The greatest era of any motorsport in my opinion. I spent far too many hours on both ToCA 2 and the old duke reviews as a kid - Cleland and Thompson were my heroes growing up. Can relate to being a late 90's kid and missing it as it happens, but it's still stuff I show to my friends getting into motorsport to this day - the golden era of the BTCC, and sparked a lifelong love affair with the series til this day.
How about the AMP 1998 Bathurst 1000! Those were special 2litre touring car days. Unfortunately will never be repeated. Great game series. Me and my dad would not miss a BTCC race during those late 90’s and we lived in Australia. Well before internet was a push of the button. The races would be shown Wednesday nights on our satellite tv. Great times thanks for these special memories!
The sequel to this game, released 12 months later, is still, to this day, one of the finest racing games ever made. Toca 1 started the franchise but Toca 2 improved everything that the first had to offer. Better graphics, better a.i., improved car handling, more modes. Toca 2 is still one of my favourite racing games.
I love both games, for me personally I have to say Toca 2 was the ultimate one. Every change was an improvement, built on the great foundations of this game. Can’t believe it’s 25 years old!
I used to play this on PS1 just recently got it on PC and with a wheel! It's alot better on PC smoother and slightly better looking, falling in love all over again.
ToCA 2 - the sequel - was the game I played to death as a kid. It was fantastic, with a huge amount of replay value from support classes to unlockable tracks. Fantastic memories!
Having attended the races during this era and recently as a marshall. It was much more entertaining! Clelland is a legend. Glad he owns his car from these classic days.
Me and my brother rented the game and hated the lack of progress (needing so many points to unlock tracks) and then, for Xmas, my mom had bought the game and said she purchased before we rented and disliked it. We played it, got into it, had great fun desperately trying to progress and ending up loving it! I still play it today occasionally and love the BTCC then and now. I have fond memories of Murray Walker, great drivers, iconic moments and great tracks. I attend dozens of motorsport events a year now and have done since getting bitten by the bug attending my first BTCC race in 1994 aged 16. Enjoyed this video a lot - great to see the game isnt forgotten.
This game + TOCA 2 + TOCA World Touring Cars were amazing games and imo (one of) the best games codemasters have ever released thus far. Thank you for making a video about it!
I still have it. When the rules changed in the BTCC to beome the 2.0l formula I was 9yrs old. Every other weekend during the season I would park myself in front of the TV on a Sunday to watch the sport that I loved and the legends of touring cars battle it out. When TOCA came out and then TOCA2.... I became one of them. It was an amazing experience. Yes it was only a game, but at the same time i'm now racing around all the same tracks in all the same cars as my idols. NOTHING will ever beat 1990s BTCC, 1991 to 1999 is the best era of racing in any category anywhere around the world.
Im 54 Years old. I was swearing at my big fat TV every weekend watching the BTCC, still have the Duke videos of all the seasons in the 90's and a VHS player lol. Cleland, absolute legend, still my favourite racing driver. Toca and Toca 2 were what got me into PC racing, well that and Fatal racing, the NFS Underground. I look back now at what we had then, compared to what we have now, played racing games on a Sidewinder joystick lol. Now I have a full Fanatec rig, but I do miss the good old days. My mate and I were discussing racing games a few weeks ago, remembering fondly lapping Interlagos in Geoff Crammonds F1 doing lap times within 0.1 of a second consistantly, with a joystick lol. Oh how things have changed.
Cleland was fantastic value on and off the track. Toca 2 is still the only ‘game’ I’ve ever bought, blew my mind at the time ❤ Never underestimate the power or influence of such small seeds being sewn in the interests of the young 😊
There is a discord group for TOCA 2 Touring Cars (1998) and I ocasionally still play it from time to time. It was so amazing for it's time and still manages to have certain qualities that are missing on modern games. Maybe my first experience going into a "sim-like" experience. All the critics that one could have on the first TOCA were improved in TOCA2, with more QOL features and more game modes, fantasy tracks and support car championships.
The TOCA PS1 got me into BTCC, and i still go to events to this day. Just came back from Super Tourer Power 2 @ Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago and got to see these classics racing again which was EPIC!
