on its own as a "fine racing game". Craig Harris of IGN stated in his retrospective that the game's simplicity and "race or die" focus make it one of the best racing games of its time. He also mentioned how the power glove does not improve player control, though felt the experience was still fun. Hardcore Gaming 101’s Jeremy Peeples and Neil Foster praised the game's sense of speed and arcade levels of difficulty, but criticized the lack of personality and faulty collision physics.Rad Racer was ranked number 57 on IGNs Top 100 Nintendo Entertainment System games and was called "iconic" and one of the NES's premier racing games. Maxim named the title as the number four 8-bit title of all time. Legacy Due to most of Rad Racer sales being from the United States, Rad Racer II was developed and released only in North America for the NES and the arcade. The sequel featured eight new tracks and new music but similar gameplay. Hardcore Gamer 101 said that steering was looser than the first game and rival cars more aggressive, leading to a less enjoyable playing experience. Despite the efforts of Square to make unique games with 3D features such as Rad Racer and 3-D Worldrunner, and high sales, the company was in financial trouble. These events are what led to a final attempt at a breakout hit, Final Fantasy. Rad Racer appeared in a scene in the movie The Wizard. It was also one of three games, including Super Mario Bros. and Tetris'', featured at the 1990 Nintendo World Championship with an exclusive racing level to complete as one of the rounds of competition. The limited-edition release of the game's cartridge used in the tournament is now the rarest and most valuable Nintendo games available. References Notes Citations External links 1987 video games Nintendo arcade games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo games PlayChoice-10 games Racing video games Square (video game company) games Square Enix franchises Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Nobuo Uematsu Video games with stereoscopic 3D graphics Video games set in Arizona Video games set in California Video games set in Greece