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>>Rafael Fernandes: Super Monaco GP.
For many, the first racing game of their lives.
For everyone, certainly a classic.
The arcade of Sega from 1989 was converted to numerous systems,
but it was on Mega Drive that the game is immortalized with a really fun simulation of Formula 1,
despite the technological limitations, of course.
Then check out in this retrospective the whole story about this
and some other memorable racing games from Sega.
Before we get into Super Monaco GP,
it is important to remember the history of Sega,
there in their humble origins producing arcades in Japan.
For this, we go back to 1969,
when the company released Sega Grand Prix,
an electromechanical game cabinet – that is,
it had no video yet, it was just a game.
There was no ROM, there was no chip or anything.
Everything was based in analog circuitry
and graphics projected on a translucent screen. Take a look.
>>Galvão Bueno: Let's go, Rubinho!
Aw aw aw aw aw!
Now it goes!
Aw aw aw aw aw!
Don't let it come back, don't let it come back, don't let it come back!
Aw aw aw aw aw!
>>Rafael Fernandes: Uh… this guy is a little bad, eh?
Let's change to another and take out Galvão too.
Looking today, the machine looks very simple,
vintage, even tacky, so to speak.
But at that time, certainly, was the pinnacle of technology.
Ten years later, in 1979,
a video game came out for the arcades around the world.
And its name, what is?
Monaco GP.
The game is also pretty simple,
as we can notice there: you just run,
dodge the cars and overcome obstacles to get to the next checkpoint,
within the time limit, of course.
This does not mean that the game is not challenging;
in fact, it is quite frustrating,
like any good arcade should be, right?
Unfortunately, just as in the first Grand Prix,
Monaco GP uses a logical circuit board, that is,
it also has no processor, also has no ROM;
which prevents you to check it out today on the emulator, for example.
But if you insist to check this game,
Sega produced a port to the SG-1000,
its first home system,
released 30 years ago, in 1983.
Look at the commercial that was produced at the time.
>>Yuko Saito: A tunnel! Slippery zone! A lot of movement speed!
The loud sound of the arcade is the same!
>>Man: Sega Monaco Grand Prix
♪ SEGA
>>Rafael Fernandes: And before you ask me, yes, it's a woman.
Anyway, Monaco GP also came out later for the Sega Saturn,
fully recreated for a collection called Sega Ages Memorial 2,
and also had a remake in polygonal 3D,
released for the PlayStation 2 and present in the Sega Classics Collection,
another collection with several enhanced versions of classic games from the company.
Even if the original version is not available there,
you can have an idea of how the game worked.
And then, in 1989, ten years after Monaco GP,
and twenty years after the first Grand Prix,
Sega releases Super Monaco GP.
Previously, Formula 1 games in arcades or used the bird's-eye view,
like the first Monaco GP,
or the third-person camera,
fixed behind the car as in Final Lap, of Namco…
And the Continental Circus, from Taito.
>>Fausto Silva: What the fuck, man!
>>Rafael Fernandes: In Super Monaco GP, Sega chose to use the first-person view,
further increasing the realism thanks to the graphics generated by the powerful System X board,
which was also used in games like After Burner and OutRun.
Although very pixelated, as we can see here,
the look was very detailed and most importantly, it was very fluid,
running at constant 60 frames per second that you will not see here on YouTube,
since it converts it to 30 frames per second…
But it already gives you an idea of how this game was fast and could cause a lot of dizziness too, right?
The attention to detail in the graphics ended up causing an unusual controversy:
in the game, there are a number of signs and posters reminding sponsors of Formula 1,
as we're seeing there.
Canon, in this case, here became Conan,
Ford became Fodo,
Mobil 1 became Modil 2,
and Marlboro became Marlbobo.
Still, the cigarettes company sued Sega
requiring that any reference to its brand was completely removed from the game,
because it did not want its name associated with things aimed at children and adolescents.
It also sued Namco because of Pole Position,
which also has a free advertisement of Marlboro.
Sega then produced a new version of the game,
removing almost all the track signs,
and swapping by an advertisement of Flicky,
that chick who starred in a game for the arcade, SG-1000 and the Mega Drive.
One day we talk better about it here.
But if you think that the immersion of Super Monaco GP
was only in the graphics, you are wrong.
The deluxe version of the arcade had a hydraulic system
that moved the chair as the player did the curves on the track,
and even had such an Air Drive System,
that blew air into the cabin,
giving the sensation of speed.
Of course, even with all this,
say that Super Monaco GP is a simulation is also exaggerate a little,
as I said at the beginning of the video,
and you must already be cursing me for this in the comments.
