Street Racing Syndicate: The street races that take place in this game happen in a slower-paced “downtown” metropolitan setting. I refused to read any information or reviews on this game before blindly clicking on the “Buy Now” button, and I thought it would be fun if I would put critique it by putting it directly up against the king of underground racing, TXR. I figured that since this game was released in the early 2000’s, it would most likely have some good cars of that time period, and (judging by the kinda-a-little-bit-sexist cover) was mostly centered around night racing. While padding out my Gamecube collection this winter with random titles that I was finding on eBay, I came across a used copy of Namco’s SRS: Street Racing Syndicate that had a price tag of a paltry 5 dollars. I will never tire of Toyko Xtreme Racer or some of the older editions of Need For Speed, but I am always keeping a look out for any racing game that has 1) realistic vehicle graphics/sounds, 2) real-world physics, and most importantly, 3) a tantalizing car list with plenty of choices. So whenever I get the urge to peel around in a second gen RX-7 or a bug-eyed WRX, I gotta warm up my old wheezy PS2 and only then I can slam them into virtual walls to my heart’s content. While most of us would love to virtually wrench on a 1994 300ZX’s in glorious HD on our PS4’s, there’s not a whole lot of desire for publishers to shell out the cash to license the rights to include these old ass cars that only old fart like myself care about. These vehicles have almost completely faded from existence from the streets of today, and so has the virtual versions on the current generation of gaming consoles. I really enjoy playing the older racing games, as they had such a huge focus on these amazing rides of yesteryear, since they were the hot shit back in those days. Tinkering and tuning these cars in the virtual world was always a little more fun and was definitely a lot easier than doing it in real life, when most of our stupid ass modifications often did more harm to our cars than good. While I enjoy driving around (tightly packed) inside muscular Japanese sports cars in the real world, I also love to play video games that put all of these iconic vehicles front and center without the burden of real-life consequences. The late 90’s and early 00’s brought us the abundance of giant bookshelf wings, asphalt-scraping body kits and underbody lighting, which became the economic currency of an entire generation. Back in the 1990’s, manufacturers were deadlocked in a war to create the tuning car of choice, so there were no outrageous design choices that were ever completely off the table. Whenever it comes to any of the OG cars that made The Fast and the Furious so entrancing, I just can’t help pointing them out to anybody who will listen to me. I always get giddy, weird and finger pointy whenever I see a 3000 GT VR-4, Subaru SVX, or a first-gen DSM Talon hobbling down the roads in real life. Whenever anybody asks me what I would consider my “dream car” to be, almost every one of my possible answers automatically default to any of the coolest rides of the 1990’s.
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