Alpine Racer
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is a
racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...
sports video game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...
developed and published by
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...
for arcades. It had a limited release in December 1994, followed by a wide release in July 1995. It ran on the
Namco System 22 The Namco System 22 is the successor to the Namco System 21 arcade system board. It debuted in 1992 in video gaming, 1992 with ''Ridge Racer (video game)#Development and release, Sim Drive'' Video gaming in Japan, in Japan, followed by a worldwi ...
arcade hardware. The player uses a handlebar controller to move a skier down a course situated on a snow-covered mountain, the objective being to make it to the end of the course without falling off the slope or colliding with obstacles. It features three different courses to select, alongside a standard race mode and a time-attack mode where the player must pass through gates to replenish a time limit. It was an arcade hit, among the top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1996 in both Japan and the United States. The arcade success of ''Alpine Racer'' led to a wave of similar sports games capitalizing on its success during the late 1990s.


Gameplay

''Alpine Racer'' is a racing video game based on the sport of
alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...
. It uses a handlebar controller for movement with rotating foot pedals to simulate real skis. The player moves the on-screen skier down a course, while avoiding collision with obstacles, such as trees and rocks, or falling off the edge of the slope. Three different courses are selectable, each increasing in difficulty with the addition of fast-moving obstacles and sharper turns, alongside three difficulty levels: "Novice", "Intermediate", and "Expert". Two gamemodes are present: "Race Mode" and "Time Trial Mode". In Race Mode, the player is pitted against five computer-controlled opponents to try and make it to the bottom of the course, the goal being to finish in first place. Finishing in first place will show the player a replay of their performance in the game. Time Trial Mode has the player going down a course solo; this mode adds a time limit that counts down as the game progresses, and will cause the game to end if it fully depletes. A second of time can be restored by passing through large gates found scattered across the course. In one of the courses,
Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
can be seen on a billboard sporting a Santa hat.


Reception

At the 1995 Amusement and Music Operators Association (AMOA) exposition in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, ''Alpine Racer'' was given the "Best New Equipment" award in the "Coin-Operated Arcade/Redemption Game" category based on executive vote. It later received a nomination for Most Innovative New Technology at the 1996 AMOA Awards. The game became a major success in arcades. In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed it on their August 15, 1995 issue as being the most-popular dedicated arcade game at the time. In March 1996, ''Leisure Line'' reported it was the most-successful arcade game in Japan (topping Namco's own ''
Tekken 2 is a 1995 fighting game developed and published by Namco. The second entry in the ''Tekken'' series, it was released for Arcade game, arcades in August 1995, and was Porting#Porting of video games, ported to the PlayStation (console), PlayStati ...
'' and
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's ''
Virtua Cop 2 ''Virtua Cop 2'' is a light gun shooter arcade game, released in 1995 and developed internally at Sega by their AM2 studio. It was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1996, PC in 1997, and Sega Dreamcast in 2000. It was bundled with '' Virtua Cop'' in ...
''), the second top-grossing dedicated arcade game in Australia (below Sega's ''
Manx TT Super Bike ''Manx TT Super Bike'' is a 1995 arcade racing game developed jointly by Sega AM3 and Sega-AM4. It is a motorcycle racing game built for the Sega Model 2 arcade board. Up to 8 players can race in this game if enough arcade cabinets are link ...
''), and among the top three in the United States. ''Alpine Racer'' went on to be the fourth highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1996 in Japan, and one of the year's top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games in the United States. At a price of per unit, the game sold an estimated 2,000 arcade units in the United States, making it a highly sought-after cabinet by arcade collectors. ''Alpine Racer'' was critically acclaimed. ''Play'' magazine called it a "superb" skiing simulator, while ''Hobby Hi-Tech'' greatly appreciated its hardware and realism. Many publications applauded the control style for being heavily unique compared to other games, with ''Play'' saying that alongside its accurate portrayal of alpine skiing it made for a "brilliant" video game experience. ''
Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
'', who gave the game a perfect score, identified the controls as being its strong point, saying that it gave a true sense of realism and was an accurate portrayal of actual skiing. ''Next Generation'' also stated that the "atypical approach and its success in execution" made ''Alpine Racer'' one of Namco's best coin-op games of the era, adding that its premise could also help attract players of both genders into arcades. The graphics were also the subject of praise, with ''
GameFan ''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for it ...
'' describing them as "nothing short of shocking" and ''Next Generation'' liking their attention to detail. ''
Allgame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
'' appreciated the game's concept for making it stand out among other racing games. The Spanish magazine ''Ultima Generacion'' found the game to be far superior to many of Sega's racing games, such as ''
Sega Rally ''Sega Rally'' is a series of 3D racing video games published by Sega. The first game in the series, '' Sega Rally Championship'', was developed by Sega AM3 and released in arcades in 1994. Later games were developed by Sega and Sega Racing Stud ...
'', which they criticized for being based on preexisting ideas with little attempt towards an original concept. They commended ''Alpine Racer'' for its bizarre yet unique game idea, saying it could help attract more women and children into arcades for its appealing and interesting premise. ''Ultima Generacion'' also commended Namco's efforts at using the game to help break the common consensus at the time that arcades housed mostly violent titles unsuitable for younger players, which they said was thanks to its impressive arcade hardware and realism. In an interview for ''Financial Times'', ''
Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
'' creator
Toru Iwatani TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Tōru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Es ...
stated that games such as ''Alpine Racer'' helped bring players into the "heart" of arcade games with unique controls instead of what he described as a "complex set of controls". Video game historian Steve Kent cited ''Alpine Racer'' as a prime example of an arcade game which offered an experience that could never be recreated in the home.


