Rumble Racing
| Rumble Racing | |
|---|---|
|
North American PlayStation 2 cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Composer(s) | Don Veca |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Rumble Racing is a PlayStation 2 racing video game from Electronic Arts. It was influenced by Electronic Arts’ NASCAR Rumble and was developed by the same individuals at EA’s Redwood Shores location.
Gameplay
Mechanics
Rumble Racing combines a few different arcade racing mechanics to deliver an experience where every second counts.
Arcade Physics
The driving experience is very arcade, with the emphasis on fun rather than realism. Traction, vehicle stability, stunts, and acceleration are all geared toward movie car chase-esque ideals rather than real world.
Power-Ups
In a manner similar to Mario Kart Racing and Crash Team Racing, players can drive through power up spheres that award the player with a random power-up, which goes into one of two power-up slots. These vary based on the player's current position in the race. Being in last place gives the player a greater chance of getting Twister, which summons a tornado to fling their opponents into mid-air. If the player is in first, he or she might get a speed boost, or an oil slick, or any of various other weaker power-ups. Using the R1 or L1 shoulder buttons, players can activate their choice of held power-ups. Using the look back button at the same time allows players to drop most of the offensive power-ups behind them as a trap.
Jumps and Stunts
Rumble Racing tracks are filled with opportunities to jump the cars. While airborne, players can hold down the Stunt button (R2), this lets players rotate, pitch, and roll the car to accumulate stunt points. If the car is landed more or less on all four wheels, the stunt points are instantly changed into seconds of Nitro boost. One of the key strategies in Rumble Racing is to stunt often enough to be in Nitro Speed mode as often as possible.
Shortcuts
Each track has a number of obvious and hidden shortcuts that can shave off valuable seconds from the lap time.
Easter Eggs
Each of the main tracks has an Easter Egg (literally, a large, colored egg) that unlocks a special ‘fun’ vehicle that can a variation of other cars (i.e. Blue Devil is a variant of Maelstrom) or completely different and exotic (Interceptor, Road Trip, etc.).
Progression
The player progresses through three levels of competition: Rookie, Pro and Elite. To unlock Pro and Elite the player has to win EA Rookie Cup and EA Pro Cup. It gets harder as play progresses, but new cars can be unlocked along the way. To unlock cars, the player must have a score of first place. Higher points are awarded for first, second or third place. Placement also determines where the player is placed in subsequent races. There are 14 Main Tracks in the game with beach, country, stunt track, desert, airport, and mountain themes, as well as special bonus tracks such as a small colosseum oval track and a bizarre track named Outer Limits with weird elements like caverns and road bumps.
Car Levels
Each car has three different tiers which unlock as the player makes progression through championships, races, or stunt events: Rookie, Pro, and Elite. Rookie is the beginning class that every vehicle starts on, they are the slowest (Max speed 139 MPH with a Nitro Speed top speed of 159 MPH) and have little to no visual upgrades, engine upgrades, etc. Pro tiered cars have faster speeds (159 MPH max, 179 MPH Nitro Speed max) and more dynamic feeling than cars in Rookie tier. They have slight cosmetic and performance upgrades as well as new vinyls. Elite cars are the highest upgrade versions of the vehicles. Cars have greatly increased performances and differ greatly from their lower tiered variations.They have greater cosmetic upgrades such as blowers on the engines, racing slicks, over fenders, and new vinyls. Elite vehicles have a max normal speed of 179 MPH and a maximum Nitro Speed top speed of 197 MPH.