Hello and welcome again to Lost Gems, the series where I cover classic games that have been lost to time, forgotten or removed from distribution. This week I will be discussing a soft sequel to a classic Taito arcade game, which took 2D sprite work and put it into full 3D on the PlayStation. So let’s take a look at Ray Tracers, a vehicle combat game that takes the concepts of Chase HQ and bringing them into full 3D, developed by Taito and released in 97 and 98.
Disclaimer: while the game discussed in this feature is no longer officially on sale, there are still ways to obtain it. This can be either through the secondary market, or via unofficial digital roms/rips. I do not condone or promote piracy, so there won’t be any links to roms or rips of the games being covered.
So with the introductions out of the way, let’s get started. I will be discussing the general game experience, then give my personal thoughts on the title.
About the game
Ray Tracers is an arcade style vehicle combat and chase game, where players hunt down target vehicles and battle machines in a futuristic city. A gang of illegal street racers called Black Kaiser, led by Kaiser are causing chaos across the city, using powerful battle machines. The Tracer Team has been formed by Cindy, recruiting four talented drivers to take down Black Kaiser, each with their own motivations for accepting the mission.
There are two modes in this game, with the main one being Chase, which acts as a story mode for the game. In Chase mode, the player gets behind the wheel of one of the four drivers of the Tracer Team, tasked with taking down a series of targets. The team consists of J.Lang in the Spanker, Sleoteel in the Hawk, Asuka in the Lynx and Blody in the Buffalo. Each of the vehicles are unique in terms of design and stats, providing a varied feel for each of them.
Once the driver has been selected, the action begins with 6 missions for players to challenge spread across the city. The gameplay loop for the majority of the stages is split into two segments, with the first half of the mission being a street race against the clock. During the first segment, players will drive through the streets, valleys and tunnels of the stage. These sections have a high speed street race feel, with either manual or automatic transmission options.
As the player drives through the city, there will be enemy vehicles that will appear on the screen, acting as obstacles to hinder progress. To take down the enemies, the player can drive into them with their armored vehicle. Each time contact is made with an enemy they will be damaged, causing them to crash after enough hits are landed and providing the player with points. Many of the vehicles will weave to try and avoid damage, or cause the player to crash.
If the player vehicle hits a wall, barrier or rail at high speed, the car will crash and slow them to a crawl. This will result in a pretty big time loss if players are not careful, but not all obstacles on the tracks will cause the player to crash. There are barrels, logs and boxes that will be on the road itself, which players can drive into without risk. If the player does drive through these attempts at a road block, they will gain a boost in points for total score.
During the course of the main missions, there will be a time limit with the timer counting down as they drive. This can be extended by hitting checkpoints during the mission, adding more time to reach the showdown with the battle machines. When the player reaches the last checkpoint of the stage, the music will change and they will encounter the boss. A warning will show with the name of the target Battle Machine for the mission.
These battles against the target machines can be very challenging, as they will try to dodge the player and use attacks against them. If the Battle Machines can successfully hit the player, the car will be blown into the air, causing them to lose all speed. This will cause a time loss similar to crashing the car, making it harder for the player to clear the stage. The enemies will take many hits to defeat, with a health bar on screen showing their durability.
During a battle, the player will need to chase the enemy, which is where the Nitro boost comes into play. This is a limited speed boost that the player can use at any time, making it useful to reach max speed quickly. It can also be used to quickly hit the Battle Machines multiple times, dealing extra damage to them in combat. But be careful not to waste the Nitro boost, as it will run out and there is no way to refill it during the mission itself, only refreshing between stages.
The Machines that appear are based on military machines, with tanks and aircraft that attack the player. They each have their unique attack patterns and movement, which will make them a real challenge to defeat. Battle Machines that appear in the first half of the game, also appear later as sub bosses, giving one of the missions a boss rush feel before the main combatant. This keeps the action exciting, adding to the adrenaline rush that players will get.
If the player is able to take down the enemy Battle Machine, they will get a clear time for the mission, their total time and a score bonus based on performance. This is how the first five missions play out. The final mission is the most challenging, starting immediately with the Battle Machine chase. There is a strict time limit for this chase, going in loops through a city. If the player can take down the boss, the ending for their driver will play out.
In the event that the timer runs out and the mission fails, the player will be able to continue, but they will lose their score. This is a minor downside to failure, but players can try as many times as they want to beat the missions. If the player is able to fulfil hidden conditions, they will unlock movies from the game, with intro videos and endings, as well as special vehicles. This expands the replay value of the game significantly, as Chase mode is rather short.
Alongside the main Chase mode, the player will be able to take on Time Attack, which has two different features. In this mode, players can challenge 4 different tracks in multi lap races, based on the chase stages. This can be done either alone, or with a rival to make it a head to head race. When selecting a rival, there is a special extra character driving a super car. If the player selects this special driver as their opponent and can beat them, they will unlock them for Chase mode.
The endings for the game are fully rendered, with voiced dialogue for the different characters, available in English for the international releases. However, there is content missing from the International version of the game. In the original Japanese release of Ray Tracers, there are anime style cut-ins with fully voiced dialogue, featuring the team leader Cindy talking to the drivers. This is an odd omission that makes the English release feel incomplete.
Personal Thoughts
I saw Ray Tracers long ago, when it was released for the PSX and the Japanese imports were doing the rounds. The mod scene was at its peak during the mid to late 90s, so PlayStation units would be chipped the second they were bought. With this I was able to experience many games, with Ray Tracers being one of them that I only knew in Japanese. Having seen and played that version of Ray Tracers for many years, on original hardware and via emulation.
When the PlayStation 3 and PSP came to prominence, I did manage to get my hands on the English version, which was unfortunately very disappointing. Being used to the Japanese version with the anime cut-ins, not seeing these at the beginning and during stages made it feel unfinished. This seems like an unusual choice, seeing as they did add English dubbing for the different character endings, so the missing stage dialogue is very weird.
This is a rather simple and short title, with only 6 stages and 4 tracks for the Time Trials. But the multiple racers, endings and unlockable content expands the value on offer for players. There is also a local ranking system to set scores and times for clearing the different modes, allowing for players to challenge themselves and others. If it had released during the online age, this would have likely have gained a community of dedicated players.
I really enjoy Ray Tracers, as I was also a fan of the Chase HQ series, having the Super Nintendo version before this game was released. This game feels like a natural progression of the series, as the games before it were all released in 2D, with the series not getting a 3D release until 2007. While it doesn’t share the same name, the spirit of Chase HQ is present, with the chaotic driving and vehicular combat to take down the enemy targets.
On the secondary market, the English and Japanese game is widely available, but the prices are rather inconsistent. The Japanese version (which is the better version in my opinion) is relatively affordable, with many copies staying on the lower end of the price scale. However, the PAL and NTSC versions of the game can swing wildly in price, with fluctuating prices that often exceed the prices for the Domestic release at the lowest quality.
Taito have been fairly good with re-releasing their older games, as has been seen with licensing their games to be released via the Saturn Tribute, Arcade Archives and enhanced ports. So there is a small chance that they may give Ray Tracers another shot at life, which could be possible through the Console Archives library. I am not getting my hopes up, but there is the possibility for this to happen, especially given that Cool Boarders was revived through this series.
If you have enjoyed this feature, then please stick around and see what else catches your eye. I cover a wide range of games in reviews, get special previews and put out regular features. I have Lost Gems, Retro Revival where I discuss re-releases and the occasional Gaming Oddities piece, where I cover weird and wacky titles. So stay a while and have a look around.
W.Kohaku Media 