MRC: Multi-Racing Championship

MRC: Multi-Racing Championship, also known as simply Multi Racing Championship (マルチレーシングチャンピオンシップ, Maruchi Rēshingu Chanpionshippu), is a racing video game developed by Genki and released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. It was published in North America and Europe by Ocean and in Japan by Imagineer. The game is compatible with the Controller Pak and the Rumble Pak.

Multi Racing Championship
North American cover art
Developer(s)Genki
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
Release
  • JP: July 18, 1997
  • NA: September 4, 1997[1]
  • EU: October 1997
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

In Championship mode, the player competes against nine computer-controlled racers. Finishing first advances the game. In Time Trial mode, players try to finish a course in as short a time as possible. Ghost car is included so the player can compete against the best time recorded. Free Run mode lets the player drive freely without other opponents or time limit. The VS Race mode lets two players compete against each other. The unlockable Match Race option pits the player against a hidden computer opponent in a night-time race.[2] Weather effects like rain, fog and snow are included.[3]

MRC features ten cars, which are divided into two groups: road cars and off-road vehicles.[3] There are seven different areas for car customization: tires, brakes, suspension, steering, transmission, gear ratio, and aerodynamics. MRC includes three tracks: Sea Side, Mountain, and Downtown. The courses have multiple paths and mirror images can be unlocked.[4]

Development

The game was unveiled at the April 1997 Tokyo Game Show, where it drew large crowds despite publisher Imagineer having only a small booth.[5]

Reception

Multi Racing Championship received average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[6] Critics liked that players could customize their car to suit different road conditions[8][4][3][16][12] and the mixture of on-road and off-road racing,[8][16][12] but felt the small number of tracks severely hurt the game's value.[8][4][3][16][12] While most critics praised the controls,[8][3][12] GameSpot found the realistic handling forces the player to slow down too much, concluding that "MRC doesn't move fast enough to give the illusion of speed, making gameplay dull."[4] Matt Casamassina of IGN described MRC as "a perfectly average racer."[3] Edge highlighted the realistic handling of the cars, which varies depending on the road surface material. The magazine criticized the game's short length, but admitted that the two-player mode gives the game some longevity.[7]

Most critics also said the graphics overall were solid but failed to actually impress,[8][4][3][12] and found the announcer annoying.[8][4][12] GamePro argued that despite the game's flaws, it is worth checking out because it was thus far the Nintendo 64's only real alternative to the critically panned Cruis'n USA.[12] However, GameSpot and IGN both pointed out that Top Gear Rally and San Francisco Rush would both be out soon and looked more promising than MRC.[4][3] Three of Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers also felt MRC was not as good as the rest of the racing games arriving on the Nintendo 64 in late 1997, and echoed IGN's assessment of the game as distinctly average.[8] In contrast, Next Generation lauded its "wonderful graphical complexity" and stated that "MRC is not only fun, but the realism and physics model are so good, some Sega loyalists who don't own N64s have said crazy things like, 'I'd buy an N64 just to play that game.'"[16] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[9]

Notes
  1. Three critics of GameFan gave the game each a score of 78, 89, and 88.
  2. GamePro gave the game two 4/5 scores for graphics and overall fun factor, 4.5/5 for sound, and 3/5 for control.

References
  1. IGN staff (September 4, 1997). "MRC on Sale Now Everywhere". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. McCall, Scott. "MRC: Multi-Racing Championship - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  3. Casamassina, Matt (September 11, 1997). "Multi Racing Championship". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. MacDonald, Ryan (October 2, 1997). "[MRC:] Multi-Racing Championship Review [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. "Tokyo Game Show Report from Japan". Next Generation. No. 30. Imagine Media. June 1997. p. 17.
  6. "MRC: Multi-Racing Championship for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. Edge staff (September 1997). "Multi-Racing Championship". Edge. No. 49. Future Publishing. pp. 76–77. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. EGM staff (December 1997). "Multi-Racing Champ [sic]". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 101. Ziff Davis. p. 192.
  9. "マルチレーシング チャンピオンシップ [NINTENDO64]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  10. "Multi Racing Championship". Game Informer. No. 53. FuncoLand. September 1997. Archived from the original on September 9, 1999. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. Halverson, Dave "E. Storm"; Cockburn, Andrew "The Enquirer"; Hodgson, David "Chief Hambleton" (August 1997). "Multi Racing Championship". GameFan. Vol. 5 no. 8. Metropolis Media. p. 18. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. Air Hendrix (September 1997). "Multi Racing Championship". GamePro. No. 108. IDG. p. 84. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  13. Fish, Eliot (January 1998). "Multi Racing Championship". Hyper. No. 51. Next Media Pty Ltd. pp. 78–79. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  14. "Multi Racing Championship [Import]". N64 Magazine. No. 5. Future Publishing. August 1997.
  15. Davies, Jonathan (November 1997). "Multi Racing Championship vs Top Gear Rally". N64 Magazine. No. 8. Future Publishing. pp. 48–53.
  16. "A Race Won (MRC: Multi-Racing Championship Review)". Next Generation. No. 33. Imagine Media. September 1997. p. 130. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  17. "Multi Racing Championship". Nintendo Power. Vol. 99. Nintendo of America. August 1997. p. 95. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
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