Discussion The best* thing about Wave Race 64 is it doesn't have rubber band AI at all**

[Stopdoor]

*Maybe this isn't actually the best thing but y'know
**I might be wrong about this, going entirely on vibes lol

I've been playing the Wave Race games for the first time in the last month or two. Like most gamers with good taste, I was enthralled with the timeless perfection of Wave Race 64. At first I thought it was too difficult to complete the Hard and Expert level Championships, but the more I played the more I started to really get sucked in, and one reason that kept it really motivating was that sometimes, the AI really screws up and takes an awful fall. Wiping out in Wave Race is kind of extra brutal - it takes so long to recover. It's make it or break it, a race can really come down to "perfection". So one way to solve that would be to slow down the AI racers when they're in front of you, the classic rubberbanding, but then that also comes with them miraculously being on your tail constantly and never letting you have satisfaction from pulling off sweet lines.

The alternative is the AI wipes out as badly as you do and takes the L, and you know, it's just really satisfying when they do. The game seems to maybe have a concept of a "rival" like Mario Kart, but they're not infallible. It's a bit of a random element to take advantage of but it just feels really fresh and "real" for a racing game, since most video games really try to manicure the experience.

Anyway, that's all. Give it a try if you like the idea of a racing game without rubberbanding. I'm playing Wave Race Blue Storm now and as far as I can tell it just does rubber banding and doesn't have the same satisfaction. Hoping I'll get into the zone with it like 64 and cruise through the harder difficulties but it's not looking good.

 

[JazzyFuture]

I think the funniest example of rubber banding not really mattering in a game is F-Zero X, because if you go too fast, the people behind will speed up and likely launch themselves off the track, ironically making a lot of tracks easier if you get really far ahead.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

It's actually the stellar soundtrack but this is also pretty good. Speeding away from the competition in this game feels so good. One of the GOATs.

 

[big lantern ghost]

It's right up there with the song for Drake Lake and the hilarious announcer as one of the game's many virtues. Dang Wave Rave 64 is good.

 

[Revolsin]

majorly unpopular opinion but im a fan of rubberbanding in racing games, at least for racers behind you.

it 'feels' bad initially that racers catch up to you so unnaturally, but for me it just makes the skill requirement to win that much higher and more fun to reach. and of course races always feel tight and close which requires much more of you paying attention.

F-Zero Max Velocity which i've been playing recently has this mechanic. i unlocked the ultimate car early on through some tricks, and it technically should've let me blaze through most tracks for free. it didn't though, cause rubberbanding. i ended up having to gain drastically more skill to keep my turns sharp and clean and smart boost utilization to actually keep racers behind me.

as i am now with a ton more experience and having beaten the game with even the worst cars, i can completely dominate rubberbanding cpu with the ultimate car to where they can never get in front, and it's not even close. i really like how it forced me to get significantly better.

 

[Raccoon]

seconding the assertion that its best feature is its soundtrack

I hope if Takahashi gets his new game made he pulls Totaka out of retirement for it

 

[Stopdoor]

majorly unpopular opinion but im a fan of rubberbanding in racing games, at least for racers behind you.

it 'feels' bad initially that racers catch up to you so unnaturally, but for me it just makes the skill requirement to win that much higher and more fun to reach. and of course races always feel tight and close which requires much more of you paying attention.

F-Zero Max Velocity which i've been playing recently has this mechanic. i unlocked the ultimate car early on through some tricks, and it technically should've let me blaze through most tracks for free. it didn't though, cause rubberbanding. i ended up having to gain drastically more skill to keep my turns sharp and clean and smart boost utilization to actually keep racers behind me.

as i am now with a ton more experience and having beaten the game with even the worst cars, i can completely dominate rubberbanding cpu with the ultimate car to where they can never get in front, and it's not even close. i really like how it forced me to get significantly better.

Honestly, a completely fair point. I know what you mean, I didn't perfect Maximum Velocity to that level but also still really enjoyed that constant pressure and it pushed me to get better.

 

[Stopdoor]

Just want to briefly update that Wave Race Blue Storm is good, actually - I don't think it has the same non-rubber banding I described here, but I ended up switching to a GameCube controller with a really tight analog stick and whew boy, it made a massive difference and it was a joy to shred the courses on Expert circuit. My apologies to Wave Race Blue Storm for disparaging it.