Rad Racer (NES)

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Description

Rad Racer is an arcade style 3-D racing game. The object of the game is to race to the goal within the given time limit. Along each course are several checkpoints which will increase the amount of time you have to reach the final destination. There are eight different stages with increasingly difficult roads, changing weather conditions, and a variety of opponents who tend to get in the way. Included with the game is an optional pair of red-blue 3-D glasses which can be used to give the game an even more 3-D appearance.

Screenshots

Promo Images

There are no promo images for this game

Alternate Titles

• "Speed Racer" -- Brazilian Falcon Soft title
• "High Way Star" -- Brazilian CCE's Top Game title
• "Highway Star" -- Japanese title
• "ハイウェイスター" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Anaglyph 3-D Support (3-D Glasses)
• Automobile: Ferrari 328
• Nintendo's Sports series
• Rad Racer series

User Reviews

Classic racer by ... Squaresoft ?	Bregalad (969)
Warning: Imagination Required!	Kevin Scott (2)
Not the best the NES has to offer.	Asinine (1006)

Critic Reviews

Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Jul 17, 2006	9 out of 10	90
Nintendo Land	2003	83 out of 100	83
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Sep, 1988	9.9 out of 12	82
Retro Game Age	May 31, 2013	8 out of 10	80
Retro Game Reviews	Jan 24, 2016		80
The Video Game Critic	Mar 28, 2002	B	75
Classic-games.net	Nov 04, 2019	7 out of 10	70
HonestGamers (Staff reviews only)	May 26, 2013	7 out of 10	70
Computer and Video Games (CVG)	Jul, 1988	7 out of 10	70
RetroGame Man	Jun 19, 2017	4 out of 10	40

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Trivia

F1 Machine

The F1 Machine was a Honda powered Lotus 99T, which was driven by Ayrton Senna, and Satoru Nakajima. With the help of Senna, the car won two Grands Prix, and six other podium finishes in 1987. The Lotus was sponsored by Camel cigarettes, which did not appear in the game to not much surprise.

Power Glove

Rad Racer is also compatible with the Power Glove! To see in action, see the movie The Wizard.

References

For those who are fans of Homestar Runner, the level 1 theme music in this game (when you're winning) is the theme music given to "Stinkoman", also known as the anime Strong Bad.

Speedometer

In Rad Racer the top speed any car can attain is 255 km/h. In the sequel, the top speed is 255 mph. So technically, the car can go around 100 miles faster in the sequel. Also note on the game's US cover that the picture depicts mph while the game features km/h.

Title

The name Rad Racer was used in North America. In Japan, the game is called Highway Star, a name already used by the music band Deep Purple, and Square could not get Deep Purple's permission to use the name of the game. In the US version when choosing the car you want to use, there is still an HS next to the car that you want to pick.

Information also contributed by Alaka, DOS Boot, Scott G, and Robbb