I agree that Moto Roader could be good only because of nostalgia. The game really wasn't good at all.

Now, Drift Circuit is no good because of the lack of challenge. They force you to play the same 3 courses three times over in a play-through, meaning 9 laps of each course, and that's boring since there's virtually no challenge in the first 6 races. Drift Circuit 2 (out already in Japan) is much improved: instead of playing the same 3 courses three times, you select the difficulty and play each of the 3 courses once, and the challenge is better. You also get to use turbo for the 2nd and 3rd laps, and you can choose from 2 cars. It's a decent racing game for the 200 yen.

Drift Circuit 2 (out already in Japan) is much better.

This one is good. The "pod fire" feature is key in clearing the later, more difficult stages.

To clarify the original passage: after "pod fire", you can still control the firing direction of your pods with the +-key. But you must recall your pods and fire them again in order to /relocate/ them.