I wonder how many times it's happened - someone brings home Vanishing Point, puts it in the ol DC, is astounded by the opening cinema, and, with an expectant and thumping heart, starts a race.Only two cars open at the beginning? -- well, OK. Only one track as well? - Hmm, that's a little strange. And then the race begins. The Explorer (or Mustang) slides all over the road, fishtailing like mad, and then flips over, seemingly on its own. "What the heck is this??!??" The once-hopeful gamer removes the disc, and returns it to the store right away.
Ah, my friend, what joys you have missed.
Vanishing Point is yet another addition to the crowded line of Dreamcast racers, but has enough innovation and depth to place it in the upper echelon along with Metropolis Street Racer, Test Drive Le Mans, and Sega GT. VP is, at its core, a strange mix of street and rally racing - you choose everyday cars (examples are the aforementioned Ford Explorer and Mustang, the Lotus Elisse, BMW 325i, and quirky offerings like the VW Microbus and Mercury Sable Wagon: there are over thirty cars in all, and all perform very differently) and race on several tracks, ranging from a nighttime trip through downtown to a semi-offroad course through a mountain town. The courses are populated by regular drivers, as well as drivers you're competing against - but you're not trying to beat them all to the finish line. Rather, each race has a pre-determined time limit that you must beat, similar to rally racing. As you careen through the course, your "place" is updated at invisible checkpoints, and you're shown just how far off (or ahead) of the 1st-place pace you are, as well as where your current pace places you. It takes a little getting used to, but is easy to grasp.
This time-based system makes each race an intense experience. You can't really relax for fear of losing precious seconds. The tracks are full of obstacles that aim to slow you down, and the traffic gets in the way as well. The other competing drivers are the worst - they'll intentionally block you or ram you from behind, which is always surprising until you learn to anticipate it.
VP has many, many secrets to unlock, which is a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you always have sufficient motivation to replay the game to unlock that next car or track or game mode. On the other hand, too little is available at the beginning, which is off-putting to gamers expecting immediate satisfaction. It's almost as if the developers wanted to reward players who stuck with the admittedly crazy handling of the early cars. Once you put in a few hours, win some tournaments, and start unlocking vehicles, the sky-high quality of the racing engine becomes apparent, and VP becomes a real honest gem.
Another aspect of VP is the high number of play modes. Single Race is pretty self-explanatory. Tournament Mode is a series of three challenges per car, and contains the meat of the game overall. Each car has a Bronze (2 courses, 2 laps), Silver (3 courses, 2 laps) and Gold (3 courses, 3 laps) stage to the tournament. You are awarded points based on your finishing position, and must finish first in each stage to advance to the next. Completion of a stage usually results in unlocking something, which keeps you motivated. There are also several multiplayer modes, a few of which are unlocked as you go - I don't want to spoil them here, but rest assured that they're well worth it, not to mention refreshingly unusual!
VP also has a Stunt Mode, which could have been a game unto itself. You are presented with increasingly difficult challenges in a pre-determined car, which range from "Pop all the Balloons!" to "Perform a Barrel Roll!". If you complete the challenge, you're given a score from 1-100 depending on how long you took, etc. Additional challenges are opened based on your cumulative score, and you'll often find yourself going back to completed challenges to try and raise your score by a point or two in order to unlock the next event. Stunt Mode is incredibly addictive, not to mention incredibly challenging.
As you can see, Vanishing Point is stuffed to the gills with content. It also looks gorgeous, never budging from its high-frame rate and resolution. There's no car damage, but who wants to drive around with broken headlights and dented doors? The tracks are filled with eye-candy, from waterfalls, passing trains and monorails to huge airliners flying right over the track or floating hot-air balloons. You can race the tracks in reverse, mirrored, or mirrored reverse, and they're designed so well that each seems like an entirely new track. The soundtrack is much more tolerable than typical racing-game techno, and the ambient sound effects are superb. Technically, VP is a masterpiece.
Vanishing Point is a true underrated Dreamcast classic. It suffers only from initially daunting challenge, but once you unlearn what other racing games may have taught you and start unlocking all the hidden features, you'll find an almost bottomless game that's immensely challenging yet enjoyable, alone or with friends. Racing enthusiasts should not let VP pass them by.
