Speed Thrills on New Racing Titles, but the Riffs Are a Road Hazard

Most video racers share two things: speed and electric guitar. Just once, it would be nice to hear Delibes’ Flower Duet in the background as I scream through the digital countryside at 180 miles per hour.

If I ever do slip behind the wheel of a high-performance automobile, I’m afraid I won’t know what to do unless the CD changer boasts a heavy-duty selection of repetitive ax music.

That observation came to me during a recent weekend spent sampling new racing titles for Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Though they share neither platform nor style nor quality, all the games sound alike: sort of generic rebelliousness wheezing over the amp.

Ocean’s Multi-Racing Championship rocks through some nice tracks with technical features that make it the best racer to date for Nintendo 64. Of course, that’s not saying much since Nintendo’s dream machine only hosts two other racers. Cruisin’ USA pretty much stank and Mario Kart 64 had definite limits.

As the first racer to use Nintendo’s vibrating Rumble Pak peripheral, Multi-Racing Championship is able to give drivers a real feel for the road. It’s a kick. Gravel roads feel different than dirt tracks. Even the boards of a bridge translate into a rapid-fire thumpety-thump as players zip over a creek.

Each of Multi-Racing’s cars handles differently and each is suited for certain conditions. For snow, I liked a four-wheel drive behemoth, but favored a sleek sports car for open road driving. Trouble is, none of the tracks are all one surface, so successful racers need to strategize.

Strategy doesn’t seem to matter much in Sega’s Manx TT Super Bike for Saturn. I saw early Saturn versions of Manx well over a year ago. It’s not clear what took it so long to arrive on store shelves. Although as fast and tight as its arcade cousin, Saturn’s Manx suffers from simplicity. There’s just not that much playability. Pity, because Saturn needs some strong new games.

But most of the strong games these days pop up on PlayStation, which beats its competitors by a mile in terms of library size. Regardless of a gamer’s taste in racers, there’s one to suit it on PlayStation this fall.

Formula 1 Championship Edition by Psygnosis and CART World Series by Sony Interactive Entertainment serve up technically tight stadium track racing. Of the two, CART World Series wins by a nose in terms of the most realistic details. The view from behind the wheel, for instance, looks just like it did from those Wide World of Sports car-cams, road vibration and all.

In both, players need to manage resources effectively during long races by watching the fuel gauge and making sure tires aren’t worn down. Arcade modes allow drivers to just open up and haul, but the circuit modes are where the real challenges lie.

Perhaps my favorite of the PlayStation bunch, though, is Car and Driver’s Grand Tour Racing from Activision. Sure, it’s a simple little racer. But it has enough tracks and cars and settings to keep even the most avid player happy for weeks. The tracks melt into view without a hitch and the car responds sweetly to thumb commands.

Grand Tour Racing is the kind of game that’s so big, it’s sure to please everybody--from Formula One fans to off-roaders. If players don’t like one setup, they can switch to another. Sadly, the music is limited to electric guitars.

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Staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every other Thursday. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.Curtiss@latimes.com.