NGEN Racing Review

NGEN Racing is one of those rare games that comes along and helps reinterpret its genre. While the gameplay is conventional, the concept (racing ultra-powerful jet planes through deadly courses) is totally novel and, by all accounts, fully realized by the developer.

Many of NGEN's elements will seem familiar to racing gamers. Included in the mix are the requisite arcade and career modes, each with its own submodes. NGEN's multiplayer games exist within the arcade mode, while the time trials and other special events are bundled with the career mode (called the NGEN mode).

The arcade mode (much like the career mode) is composed of a series of races divided into a "trainer" class and three fighter classes. With each jump in class comes a logical escalation in vehicle performance. In a similar vein, weapons don't come into play until after you've made your way out of the trainer class. Though the career mode is definitely the heart of the game, NGEN's robust arcade mode provides enough depth to warrant at least as much attention.

Given the richness of the career mode, though, finding time to waste on the relatively thankless arcade mode will be difficult once you've started playing out a career. As is the convention, you're given a set of funds with which to assemble your initial vehicle. Once you are out of the hangar, the order of the day is to acquire permits (NGEN's version of Gran Turismo's aneurysm-inducing licenses) that let you fly in tournaments more distinguished (not to mention more profitable) than the lowly club races. Armed with permits, you're free to compete in tournaments, raise cash, buy new aircraft, raise more cash, and get more permits, ad infinitum. Time trials and special events help lessen the redundancy, and the sheer number of aircraft available will keep you interested in the rat race. The time-tested ritual that is a racer's career mode doesn't travel very far, though, if there isn't a solid racing engine to justify its performance.

And what an engine Curly Monsters has unleashed! Though the concept of jet racing seems a bit farfetched, putting yourself behind the helm of an NGEN aircraft will make you an instant believer. There are two control settings available during the races: arcade and pro. Arcade, as the name implies, is fairly simple, letting you pick up and fly, with the only stumbling block to speak of is in learning the button layout. Pro mode, on the other hand, forces you to take factors like roll and pitch into consideration, forcing you to relearn the physics of flight gleaned from the arcade setting. In the end, both settings are intuitive, albeit one has a significantly higher learning curve, and both hit home Curly Monsters' concept.

Successful racing in the NGEN universe, basically, is characterized by the ability to creatively ignore boundaries. The boundaries, in this case, being actual concrete markers containing the tracks' race paths. Marked by a series of tight flares, the boundaries are relatively thin when compared with the mobility of the aircraft; too often, you'll be tempted to veer in any direction just because you can. And often, it pays off; as long as you're not off-course for too long, you can gratuitously ignore the boundaries to gain an edge in a particularly tight race. Stay out for too long, though, and you'll be forced back on course via autopilot, which significantly decreases your velocity, often more than enough to dump you back a few places.