The incredible nostalgic vibes I get with this is insane. I used to play this with my dad when I was a kid. The sounds, the visuals...the memories are amazing. The tank with the turret, the pink caddy and the volcano track you could get where fantastic 😂😂
Awesome, thanks for sharing those memories! It’s a game that hits hard on the nostalgia scale, probably also because of the real-world BTCC state at the time. Not only the game, but the sport as a whole was just magical!
Another beautifully presented video, John. The "I was a BTCC fanboy - oh dear!" moment commands my respect because I know how much work must have gone into just getting that ONE BIT of audio for a laugh! As for ToCA's first game, I remember being pathetically poor at it as a kid, after first "learning to drive on a PlayStation" through Colin McRae Rally. I once cut the chicane at Donington Park GP to the hairpin and remember the joy that filled my body seeing "1" by my position and actually seeing the two Lagunas on track for the first time! My Dad got me and my brother a wheel and pedals as well as these weird force feedback vests one year, and it didn't exactly improve the experience. This is one of those games where you look back now and think "how on Earth did I ever get good at this below the age of 10?!"
It's so difficult to get the hang of! I get that feeling as well with old games.... How on earth did I ever make any progress!? But I think we forget that as kids, that was all we knew and I'm sure we were quick to adapt to the handling models of the time. This time round it took me a good couple of hours of playing before I was able to complete consecutive laps without spinning😂 Really glad you enjoyed the video Chaz, and the appreciation of the Murray clip haha! Glad this game brings back the great memories for you as well. I reckon you should do a series trying to make it through the championship mode nowadays. Avenge yourself 😎
I always remembered this as being the first game where you could have realistic collisions and aftermath. Sometimes the AI would just slide it, sometimes they would spin off. But it all felt real and expected. And sometimes, they would just shovel you out of the way. It was great fun knowing consequences were real from all vectors and you could randomize weather for a bit of spice.
Such a great era for racing games. Things have come so far in such a short space of time, but it’s great that these games still hold their charm today.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video and the commentary. I was an official BTCC Photographer during the Super touring era. At the time I never realised what an iconic era it would be become. It’s time I got into my attic and had a rummage! Keep up the great work. 🙂👍🏼
My memories of this era are vivid, I was in my mid to late teens with me and a few friends going to a round or two each year when student funds allowed. Much as I love BTCC still I think the Aussie V8 Super cars is the best saloon tin top series these days.
A great series of games tbh. The best for me was Toca World Touring Cars. Even though not officially licensed teams-wise, the amount of cars and tracks were incredible. Not to mention night-races, like the BTCC did from 1998-2001. Sad the last outing for the full BTCC license was 2002's Toca Race Driver, based on the 2001 season. I waited for the 2003 season in Race Driver 2, but to no avail. How much I wanted to race that Petronas Proton...
I'm from Brazil and I played many ToCA and ToCA 2 when I was young. I love the vibe from 90s races. We had a lot of influence from European and American racing games in the past, and only in the early 2010s, we had the Brazilian Stock Car game. Now, these games has become Automobilista 1 and 2 and are very competitive games in the market.
Got this game as a gift back in the day. Hated the car handling first time I played it, then never touched the game again for years. After dusting it off my shelve more recently, having gotten better at driving and racing games, I stuck the disc in my old PS1 and started playing again and loved it. Got used to the handling and the game was brilliant, fun, challenging, and I totally get why it was popular.
This was the game I bought my and only racing wheel and pedals for. I went to 5 of the tracks, Silverstone being my closest. I spent sooo many nights in my beloved Peugeots on this and TOCA2. The AI was lethal!
This was the first game I had for PlayStation; I still remember playing it on Christmas morning. If I recall correctly, there's a turn in the last sector of Croft that's great for flipping Audis.
Used to go to Oulton for the BTCC races in the late 90's - some great memories, including being stood around ten meters from James Thompson's crash that went into the Grandstand opening titles. Made me appreciate how much energy they dissipate in a split second. Got to do a few laps in a Vectra Challenge car on a track day for Vauxhall's business customers (thanks Dad!)
I was lucky enough to see the last 2 and a bit years of Super Touring, 1998 in particular was fantastic. Was even lucky enough to get taken to Brands in 1999. All started with the first ToCA game for me, was one of the first racing games we had along with Psygnosis' Formula 1.
TOCA Touring Car Championship was the very reason I bought a PlayStation back in the day. I still have my original copy too. I spent many hours like you watching older reviews. Although I was around in the 90s and have clear memories of watching pretty all the races on tv, one of the joys of the internet era has meant I can now go back and enjoy some of the other European series which weren’t available to me as a kid. Without a doubt super touring is my favourite class of racing to date. It was a shame that it priced itself out of existence.
