When I think of racing games, I think of classic titles like Ridge racer, and of course, my favourite, Rage Racer. But what we have here is something just that little bit different. I'd say the first thing that sprang to mind when I saw this game was how similar to Re-Volt RC De Go actually was! I can't really give you much of a comparison between the two games, alas. I've only really seen Re-Volt briefly. But what I did see, looked quite similar to this game. So... d'you think you have the skill and reactions to be the RC De GO champ? ...We shall see! Only time will tell if you're up to the challenge!

RC De GO contains 14 different courses, which are both on and off-road tracks. In this game, as expected, you start off with quite slow, easy races. The RC car isn't that fast either. But as you qualify in the many different races, by coming either 1st, 2nd or 3rd, you win credit points. With these credit points you can buy items which enhance your car's overall performance. As I said above, there are on-road and off-road tracks for you to complete. And as you complete them - on-road course 1/off-road course 1, etc - you unlock new bodies to replace the one you start off with. These bodies are normally fun ones, like a sumo wrestler, bear or an ambulance, etc. There is at least one normal sports car, but the majority consists of fun bodies. To unlock these bodies, you need to come in 1st place. "Sounds easy I hear you say." Hmm, at the start I'll agree with you, but as the race goes on, It gets damn hard. Put it this way... there's 6 special courses and two special locked courses (that I'm aware of). I've got gold up until course 5 on both on and off-road. But course 6? Hell no, to hard. Lol! :) But, I'm sure I will. So, how many more bodies there are left to get, I don't know. : / A lot of these courses, I didn't get gold 1st time. Some of them took, what seemed like forever.

I've noticed this game goes from really easy to stupidly hard. When I say hard, oh yes, I mean hard. I've seen the red mist form in front of my eyes on many an occasion while playing this game. So if you're like me, and you have a very short fuse, I don't think you're going to be playing this for to long before throwing a wobbly.

I'd say some of the tracks will take more than one go to master. But hey, that's a good thing! It just means that you're getting you're moneys worth right? One thing I really like, is the dash button. It basically gives you that little bit of extra speed off the start up line, or whenever you really need it. I personally like the fact that you can you use the dash button to go smashing right into the back of the person in front, getting you closer to the front of the pack, and sending them flying into the air at the same time. He-he. :)

Tactics play quite an important role in this game. For example, when you first start out, you can quite easily get by without changing your tires. After all, I did. But as the tracks start to get that little bit harder, you might want to consider paying the shop a visit to buy the right tires for the right track. You can also buy a lot of other items in the shop. Items like a better engine, throttle servo, steering servo, driving parts, suspension. Basically more than I can really list. I've managed to buy everything now. And believe me, you'll notice a lot of difference in the speed and handling.

Well, I'm afraid I don't think much of the default controls. Don't get me wrong, they can easily be changed, but that's not the point. My main complaint is about the analogue setup. Most of the driving games I've come across in the past use either one analogue stick (usually the left) and the buttons, or both of the analogue sticks, with the left one being for the steering and the right one for the acceleration and braking. But, do the default controls start of like this? Nooooo, I think not! They've basically gone and used both of the sticks, which is ok, but they've gone and reversed the order around - right being the steering stick and left being the acceleration stick. Seriously annoying if you ask me.

The navigation around the menus is self-explanatory. At the title screen prompt, press Start. This takes you to the main menu. The main menu consists of the following... Practice Mode, Quick Race Mode, Championship Mode, Time Attack Mode, Record, Option. Practice Mode is a control tutorial that ends up with you taking part in a practice race. Quick Race Mode is good practice for the championship as it's only a single track race. Championship Mode is a high points race where points enable you to soup up your car to win more races. Record enables you to keep a close eye on where you actually stand on the high score table. Option basically enables you to configure RC De GO's settings to suit your individual preference. You can do this by altering things like the difficulty and the keys. Here's something some of you might like. This game supports the NeGcon pad. The in-game controls are easy enough. There's not that many buttons for you to remember. All it consists of is Accelerate, brake, dash and steering.

Instead of - like in usual games - trailing behind the car, or viewing from an internal view, the camera angles you do get are offered via a fixed view located within stands. Naturally, this is where the RC operators would normally control their RC vehicles so you get more of that realistic feel. I personally don't like this view much; I'm more into the usual driving game camera angles. But all the same, it's not that hard to get used to. It shouldn't take you that long to pick it up. After all, I managed to get used to it. And if I can, anyone can! :)

I'd say RC De GO is quite a nice looking game. I like some of the little touches that have been added. Like for example, blossom flowing in the wind. As you're racing along you also get to see little wakes of blossom flying up behind you. The buildings on the track-side are bright and colourful. A lot of attention to detail has been paid. As you're driving along, the antenna swishes gently from side-to-side in the breeze. Even the grass is quite nice. On some of the grassy tracks they've gone as far as making it look patchy. You know; where grass doesn't grow properly due to people walking on it to much and instead you get little patches where earth shows through. Some tracks even cross over water where you might see little model boats sailing around. The track quality can also vary from dusty to wet. They've even gone as far as including video footage of an actual RC race on the intro.

RC De GO's music is the typical sound you'd expect from a Japanese racing game. It sounds like a sort of Gran Turismo-ish pop tune. I sort of came to this conclusion after putting on a few of my Psx games to come up with a decent comparison. I dunno, I guess it's because, like Gran Turismo, they've used guitars in their music. The sound of the little RC engines has, in my opinion be done quite well. I suppose you could say, they buzz along the track. You can definatly hear the strain of the engines as they drive along, flat out. The commentator sounds like he really enjoys his job. He definitely sounds happy to be there. The crowd even cheers you on to victory. But hey, I don't think they're that fussy who they cheer for. :)

My first impression of this game? Hmmm, I don't know. I suppose you could say I wasn't that impressed. Don't get me wrong, I like driving games, it's just that I didn't immediately find this game that appealing. After playing it for a bit, I completely changed my opinion. I suppose it's because it was the first time playing a racing game of this kind. I think it's still an enjoyable game. But one complaint I do have, is the view. I've got used to it now, but I'd still prefer a front view. I really like to be able to cut corners very fine. I find that easier with the front view than I do with the current view. I guess I'm saying that because I'm used to playing Rage Racer style racing games. If there was a view change option, it might make the later/faster levels more easier. I personally think after doing a lot of upgrading to your vehicle, the races become more like pinball. It's not impossible to judge the corners and gaps, it's just damn hard. I feel a view option would have been good. After all, different people like different things.