But at that time, have realistic physics of a Formula 1 car
was still a tricky thing to do.
There was not so much processing at that time.
Not to mention that the game is an arcade,
then it had to be more accessible for all to play without difficulty.
There are several nonsense in the game, for example:
you can pass by most curves without braking,
you can pass straight through the chicanes,
you can hit everyone without worrying about breaking the car,
and various other things like that.
But it is worth remembering that you also can not abuse, or…
Super Monaco GP had a moderate success in arcades at the time.
Not only it was something new,
but also a very beautiful game,
really made to impress and offer a unique experience.
And like other Sega arcades,
the title has been adapted to various domestic systems of that time,
none of them like the arcade,
but still they tried.
U.S. Gold was entrusted to do the ports for computers,
but with very mediocre results,
like we can see in the images here.
This girl from the main screen now looks like She-Hulk.
Thank god, Sega itself was responsible for the ports to their consoles,
like the Master System and the Game Gear.
But it was in the version for the Mega Drive that the game was immortalized.
>>Man: When the roar of the engines resonates in the circuit,
hesitation at a moment can separate the winner from the loser.
Race through all 16 Grand Prix!
Shift up the gears to a rotation of 12000.
Plunge into the first corner with the sixth gear.
From the seventh gear to the second on hairpins.
Grab the rival, overtake in the S.
Reach 400 km of speed.
Go to the top.
And until the checkered flag, win by a wide margin!
Super Monaco GP.
♪ SEGA
>>Rafael Fernandes: Released one year after the original,
the Super Monaco GP for the Mega Drive
owe very much in terms of graphics compared to the arcade, of course.
Still, this drawback was well compensated
with an excellent gameplay and new game modes.
In addition to the basic mode Super Monaco GP,
which is just like the arcade,
there is also a training mode and the exclusive World Championship.
In this part of the game,
you compete a full season of Formula 1.
The driver has to run through all 16 tracks,
that are based on the 1989 season of the category.
That is why Brazil's track here is not inspired by the layout of Interlagos,
but rather the old race track in Jacarepagua, in Rio de Janeiro.
Before each Grand Prix, you can choose a rival.
And if you can finish the race in front of him twice,
this opponent is kicked off the team and you end up going into his place in the middle of the season.
How ethical, eh.
As this game does not have the official license of the FIA,
the team names are not the same of the real life,
although they remind very much, for example:
Madonna closely resembles MacLaren;
Firenze makes you remember the Ferrari;
Millions resembles Williams;
Minarae, where you start the season,
reminds Minardi; and so on.
The opponents are also in the same scheme.
Their names resemble those of the drivers of the category,
but their photos, the avatars,
seem to have been inspired by some Hollywood actors, you know why?
Compare:
G. Alberti looks like Robert Deniro;
E. Pacheco remember MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson;
G. Turner looks a lot like the late actor and singer River Phoenix.
He doesn't looks like, he's identical!
Do you think this is madness?
Maybe…
but it is very similar.
The only problem of that mode, really,
is the passwords.
As internal battery was a feature that few cartridges had at that time,
then that was the only solution:
note these millions of characters, which was hell.
And when you miss or don't know how to differentiate the number zero of the letter o, for example.
Then you are screwed.
But back to the subject,
after competing in every race and finish first overall,
the first season ends well.
Then you can start the second season, and then…
he appears.
G. Ceara, the greatest driver of all time.
Inspired by our Ayrton Senna,
he is a driver who chooses you as his rival in the first two Grands Prix of the season.
And it is virtually impossible to prevent him to defeat you.
Then he takes your place in the Madonna and you end up stopping in a very ordinary team.
Very sad.
And here in YouTube there are people who managed
to get in front of him in those first two races.
Unbelievable!
Definitely Super Monaco GP for Mega Drive was not a simple conversion.
The game had much content.
The graphics are inferior to the arcade,
but they are very good for the 16-bit console standards.
The sound is sensational.
Especially the soundtrack composed by Bo,
the same guy who did the theme of Alex Kidd, look at that!
The controls and the difficulty are competent,
and to top it off, the cartridge still had a few jokes,
as the ability to run over the guy who is waving the checkered flag,
and also to lift your own head as a trophy.
Bizarre.
All this contributed to the cartridge to become a classic in Sega's 16-bit system.
Produced by RAFAEL FERNANDES @rafafernandes64 facebook.com/virtuagamer
CONTINUE? Bonus: Know who is the model of Super Monaco GP!