A must-play entertainment experience. Congratulations, you have finally found the worst game ever.
If you believe that a game should be judged against its peers of the same era, then Spirit of Speed is the worst game ever assembled. That's it. From the theme that interests nobody (1930's racing) to its hypothetical gameplay, the fact that this game even works is nothing short of a miracle. Rather, it's probably held together by voodoo.
Yes, the main menu load time really is several minutes long; mierz1824's disc wasn't scratched. But it's no surprise that my copy of the game didn't even have the music he mentioned in his review.
The handling of the cars is probably part of the developers' joke on you for playing this game. I actually checked my controller to see if the cord had torn somewhere and lost some electrical contact. The cars almost don't steer. I didn't even understand how I was supposed to navigate the courses. So after I gave up, determined to wring some type of fun from the game, I forced the roaring engine of a 1937 automobile into full throttle down the track in the wrong direction. Thanks to the phantasmal handling, I passed the other cars several times before I was finally able to manage a head-on collision. And it was like two big erasers smacked together.
It's astonishing that you haven't heard about this game before now. Pay no attention to trendy "Worst Games Ever" lists; the games which frequently appear in these lists would be runners-up to Spirit of Speed 1937 every time if not for its obscurity, obscurity which must have come about after the game was initially shipped to stores with directions to "rush to clearance section."
I would be appalled if this game didn't become a cult classic, or at least a famous running joke in the world of games. With all this said, its mediocrity is amusement all its own. As a cultivated player, you owe it to yourself to play this at some point in your career. And hey, look at that: guess I'm a fool after all.