and was also in 1920 x 1080 @ 60fps:[/QUOTE] To be fair, the stage shown off is a pretty bland-looking one. The trailers on [url=http://fast.shinen.com/neo/]the game's site[/url] do better justice to the visual quality. I also don't feel that Wipeout footage is all that impressive...

I just need to know which one plays like Pico or Auricom. Aggressive racers are ALWAYS the way to go in these games, at least for me.

I saw this firsthand at a booth at IndieCade and I couldn't believe it was the Wii U. Absolutely amazing. [editline]5th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Super Muffin;49251236]I played this at indiecade and the build was at a noticably muddy resolution and struggling to hold ~20 fps with two players.[/QUOTE] A lot of consoles were blowing up later in the event, you sure that wasn't the case?

I added another video from the same guys that showcases Hero Mode to the opening post, along with a brief description. If a mod wants to change the title to reflect that, it'd be appreciated. But if by any chance you actually were underwhelmed by that first video, I think this one will change your mind in short order.

Sorry for the double post, but I figured I'd throw up a few more 60FPS links and then bump it for visibility. We've got footage of all four cups at the Subsonic level. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku2LCDkqeBI]Cobalt[/url] - [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldh9Rb_oCfc]Xenon[/url] - [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixEjZ9sMDI4]Titanium[/url] - [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bip9k-aPbps]Neon[/url]

Looks great, but I wish they used a combined health and boost bar like F-Zero. No more super tense moments where you are passing the main group with almost no health left, it's those moments that were my favorite.

[QUOTE=kirderf;49278987]Looks great, but I wish they used a combined health and boost bar like F-Zero. No more super tense moments where you are passing the main group with almost no health left, it's those moments that were my favorite.[/QUOTE] They do just that in Hero Mode.

[QUOTE=Edvinas;49250803]I want this game, but is on Wii U :([/QUOTE] Kinda the same here. Looks like a pretty good Wipeout clone of sorts, but I have no way of playing it.

Looks pretty good, however I'm not a fan of that camera; it feels like you're a spectator that can't anticipate the vehicles movements when pointing the camera, so it's always lagging behind. Like I don't like how it doesn't keep the vehicle centered on the screen on turns and such.