Was F-Zero the first "3D effect" racer?

[jnm23]

Forgive the vague title, I will try and explain.

One of my favourite racing games, but the first thing that struck me when playing was that it "felt" 3D. The famed mode 7 of course.

In other racing games of the time (Turbo Outrun, Lotus) a "sharp" turn was just a "long" turn.

So was F Zero the first game simulate 3d racing effectively?
And did any other system manage this before the advent of proper 3d?

Street Racer and SNES and MD provides the perfect comparison or mode 7 vs normal scrolling

[BigDeadFreak]

In the arcades I'm sure that Super Monaco Grand Prix came first but in the home I think F-Zero was the rist '3-D' racing game.

[Team Andromeda]

The likes of REVS on systems like the ZX Spectrum, beat F-Zero by a long way.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Atari's 1988 coin-op Hard Drivin' had the very first 3D polygon racing environment.

[Darwock]

Not Stunt Car Racer?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Not Stunt Car Racer?

Hard Drivin' beat it by a year - Stunt Car Racer was released in 1989.

[Leon Retro]

Mode7 simply gives a 3D effect to a game. It's similar to what Sega used previously in the arcades with their Super Scaler hardware for Outrun, PowerDrift etc...

Street Racer is a good example of what a '3D Effect' can do for a game. The SNES version looks and feels far more 3D than the flat MD version.

Mode7 worked pretty well overall in games like F-Zero, Pilotwings, Mario Kart. I still think those games look pretty nice and play well.

With the MegaCD, Sega added hardware to enable similar 3D effects. The results can be seen in the likes of Batman and SoulStar. It definitely made a big difference and was pretty impressive for its time.

Once the 32-bit generation launched - 3D effects were no longer needed and proper 3D became the norm. I still think there's something nice about 3D scaling effects though. I play F-Zero all the time - and find the visuals to be very hypnotic.

[Yakumo]

Street Racer is a good example of what a '3D Effect' can do for a game. The SNES version looks and feels far more 3D than the flat MD version.

And the Sega Saturn version makes the SNES feel like the Mega Drive

[Leon Retro]

And the Sega Saturn version makes the SNES feel like the Mega Drive

It should do. ... I've never played the 32-bit versions - are they any good? ... It's not a bad game on the snes, just nowhere near as good as Mario Kart.

[Skull Commander]

I remember trying the PS1 version and it was awful. It may have looked better than the Snes one, but it didn't play better.

[Team Andromeda]

Mode7 worked pretty well overall in games like F-Zero, Pilotwings, Mario Kart. I still think those games look pretty nice and play well.

Rubbish , both versions are both flat as pancakes . The Snes version just looks nicer and far better sound effects , and you see more of the track twisting , the 3D effect is much the same on both though .

Now the likes of F22 Inteceptor , and Road Rash II had a far better 3D effect , than the lovely flat Mode 7 onthe Snes . 1-0 to the Mega Drive ;P.

[yesteryeargames]

I dunno but Gawd damn I love the F-zero games! Please Ninty make us a wii version, Or even a DS port of the N64 game!

[Team Andromeda]

I still remember seeing the screen shots of F-Zero and it looked amazing (just by the screen shots) that it made me want a Snes like there was no tomorrow . Its one of the most amazing games I've played still to this day , its a shame that ever version since has been poor , even down the music .

[TheForce]

Revvs was also from Crammond if I'm correct, he made it before the stunning StuntCarRacer !

yeah, I remember the first commercials on tv for F-zero.... I was totally blown away, I just had to have an s-nes just to play that game, back then I couldn't care less for Mario, it was F-zero that made me buy an s-nes

[jezzace]

its a shame that ever version since has been poor , even down the music .

I disagree. F-Zero X is the greatest racing game ever and the music was superb. Its a shame the GX one failed to live up to the mighty N64 version or snes version.