Rad Racer II (NES) Playthrough
261A playthrough of Square's 1990 racing game for the NES, Rad Racer II.
Rad Racer II is the oft forgotten direct sequel to Square Soft's 1987 NES mega hit Rad Racer (https://youtu.be/2nTdJF8TuuE). It was a North America-exclusive release that snuck onto store shelves in June of 1990 with surprisingly little hype given the popularity of the first game. Perhaps Square didn't want to draw people's attention away from Final Fantasy, which had released just a month prior. Whatever the reason, Rad Racer II was a solid follow-up that delivered more of the same OutRun-like racing action for anyone who couldn't get enough of the original.
On the surface, it looks virtually identical to Rad Racer. Once again, we get eight tracks broken up by strictly timed checkpoints and packed with drivers that live to get in your way. The scenery is still made up of mountains, beaches, and nighttime city skylines, and the turbocharged red sports car still tops out at 255 mph.
But for all of the superficial similarities, Rad Racer II's moment-to-moment gameplay feels quite different. The looser steering makes the car's handling feel more natural and intuitive ("arcade-like," if you will), corners are easier to read and navigate, and the changes made to the car's acceleration curve even out the sense of speed pretty nicely - there's no longer any need to constantly jump back-and-forth between turboing and braking.
The improvements made to the graphics play an important role, too. The pseudo-sprite scaling effects used for cars and roadside objects are smooth, and the fluid way the road rises and dips is a thoroughly impressive sight on the NES.
The original Rad Racer is a classic and I loved it, but I loved its sequel more. I'd even go so far as to say that I prefer Rad Racer II over the Master System's port of OutRun. It's a must-play for any 80s arcade racing fan.
(At 24:47, I included a quick race played without the background. I thought it made for a cool spin on the game. You can access that mode from the title screen by holding down+right, hitting A eight times, and then pressing start.)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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