The next couple of months are going to be a busy time for new arcade releases and with that I’ve been looking to get my hands on more media for these titles. Thanks to Bandai Namco, here are the first direct screenshots of Super Alpine Racer that I have seen; also check out the new flyer for the game which ties the game to the upcoming Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. I keep forgetting those are around the corner, much like had I forgot that this game has a wind effect from a fan placed beneath the monitor.
UPDATE: The prototype seen at IAAPA2013 had a big multi-color LED marquee, which they appear to have removed here. Must have something to do with the cost but it seemed like a neat feature.
Now for the screen caps. This is the first clear look I’ve personally had of the game. From the little video I’ve seen of this from IAAPA, it is clear that in motion it’s moving at 60FPS. You can also catch some similarities here and there to Raw Thrills’ Winter X Games Snocross. Super Alpine Racer is slated to launch next month.
I see that they’re made the monitor stand up straight rather than slanted backwards like on early version. Would’ve thought it be better than standing straight.
I notice that the flyer still says that it’s a prototype cabinet so perhaps they are testing out which viewing angle works the best.
I really hope that’s not the final look for the background graphics. For some reason I’m somehow feeling nostalgic for 3DFX Voodoo graphics! Look at those “rows” of spectators, the copy/paste mountain textures, no volumetric atmosphere (no snowfall, either?), simple ski trails, no shadow maps for anything other than the skiers, the “pop-up book” cutout trees! I mean, even SSX (2012) for the consoles looks way better despite being released on hardware spec dating from 2005-2006 (and will probably remain more fun if Namco sticks with the original’s gameplay formula). Heck, we’re already in the age of the Namco 357/369 boards, so there should be no excuse for it to look like this. Sorry, I do have a bit of a soft spot for the time period when the original Alpine Racer was out. That and other games like Wave Runner, Alpine Surfer, and Top Skater. To have a game that comes out looking like this in 2014, to me, does a bit of injustice to the original instead of being a true homage.
Not to excuse anything but I wouldn’t get my hopes up on it changing. As mentioned in the post, this looks pretty much the same as SnoCross ( https://arcadeheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/CO_2.jpg ). Being that SAP was developed by Raw Thrills, it seems that they are using the same engine as that game, which was practically the same engine used for Super Bikes 2 (and that seemed like a slightly enhanced version of the FnF engine but I don’t know the technical details behind them; the only differences I can really tell are resolution changes but textures are still filtered low rez, little if any anti-aliasing, no modern lighting effects as you mention). It’s too bad it won’t instead use something more akin to Big Buck HD or Aliens Armageddon engines. :/
yea i was gunna say that ingame image looks something out of a mobile phone gamee.or dare i say it fast and furious engine 😮 in my opinion as it stands it deosnt look very promising :/ defo prerferred the original version of namcos classic