"Megarace." Perhaps I'm in a minority of one but don't you just read the name of a game sometimes and think to yourself, "This sucks". The title "Ridge Racer" doesn't invoke the same sense of doubt or for that matter "Need for speed" but the very name, "...Megarace..." almost forces your lip to curl-up into a snarl and a total look of apathy to spread across the remainder of your entire face. Say it again, "Megarace", "Smegarace" ...

I'm told you should never judge a game by the name or a book by its cover. Whatever - let us move on.

The name Megarace is derived by joining two words together. One of which was 'Race' and indeed, you race. There are a selection of cars that grows as you progress and each car can be armed and improved to help you win the the next 'race'. Not, I can tell what you are thinking, an entirely original concept.

To be fair if Cryo, the developers of Megarace, had been entirely truthful in the naming of their game however, it would have been Dire-race. The game play is shameful. I could wax lyrical about the appaling AI or the dull, right-angle infested tracks but I shall not, just trust me when I tell you, Yes! It is that bad.

So, if that is 'race', what was 'mega'?

What does mega mean? When prefixed it can mean the following:

"Mega-
pref.
Large: megadose.
Surpassing other examples of its kind; extraordinary: megahit.
One million (106): megahertz"

Did the 'Mega' part mean it, Megarace, surpasses, as in the dictionary definition, other racing games? No. Without any fear of contradiction, no, it did not surpass other racing games. Even Crash 'n Burn is better.

So, did the 'Mega' element mean Megarace was large? It would be unfair to say Megarace wasn't in fairness pretty large. There were 8 tracks and 8 cars. Mega though? Hmmm, probably not. OK then. How about large in other ways?

Maybe the 'Mega' component of the name 'Megarace' refers to the use of Megabytes. Loads and loads of megabytes. Not of game play or sophisticated enemy AI (artificial intelligence) you must understand but of streaming media.

There are hours, possibly days of fully rendered 3D city scapes streaming from the CD. It was all perhaps pretty in 1994 but in 2005 it is pretty-awful.

The presenter is streamed from CD. The introduction to each level is streamed from CD. The race tracks are streamed from CD and the cars are overlaid (badly) on the courses, that have been streamed from CD. Everything is streamed from CD. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when done badly, yes, it is a bad thing.

The worst kind of MegaStreaming (you see what I've done there, clever eh?) was the presenter. A presenter whose natural ability to make your flesh creep, could have only been surpassed if they had bothered to include the video, "Michael Jackson - Little nude friends of mine in my play kingdom."

So, there you have it: Mega as in 'Mega-amounts-of-CD-streaming' and 'race' as in racing cars.

No doubt someone will give it a 'B' grade. (I'm looking at you Primal Rage lover, I'm looking at you!)

3DO Kid.

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