Brands Hatch held the Super Touring Power event this year for the rest time and it was also not only the static display of super tourers as well as Group A, 60s and 70s displays as well but the super touring and classic touring car races were awesome. They also had star drivers from that era like Alain Menu and Paul Radisich turn up. They also had a tent sent up for people to play TOCA 2 on PS1s can't wait to go back there for next year's event :)
I feel very lucky to have been a 6 year old playing this game on my PlayStation, often battling my brothers for console time. The many, many, many hours of game time I got in at such young age set me on a path of loving most Codemasters future releases and not being too shabby with a thumb stick (roll on arthritis in a few more years)
I'm old enough to remember the touring cars from the late 80's when the Cosworth was around, another golden era. The super touring era is probably the best as there was lots of great drivers and manufactures involved at that time. Probably the BTCC is the best touring car championship in the world. I am hoping the new BTCC game coming can be a match for the real life championship, hopefully with some classic touring cars in there as well as the new generation cars
Amazing game, I got this together with a Thrustmaster Formula T2 for Christmas in 97. Also an amazing time for BTCC, and a bit partial (being a Swede) for the station wagon Volvo and Rickard Rydell.
I'm slightly older so my first love was Senna's Super Monaco GP on the Mega drive but my god Toca on the PS One blew my mind. I loved the Toca series and have wanted for another ever since. The Grid series is the closest we will ever get I suppose unless Codemasters give us a remake which would be amazing. Love your channel by the way 👍
Being in the US the BTCC was almost completely unknown. It was not until a PlayStation 2 version came out that we were able to learn about the BTCC. My memory was my first venture on to Oulton Park short course. I had seen a diagram and several pictures of the track but no video footage. About the fourth lap I yell at my brother who was racing me "There is not a straight flat piece of pavement in this entire track!".
I played TOCA Touring cars and played TOCA 2 when it released on my brother's PSX. I never got to see the Super Touring Era, my family and I were supposed to see the last round at Silverstone in 1999 but my grandad fell ill on the Sunday morning as we were getting ready to go. He passed away a couple of months later and yeah never went to a Super Touring Era BTCC meeting. I absolutely adored TOCA 2 though. To this day I keep trying to replicate and find a sim that gives the same enjoyment as that game did all those years ago; the only one I've found was RACE 07.
Ah TOCA! The game that started a lifelong obsession! Let me explain, I raced Karts from a young age and was ok but I was never going to cut the mustard in the professional sport. TOCA got me into Touring Cars and gave me the Heroes we know to follow. Fast Forward 20 years to 2022 and the Classic Touring Car Racing Club (CTCRC) introduced the Super Touring Class for these cars. Not only the cars (the real ones) but some of the drivers came back to race their cars! So to my point, I race a Honda Civic in the said Classic Touring Car Championship, which means, last year, I got to race against John Cleland and Anthony Reid oh and a bloke called Colin Turkington, whoever he is!! They say you should never meet your heroes as you will be disappointed. I'm hear to tell you my Hero, John Cleland is an absolute Gentleman and still an animal in a car! I shared a garage at Silverstone with him and he really is engaging, interesting and interested, full of banter and a genuine nice man. So, thank you TOCA! You put me on the tracks that have shaped my life in the real world.
TOCA 2 and Colin McRae 2.0 were my first Codemasters games, I completely fell in love with the cars because despite not even being British, they certainly fell like your regular middle class car. The gameplay was just fantastic and the circuits were really well made for that time.
whenever I look at the graphics nowadays, a cringe creeps up afterward. but back in the day, I remembered that I was totally in awe of the game. couldn't make my mind up whether I'd go for gran Turismo or this title. at the end of the day, I made a pact with my mate for each to buy separate games and exchange them afterward. win-win situation I guess
As I said on your Dave cam video the other day, console players need a new dedicated touring car sim, this game was amazing, you just brought back some great memories 👌
Played the PC version of this game quite a lot as a kid. I have never seen the actual races (nor did I know where the tracks actually were back then), but it was a lot of fun. As a kid I was more focused on ramming other cars and shooting at them with the tank, but nevertheless it was one of the first racing games I played and enjoyed. It's a funny coincidence that this video is published now, as I actually recently found the disc again and played it again for a bit, it's still lying on a table next to me.
