Uniracers

Review

by Brett Alan Weiss

The folks at Nintendo took a huge chance, pouring loads of money into production and marketing when they created Uniracers for the Super Nintendo. It's questionable whether the gamble was worth it, as the game was a moderate commercial success. While you could argue if Nintendo was wise putting so much stock in a game of unicycle racing, there's no doubt that this is one of the most unique games ever created for any system. There's simply nothing else like it.

Silicon Graphics work stations, the same equipment employed for creating Donkey Kong Country, were used to bring life to the colorful, animated, and somehow endearing unicycles. The cycles seem to have their own personalities. After a win, they even do little victory dances. While the graphics are nowhere near as lush and varied as Donkey Kong Country, they're not supposed to be. Uniracers is elegantly simplistic in concept and design. The graphics are crisp, clean, and flawless, even when the unicycles are running at breakneck speeds. In stark contrast to the streamlined look of this game, the music rocks hard.

Uniracers is certainly not for everyone. Those who like skate boarding games will probably like it because of the tricks you can perform. Racing fans will appreciate the high speeds, and anyone looking for something a little different and nonviolent will want to at least give this game a try. The controls, once you get used to them, are smooth and efficient. The competition is fun and exciting, and the little unicycles are actually cool and enjoyable to control in a strange kind of way.