Redline Racer (Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing for the European and North American Dreamcast release, European Game Boy Color release and Microsoft Windows re-release) is a racing game that was developed by Criterion Games and published by Ubi Soft.
Gameplay
The player controls a motorcycle racer and starts every race from the last position. There are three tracks and three bikes to choose from at first, with more becoming available (10 tracks and 8 bikes in total) as the player wins the races on each of the tracks. The player can also choose the team that the racer belongs to, as well as the racer's sex. All the tracks are set in different environments: a canyon, a tropical island without a highway, an area full of orchards, etc. A race lasts for three laps.
Development
The game was first mentioned in January 1998.[9] The Game Boy Color version was one of a number of Ubi Soft games for the platform that utilized the "Ubi Key" feature, allowing players to share data between games via the system's infrared port and unlock extra content.[10]
The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[11]Next Generation called it "just another average racing game with which to pass the time. It is a shame because Redline Racer does look really good."[21]
The PC version of Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[27] Jeff Lundrigan of NextGen said that the Dreamcast version "has the Suzuki team license (obviously) and some fairly decent graphics, but that's about it. In fact, on the whole, it's about as generic as they come."[42] In Japan, where the same Dreamcast version was released first under the name Redline Racer (ใฌใใใฉใคใณใฌใผใตใผ, Reddorain Rฤsฤ) on 29 April 1999, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.[32]
^In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the Dreamcast version, two critics gave it each a score of 6/10, one gave it 5/10, and the other gave it 6.5/10.
^Ryan, Michael E. (16 September 1998). "Redline Racer Review". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 4 July 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
^Blevins, Tal (12 October 1998). "Redline Racer". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
^Vaughn, Todd (November 1998). "Redline Racer". PC Gamer. Vol. 5, no. 11. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on 18 January 2000. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