The best thing about this title on PC, along with a few others around this time was Hardware Accelerated graphics, my Orchid Righteous Voodoo 1 3dfx card transformed the visuals and frame rate of this game and others for ever, a true game changing golden age for gamers of all tastes
I really starting to the super touring era of the btcc it must been very good racing and the racing game TOCA is very good If I ever get my hands on TOCA or TOCA 2 I think I may post some of the game. Thanks for sharing and liking that you are a Big BTCC fan 💯😊👌
I started with TOCA 2 in 1998. I was to impulsive in my driving as a 9-year old child to ever progress past the "Easy" championship, but back in 2018 I installed TOCA 2 again, and finally finished what I started - won the Medium and Hard championships. I love the Accord, Laguna and Primera the most, though all the cars from that era look sexy and very distinct from each other. I look at pics from modern BTCC and I dunno... they all look the same to me.
as a dtm fan, i was and will forever be *very* jealous of the btcc fans of the 90s. i had to wait until 2002 to experience that......with a revived, somewhat less exciting championship, and in the follow-up series to the btcc games, no less. *jealous* , i tell ya !
I actually knew of Laurent Aiello because of DTM, it was a big surprise to me when I was a little older and went back to watch this era of BTCC! What a driver. Early days DTM was an amazing series as well, but you are right. I think what was missing was the number of manufacturers perhaps?
I was at Knockhill in 94 when Tarquini rolled his Alfa. That’s my only memory of that day, apart from it being absolutely freezing! I don’t remember playing any of the games though?
The freezing part is guaranteed at Knockhill, I know it all too well…. Amazingly, Tarquini still races competitively in touring cars at the ripe age of 136.
Toca 1 was awesome but Toca 2 was perfect in my opinion. My 3 favourite racing games of all time are f1 97, Toca 2 and the original Colin McRae which I still play to this day. Still so much fun and at the time so ground breaking all 3 .
Great game. Quick correction to the video, the Windows version released at the same time as the PlayStation version. This was November 1997 for the European market. The North American releases were in 1998, so I suspect that is where the confusion came from. Never had the PlayStation version, but have plenty of memories of repeatedly flying off the track at the Donnington Esses on the PC. TOCA 2 brought with it plenty of enhancements, but I always preferred the cars from the original.
TOCA was about my fave game when i was younger. I had it on playstation. I also had Formular 1 which had the 1995 teams and drivers, F1 97 and 99. I had TOCA 2 on PC i remember that had support races from the ford fiesta and formular ford championships if i remember correctly. I also had i think it was called TOCA world touring cars on playstation also.
Great game, my only gripe was the lack of the independents, my favourite was Matt Neal in his red Ford Mondeo/Nissan Primera, and I would have loved to have raced as Ian Heward's bright yellow Vauxhall Cavalier.
I only got the PC-Version by my parents in the late 90s. I didn't even know the championship's name (maybe because it's unfortunately not that popular in germany). I remember that I was impressed by the weather effects, graphics and a cockpit view. Also the sounds were cool. But I also remember that I was very, very bad in this game.. I never unlocked any track, I only had Silverstone and Donington to race at..
Awesome! It certainly isn't easy but you do get the hang of it. All about avoiding lift-off oversteer, you have to nail the throttle whilst turning through the corners, get the braking done nice and early :)
@@TraxionGG well today i love front wheel drive touring cars, at first WTCC/WTCR in Raceroom, now BTCCs in rf2- it's so much fun to race on Knockhill with these cars :]
R factors 2 BTCC content is rather good. Sure rf2 has its issues, such as optimisation but when they get it right, it's bloody good. Always loved BTCC, since going with my dad in the mid 90s. Super Stevie Soper, is a LEGEND!!!!The codie games were great for the time
Would be nice if the upcoming BTCC game had a "historic" setting simular to what F1 did a few years back, would love to race around in the 1997 BTCC cars again in full HD - shame in a way that there is no current game on the market with any of the road going vehicles in e.g Forza that you could recreate the liveries on
One of my favorite games and racing series ever. I bought all the games, Toca,Toca 2, Jarrett and labonte stock car racing, pro race driver, etc... In the 2000s btcc started to lose my interest as the aero made the cars less recognizable and frankly, rally and speedvision's own touring car championship nicely filled the void of btcc. I've still spent the last 20 years trying to replicate those gaming moments. Building these cars in gran turismo and forza as best I could. Even today my favorite racing is in raceroom's touring cars and bootleg mods for assetto corsa and automobilista. It's a shame that no game company has gone back in and built car models for these iconic racers. I would love to see an early 90s, mid nineties, and early 2000s btcc pack in just about any modern Sim.
