The Neo Geo was famous for its staggering selection of fighting games, but it was less blessed when it came to racing titles. Only a handful were ever released during the console's lengthy lifespan - hardly a massive shock when you consider that the 2D nature of the console made realistic driving games tricky - and of that rather slim selection ADK's Over Top remains one of the most notable. A spiritual sequel to Thrash Rally - also developed by ADK - this top-down racer combines 2D backgrounds with smoothly animated CGI vehicles to create a fast but disappointingly shallow take on its genre.
Over Top keeps things simple as far as control is concerned. You have an accelerator and a brake, the latter of which also doubles as reverse when your vehicle is stationary. Double-tapping the brake causes you to come to a halt more swiftly than normal, while tapping it then then pushing a direction on the stick performs a drift, which is handy for getting around sharp bends but has to be deployed correctly to be effective.
Like Out Run from a decade earlier, Over Top doesn't have separate courses but a single large track that winds its way through various locations, including snow-capped mountains, arid deserts, rain-swept docklands and bustling villages - all of which are contained on a single island, amazingly. The objective is to reach the checkpoint of each sub-location before three other rivals; upon arriving at the checkpoint seconds are added to your clock and the race continues. Run out of time in between these points and it's game over.
Over Top offers eight different vehicles, each of which has unique capabilities that determine how well it performs in the game's varied environments. The Ferrari and Lamborghini clones are blisteringly quick on tarmac but once you reach the desert and snow stages they struggle. The Hummer and Jeep lookalikes may be sluggish on the open road but they come into their own in more hostile locations where the racing surface is slippy or uneven. These differences mean that while certain vehicles may charge ahead in the opening stages, by the time driving conditions change they're at a disadvantage when compared to the slower challengers. If you'd rather not concern yourself with such details, you can always opt for the small compact car which doesn't excel in any particular area but is comfortable on almost every road surface.
There are ways to redress the balance in each stage if you find yourself struggling. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll notice shortcuts hidden on the side of the track - these often have a different road surface that allows certain vehicles to catch up with the pack. One particularly amusing shortcut sees your vehicle jump off a pier and sail along the water, James Bond-style. These shortcuts are vital to the game's longevity because outside of small deviations in the course, there's little in the way of variety here - there's just one route through the game and it takes a matter of minutes to finish. Certain trackside objects are destructible - piles of hay explode in satisfying fashion, for example - but on the whole interaction is pretty limited; even driving your vehicle at full speed into a solid wall simply brings you to a stop without any damage.
Back in the '90s Over Top's use of CGI imagery would have had quite a visual impact, just as Donkey Kong Country did on the SNES. However, by modern standards it looks rather rough, despite showcasing some slick animation. The opening attract sequence is entirely pre-rendered but looks hilariously choppy and low-res, even by the standards of the period. The music, however, remains firmly rooted in the past, with likeable easy-listening jazz tracks jarring disconcertingly with the high-octane action taking place on-screen. It seems churlish to criticise a retro game for looking and sounding old, but in Over Top's case it feels like a relic which was perhaps a little on the stale side even at the time of release.
Conclusion
Over Top is perhaps best remembered today for the fact that in its original AES form it's one of the rarest Neo Geo games available, regularly commanding massive amounts of cash on the secondary market. Its status as a hard-to-find title may have amplified its status with collectors, but in reality this is actually a very average racing title which lacks longevity and won't keep you occupied for very long. The range of different vehicles is a nice touch and the game controls well, but outside of cutting seconds off your time and finding every shortcut there's little to keep you coming back for more. On the plus side, Over Top being available for such a low price means that those of you dying to play it legally can now do so without having to sell off your vital organs in order to cover the cost of the Neo Geo original.
Comments 21
I wish there was some other racing game(s) I could play on my Switch instead. Oh well.
Hope they bring "Trash Rally" down the line.
I was hoping from the game's title that it would be an arm wrestling simulator featuring Sylvester Stallone.
@Muddy_4_Ever lol. Great film
@JHDK
Fast RMX is well worth a shot if you haven't picked it up already. Lots of content and pretty cheap to boot.
*Over Average
I think this is a good game, but it is an arcade game with limited content. As a home game, that lack of variety can be problematic. I like it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless people knew the details. Very fair review.
Drift Out was mentioned. I love that game. The zooming does not bother me. Worth trying out, at least. Too bad it is unlikely for release due to licensed cars.
Skip this and play Mille Miglia2 on mame, it nears the pinnacle of the genre
@NinChocolate
Was coming to say just this! Cheers!
And the conveyor belt keeps on rolling.
@Shiryu
"Trash Rally"
I literally LOL'd
@JHDK
I have the strongest feeling after E3 and what I expect to be the Virtual Console's debut (at last!), you won't be aching for racers for long.
@Muddy_4_Ever - When this game takes its hat off and turns it around, it's like a Switch goes on. When the Switch goes on, it feels like a different game. It feels like a truck. Like a machine.
Fair review. A 6 would have been fair too. It lacks a lot on charisma.
ADK developed better games like Blue's Journey, Ninja Master's and Twinkle Star Sprites.
Trash Rally no, it isn't that good.
I appreciate all these cool NEO GEO titles but there are a few they should have left forgotten such as this throw away title
@bimmy-lee Shut down the internet. This comment pretty much does everything it was designed to accomplish. Good job!
@Muddy_4_Ever - Thank you, but I was just riffing off your original idea; so good job to you. Take care.
It certainly looks real bland in the footage I've seen.
@HydroTendonMan I was joking. With MK8 and Fast RMX there are already 2 very solid racing games on the Switch.
A lot of these old NEO GEO games don't age well, I'm not surprised on this one.
@HydroTendonMan @JHDK. I keep trying to get into Fast RMX, as I absolutely love Wipeout, but I just can't.. Every time I try to play, the racing just 'feels' bland. Specifically, the turbo seems more of a tacky camera focal length change rather than the speed boost it represents which looks good at first but then feels like an unessessary cheap visual trick from a B grade game. Often the ship position can obscure the track in front of view when in the air amd a big one for me is that the tracks seem boring and just average in design in some respect even though they try to implement 'features'. There are many tracks and their thumbnails make them look enticing, but I don't feel that Any of them have anything close to the appeal of the original Wipeout type tracks, and the controls (strafe instead of airbrakes) are just off putting to me and it seems often less like racing skill and more like a collectathon of orbs.
Like I said, I WANT to like this, as I paid for it, but each time I try, after a race or two, I just can't do it any longer.
Hoping that Redout (June release I believe) is the game for me!
I can totally see how a game like this would be seen as great if Wipeout (or maybe Redout!?) didn't exist, but they do, and seem significantly far ahead in gameplay (to me).
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