Uniracers is a racing game created by DMA Design (British video game developers) and released by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom. It was first launched in North America in 1994 and later in Europe in 1995 where it was known as Unirally.
When I first saw this game on Youtube features about Super Nintendo hidden gems, I thought it looked pretty dumb. But then a friend of mine introduced me to it. At first, I did not like it (probably because I was not good at it), but after playing it a lot, I started to like it. Eventually, I could not stop playing it, and I wonder why it flew under the radar. 1994 was great year for video games indeed as competition among great games being released was very stiff.
The Story
Uniracers are built for just one thing: speed! They race at incredible speeds and can perform all kinds of cool, crazy tricks like flips, twists, and big jumps on ramps, hills, and half pipes. The more dangerous the stunt, the faster they go! Racing is what they exist for. You can race against the clock, challenge your friends, or go for tournaments. You can even go up against the ghost bike to try to become the ultimate champion of the fastest racing game on the Super NES.
The Graphics and Sound
This game has graphics that are really simple and nothing stands out as special. That is not a bad thing, though, because there is nothing distracting you from the racing. However, the neon-checkered patterns on the racing track can sometimes be annoying or hard on the eyes. They might even make you want to look away or make you dizzy you up, almost like you are hypnotized.
As for the sound, the music is great and almost perfect for a racing game. But there are not that many sound effects, except maybe when you crash or do the stunt trick. The main highlight here is definitely the music.
The Gameplay
Uniracers is a game where you race on tracks as a unicycle without a rider manning it. That's right, it is just a damn unicycle. You can pull off stunt tricks to boost your speed, and the bigger the trick, the bigger the speed boost you are getting. It is a simple yet really fun balance that makes the game exciting. Sure, it is not a super complex game like most games today, but it is about racing a unicycle. It sounds silly, but it is definitely not boring.
Well, it is very simple. The stunts you can do are easy to manage if you take it slow, but trying a big stunt trick right away can cause you to crash. One thing that can be annoying is that sometimes it is hard to pull off the trick properly, and you might crash your unicycle. It can be frustrating when you are trying to do tricks for a cool speed boost but end up crashing it instead. But that challenge of deciding when and where to perform the trick is part of what makes the game kinda fun.
Replayability is quite excellent. I had a blast playing Uniracers over and over because it is just so much fun. It gets even better when you play with a friend, bringing out some real, fun competition.
My Verdict
I say grab a copy of Uniracers – it would make a fantastic addition to your 16-bit retro game collection.
Play it on the superb Super Nintendo/Super Famicom or play it on a fantastic emulator. Play it with a friend.