''Big Red Racing'' is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

released for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

in 1995. It was developed by

Big Red Software The Big Red Software Company Limited, doing business as Big Red Software, was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England, that was founded by Paul Ranson in October 1989. History Big Red Software was incorporated on 16 Oc ...

and published by

Domark Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...

. Versions were planned for

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, 3DO, and

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

but were not released.

Gameplay

''Big Red Racing'' is a comedic racing game. During races, the commentators make humorous comments, stereotypically themed to the country they are from. When menu items are clicked, humorous phrases are played. There are 24 courses and 6 cups, encompassing the globe, the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. Each course has a humorous subtitle, usually a parody of a famous phrase or film.

Customisation

For the driver, the player can choose from a few different body shapes and change the colour of the clothes. For the vehicle, the player can change the colour and decal.

Development

The later ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

'' writer Keith Stuart was commissioned to write an expansive backstory for the game, which was to be included in the printed manual. But a few months before release the publisher balked at the cost and cut the manual. Looking back in 2016, Stuart wrote: "They were right. It didn't really add anything, it was indulgent (...) No one will ever care that I spent several weeks writing that nonsense or that now it is gone forever."

Reception

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

said for the PC, "A racing sim it's not, but arcade fans should get a real kick out of it." A ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' critic highly praised the variety of playable vehicles and tracks and the use of real time graphics. He remarked that while the low graphical detail makes the game look chunky, it also enables the game to run just as smoothly with six players as with only one. However, he criticized the single-player mode for the AI's apparent cheating, since there is always one racer just slightly ahead of the player car, and recommended that consumers not buy the game until they've made certain they have someone who will play it with them. Frank Snyder of ''

Computer Game Review ''Computer Game Review'' was a print monthly magazine covering both computer gaming and video gaming. The magazine was started in 1991. Also known as ''Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment'', and then later as ''Computer Game Review and C ...

'' offered ''Big Red Racing'' a positive score, writing, "I guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised in the end."

References