Legacy

''Alpine Racer'' spawned a series of sequels and remakes. '' Alpine Racer 2'' was released in 1996 for arcades, featuring three selectable skiers, new courses to race on, and a multiplayer mode made possible through linking multiple cabinets together. A spin-off
snowboarding video game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...
, '' Alpine Surfer'', was released the same year. A
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
sequel was released in 2002, '' Alpine Racer 3'', adding new gamemodes, selectable characters and other additions to the core gameplay, in addition of including
Klonoa ''Klonoa'' is a series of platform video games primarily developed and published by Namco. It stars Klonoa, an anthropomorphic creature who explores dream worlds. The series includes two main games: '' Klonoa: Door to Phantomile'' (1997) for the ...
as a playable guest character. A sequel for Japanese mobile phones, ''Alpine Racer EX'', was released in 2007, followed by a "widescreen" version the same year.
Namco Networks Namco Networks was an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones, based in San Jose, California. The company was founded on January 1, 2006, as the mobile phone division of Namco America, and produced video games for mobile ...
produced an iOS remake of the original ''Alpine Racer'' in 2009, which was subsequently ported to the
Zeebo The Zeebo is a discontinued home entertainment and education system from Zeebo Inc. It enabled users to play video games, and also connect to the Internet using its 3G modem, communicate online and run educational applications. The Zeebo was t ...
the same year. A second arcade sequel, ''Super Alpine Racer'', was released by
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...
in 2014. In 2004,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
sleep scientist Robert Stickgold used ''
Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...
'' and ''Alpine Racer'' to study the relationship between learning and sleep. He determined that patients who played ''Alpine Racer'' before sleeping, including those who suffered from
anterograde amnesia In neurology, anterograde amnesia is the inability to create new memories after an event that caused amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. Thi ...
, dreamed of skiing.


Impact

The arcade success of ''Alpine Racer'' led to a wave of similar sports games capitalizing on its success during the late 1990s, from companies such as Sega, Namco,
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
and Innovative Concepts.


Notes


References


External links

* {{KLOV game, id=6869 1994 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Bandai Namco Entertainment franchises Namco arcade games Namco System 22 games Namco games Skiing video games Video games developed in Japan Single-player video games