Ludography
Ray Tracers cover

1997 · Taito · Racing · Vehicular combat

Ray Tracers

PlayStation exclusive

The Tracer Team is looking for a few good drivers. Don't get the wrong idea, though. In Ray Tracers a "good driver" always exceeds 150 mph, crashes into everything possible and uses up nitro boosters like they're going out of style. so, have you got what it takes?

Released
17 January 1997
Platforms
PlayStationPlayStation 3PlayStation Portable
Genres
RacingVehicular combat
Developers
Taito
Publishers
Taito
Perspective
First personThird person
Themes
Action
Country
Japan
Age ratings
ESRB ECERO AUSK 6ACB G
Languages
English, Japanese

About

Ray Tracers is a 1997 vehicular combat video game developed by Taito and released for the PlayStation console. THQ published the title for its North American release in 1998. Ray Tracers has been compared to Taito's own Chase H.Q. from 1988. It was re-released on the PlayStation Network.

Keywords

  • vehicular combat
  • anime
  • street racing
  • playstation network
  • vehicle combat
  • digital distribution
  • psone classics
  • combat racing
  • playstation tv support
  • backwards compatibility
  • promo vhs

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of driving a car along a street. There is a timer on the top-left, which counts down. Enemies, in the form of robots, appear from the front and are damaged by ramming. Killing an enemy extends the player's time.

Reception

Ray Tracers received mixed reviews. While multiple critics praised the tight controls, strong sense of speed, high frame rate, and light sourcing effects, they almost unanimously concluded that the game is both excessively easy and excessively short, giving players no reason to buy it since they could easily finish it on a single rental and the replay value is minimal. Computer and Video Games lamented, "Fun though Ray Tracers is, there's just not enough to it. A real shame."

Some also commented that the gameplay is too simplistic, to the point where it becomes monotonous even before one finishes the game. GamePro remarked that a multiplayer mode could have greatly increased Ray Tracer's lasting appeal, but without it the game became monotonous quickly. IGN was among the few publications to defend the game; while concurring that the gameplay is extremely simplistic, the reviewer felt that it was fun enough that players would enjoy popping it in now and then for casual gaming sessions despite its lack of concrete replay value.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation17 January 1997Japan · North America 5 March 1997 · Europe 1 July 1997
PlayStation PortableDigital Compatibility Release29 October 2008Japan
PlayStation 3Digital Compatibility Release29 October 2008Japan

Games like this

Collections4 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.