My first time with Over Top!
For context, I'm 42 years old and a lot more patient than I used to be with older games. But only if they don't waste my time; I've no desire to return to AAA gaming and resume 10-12-hour marathons late into the night. In lieu of such, I've found myself going back to my roots in arcade gaming. I'm also a big fan of Neo Drift Out, one of my very favorite racing games, so I've got something to work with in comparison.
First off, this game is no pushover. Sure, you can watch full playthroughs on YouTube with a total length of 8 minutes. Looks boring at first glance, right? But, the kicker is what you're not seeing: all the replays and practice necessary to even pass the finish line without the timer running out on you, let alone place 1st. (It took me an hour with the same vehicle to even make it in last place with 0 seconds to go!) Every missed turn, every bungled drift, every time you see and hear your vehicle knock into a fence or a wall or a barrier, you can feel it shave precious seconds off your timer, which puts pressure on you to perform better. It's classic arcade design!
It doesn't bother me that this game had the guts to go with a one-track, multi-stage approach. Matter of fact, I found it made for some interesting dynamics of how weather, surfaces and vehicle characteristics affect your drive. Makes it much more intriguing knowing you're about to approach a section you'll struggle with after breezing through the last with confidence, three other vehicles now on your tail and ready to overtake you!
One thing I like is how purposeful the controls are and how necessary the brakes are for drifting in Over Top. In comparison, I find I never have to utilize the brakes in Neo Drift Out, which makes it feel like a pushover when it comes to control; not even Mario Kart felt so effortless to drift in. But the controls are top-notch in Over Top. When you turn, the game isn't designed to safety-catch your mistakes; you can oversteer, you can understeer, you can get yourself stuck in places you thought was a shortcut (like in Desert) and find yourself having to reverse out. It's all in your hands, and that's the best kind of control! Much better than Drift Out, in my opinion.
Of course, what makes this game stand out from its two brethren on the Neo is the 8 different vehicles, all with their own behaviors that come with strengths and weaknesses. And I don't mean 8 different brands, I mean 8 different vehicles. The PLOT car is a good all-rounder for beginners; the speedy F Project zooms across tarmac, but struggles in sand; the heavy Falcon dominates on snow, but drags on pavement; the Craftwork does well in sand and water, but is a slippery drifter with low speed; the Drei-Stern coasts over rock like nobody's business, but a bloody tank; the Honma bike is amazing on corners & speed, but a bit squirrely in control, etc. etc. So much variety, so much satisfaction.
I like discovering the shortcuts in every stage after the first, getting a feel for them and which one works for what vehicle and which one doesn't. For example, when I jumped the ramp and hit the hidden water path in Lakeside with the PLOT, I felt the struggle it took to get through that water to dry land, making a mental note never to do that again the next time! Unless I'm driving the Craftwork, of course, and then it becomes a necessary shortcut if I hope to make it in time!
There's some really nice artwork and animation detail that ADK put into this one. The changes of weather from cloud to rain to snow, the birds flying overhead, making a haybale *POOF* when you drive through it, the pylons that you knock over on oversteered corners and the barrels that explode on impact, the way your vehicle flips 360° on a head-on collision with a wall, the way your driver juts his leg out on corners & drifts when you pilot the bike. It makes the game feel more alive and helps engross the player.
The music has a fair amount of variety, enough to land a favorite or two for every player. It varies depending on the color of the vehicle you've chosen, so it's easy to remember which song you enjoy the most by choosing the corresponding paint job. Some are dated (rave, anyone?), some are cheesy... but, in the end, there's enough variety to please. It's just not as consistently good as Thrash Rally or Neo Drift Out. (On the whole, I'd say OT has the weakest OST of the Neo racing three.) The sound effects are on par, nothing more, nothing less. They do the job fine.
If I've got one serious criticism to levy at Over Top, it's that the recorded Lap Times are universal and not vehicle-specific; I would've preferred to have kept my stage times recorded separately with every vehicle, so that way I know where I'm improving and when I'm not. At least my high scores will be kept recorded on the in-game rankings, which is nice. It's super satisfying coming back to better my times!
Code Mystics could've done a much better job, though. Since I watched some other playthroughs on YT, I've found that several music tracks are entirely absent in this port: in the opening intro, name registration, car selection, race finish, etc. Very disappointing. Also, there's some framerate drops here and there that aren't in the AES and MVS versions, so I don't know what's up there, either.
In the end, Over Top ended up impressing me with its attention to detail and care in the little things that all add up to a satisfying experience when you dig your heels in and give it more than 5 minutes.
In that sense, I'd say it does for drifting racers the way Top Player's Golf does for its respective sport: it may not have that crowd-pleasing wow-factor that the superior games have... but neither can it be denied there's something really special below the surface of these lesser-played titles that's ready to reward those with the patience to let their strengths shine.
GAME: 4 out of 5
PORT: 3 out of 5
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