Re-Volt (1999) [Steam]

YOU! ARE! A! TOY!
– Woody, Toy Story

First released in 1999, Re-Volt came to us from the minds at Acclaim Studios London for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast. Re-Volt is an arcade RC car racing video game from Acclaim Studios originally released in March of 1999.  The best version was the PC release having the most RC cars you can race against, a soundtrack, and the full track editor. When I was young my uncle burned a copy of Re-Volt and Roller Coaster Tycoon for PC at a time when I had just discovered my love of video games. Over 20 years later the Re-Volt brand has been the subject of sequels, buyouts, mobile games, and now an official rerelease. Does the game hold up or is the battery low? Is the rerelease worth purchasing or does it come in last place?

Tiny Cars in a Big World

The story goes that a company named Toy-Volt produced toys for children all over the world but the creations gained minds of their own. The RC cars broke free of their cardboard prisons and escaped into the world with one goal in mind: to race! Re-Volt allows you to take control of 28 different RC cars each with its own stats and handling. There are a few different tiers of difficulty with each one having unique cars to race against. Rookie includes the slowest cars but allows the player to ease into the mechanics of the game. Amateur, Advanced, Semi-Pro, and Pro vehicles all gradually increase in speed while other stats start to affect performance and maneuverability.

RC Variety

Choosing your vehicle is paramount to success. There is a wide range of vehicle types and finding which one suits your preferences will lead you to the finish line. Heavier cars like Mouse and Phat Slug are not as easy to tip over but turn wide and slow. Other cars such as Aquasonic are lighter and faster meaning that they are more likely to spin out on turns or when hit by projectiles.  Winning a championship, finding collectibles (stars), and getting 1st place on each course outside of the championship mode will unlock new cars to use. There are four different championships to win: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Each one has a couple of courses to complete in a row and you need to finish in 1st place overall to move on.  It’s recommended to find the collectible star first to unlock better cars, this will make the championships easier to win.

Re-Volt does an excellent job of gradually increasing difficulty while still giving you the tools to succeed. The design of the RC cars are as varied as their stats. Each vehicle has its own personality, such as NY 54 with its unique orange color and smiley face decals. Another car named Pest Control has a blue color and spider decals all over it. The unique designs combined with the different stats for each car gives Re-Volt the boost it needs to make it unlike most arcade racing games.

Mario Kart-Like

The gameplay of Re-Volt is a fast-paced arcade racer where you use offensive items to get an edge over the competition. Much like the Mario Kart series, you collect lightning bolt-shaped pick-ups along the course to receive a randomly selected item. These items include a bottle rocket that targets other cars, oil slicks that cause opponents to lose tire traction, bowling balls to get in the way, and water balloons that spin out cars when hit. There is also the bomb that turns your entire car black and your antenna becomes a fuse. Once the fuse reaches the bottom the vehicle will explode. Luckily if you bump into another racer the bomb will transfer to them. Hopefully it will explode before they get the chance to bump back into you or anyone else.

Back to Basics

The controls for the game are quite simple but I did reconfigure them to be more natural. There is a way to use a D-pad on a controller if you want but I prefer the old school keyboard controls. You use the arrow keys to accelerate, reverse, and turn right or left. I have the game set to the space bar for using offensive weapons, ALT to reset the car if you get off course, and CTRL to flip the vehicle if you get turned over. You may also need to do some reconfiguring for display, audio, and resolution settings to fit your computer setup. The rerelease of Re-Volt wasn’t supposed to be played on modern hardware so draw distance is a bit low and sometimes cracks in the visuals will appear as you drive over slopes but these things do not affect gameplay.

A Race on the Titanic?

There are 14 tracks to race on in Re-Volt each with mirror, reverse, and both options at the same time. Reversing a race track really changes up the experience while mirroring forces you to relearn a course with opposite turns. There are more basic tracks like racing around a cul-de-sac, through a museum, and in a toy store. Other tracks are more bizarre like racing through a ghost town and across the TOYtanic (like Titanic).

Most of the tracks have two different versions that use the basic concept of the original but you go through a different area. The cul-de-sac course called ‘Cars in the Hood’ has two versions. One has you driving around a straight course with a loop at the top and bottom. The other version has you racing through houses, backyards, and garages in a more circular course. I love the imagination in the course designs even though there are not many tracks in the game. However, that’s where you come in!

Track Editor

You can let your imagination flow when you switch over to the track editor. Creating custom tracks is simple and clean in Re-Volt with plenty of pieces to make your dream course. Creating basic designs is a good way to start. Pieces like the straight away, corner, rumble pad, and others are good starters. You can raise or lower your track by pressing the page up or page down buttons. Rotate the track with the spacebar if you need to. There is also a way to change pieces in special ways by pressing the plus or minus button you can change track parts into different things. The straightaway can be turned into a slope, hills can be raised, turns can be made wider, and so on. The developers gave the player everything they might need to create their own courses and it all works very well still 20 years later.

Heading to the Finish Line

There are plenty of game modes to keep you occupied in Re-Volt. The time trials will be where you spend most of your time, replaying courses and all their different versions trying to perfect your time. Completing the time trials is how you unlock mirror mode and reversed courses. The stunt arena is a fun distraction, offering 20 stars to collect on a small obstacle course. Collecting all the stars will unlock a new game mode where you control one of 38 mini wind-up cars, which is very chaotic but a lot of fun. Other game modes include a simulation mode,  where collisions are more impactful, a rookie mode which makes things slower, a practice mode, and a single race mode. There is a lot of content to keep you occupied, and it’s well worth the $5.99 price tag.

Photo Finish

It has been 23 years since an official release of Re-Volt and the Steam version is exactly what I wanted. It retains the original controls, physics, and graphics while making some minor improvements to make it work on newer hardware. My younger self wouldn’t believe that I was still enjoying Re-Volt all these years later. I think that kid would be in awe of all the things that I can do now in the game that were struggles in the past. The game still retains the charm of a late 90’s racing game with its soundtrack and graphics. New players won’t be turned away though because the gameplay still feels fresh. If you are looking for an arcade racing game, Re-Volt will be your next obsession!

Pixel Perfect

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YemmytheFerret (Yemmy) is a podcast host for shows like Ferret64, Fubar Ferret, and FIlm Freakz. He also is a variety streamer on Twitch who currently lives in Ohio. He plays a bit of everything but loves platfomers, shooters, and action RPG’s. Favorite game: Banjo-Kazooie.