Great review, I had TOCA2 and loved it. Wish I could play it still now, as despite the graphics, it was eminently playable with the various support series too. I would be interested to get the new game that is coming, but I think it has been cancelled.
I remember this game so well. When I got the ps1 for Christmas 97, this was the game I wanted the most but I ended up getting the V-rally. But a friend received the Toca and from time to time he would lend it to me. It's a pretty tough game. 😅 Good times... 🙄
I remember it well, great game tbf for that period of games console. Codemasters did great work with that and Colin McRae rally. If I remember you had a option to race track in reverse too, cheat wise I think. I remember doing Donington backwards. Today 2 was good, think it had some fiesta series on too. Was not a big fan at first of the handling as when breaking you could not turn.
Ohh I hated the 'required finish' stuff so much :p Though it did mean I raced Donington way more, and it's now one of my favourites, so silver linings :D
It''s a little unfair to directly compare the graphics of GT and ToCA. GT never had more than 6 cars in a race, had all fictional tracks (so they could hide pop-iin with strategically based bridges and tunnels) and Polyphony had access to (possibly invented? memory's fuzzy) the Playstation Performance Analyser dev tools which allowed them to super-optimse (which Codemasters wouldn;t get access to for another couple of years). ToCA had 16 cars, and real world tracks (many of which were disused airfields, and damage. The need to reflect the real-world tracks and grid imposed a set of restrictions on Codies that GT didn;t need to worry about, allowing Polyphony them to focus on graphics and physics to a far better degree.
I was working in Nissan dealership when these games were out. Coz i worked every second Sunday, i took my playstation in as there was customer tv there already....and no bosses. Customers loved it as I'd let anyone play it. Boss came in once on one his bike rides and asked me why the hell it was there. Told so customer could drive a Primera round a track. Did ask him if he was gonna stay and watch F1 with us. He let me continue to take the playstation in btw
It takes time, but you eventually learn the technique. Key is to be very gentle tapping the steering through the fast tricky corners (like craner curves), brake early, and nail the throttle as you turn to keep the car stable through the corner. I was struggling to prevent spinning at first when I returned to the game this time round, but by the end I was winning on Hard! Patience is key 😊
I'd be surprised if licensing alone kept the independents absent from the grid, it's probably got a lot to do with performance too. The game doesn't run at consistent frame rate when there are multiple cars on screen, especially at the start of races, and in wet weather. There's a way to fix it, but you need an emulator to do it.
I think in TOCA 2 if you put POSHKID as your name it gets rid of the points requirements in the championship. Also anyone recommend any more recent games with good BTCC mods? Mostly looking for the Super Touring years 1991-2000
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The greatest era of any motorsport in my opinion. I spent far too many hours on both ToCA 2 and the old duke reviews as a kid - Cleland and Thompson were my heroes growing up. Can relate to being a late 90's kid and missing it as it happens, but it's still stuff I show to my friends getting into motorsport to this day - the golden era of the BTCC, and sparked a lifelong love affair with the series til this day.
Amazing, thanks for the comment! Relate so much with this 🙌🏼
How about the AMP 1998 Bathurst 1000!
Those were special 2litre touring car days. Unfortunately will never be repeated. Great game series. Me and my dad would not miss a BTCC race during those late 90’s and we lived in Australia. Well before internet was a push of the button. The races would be shown Wednesday nights on our satellite tv. Great times thanks for these special memories!
,Hello my name Kyle Waddington It's close to my age to I was born 1995 I live in Australia
It ever hard and it was my first ever Racing car game I live in Australia
I couldn't agree more. Still more fun than most racing games today.
The sequel to this game, released 12 months later, is still, to this day, one of the finest racing games ever made. Toca 1 started the franchise but Toca 2 improved everything that the first had to offer. Better graphics, better a.i., improved car handling, more modes. Toca 2 is still one of my favourite racing games.
I love both games, for me personally I have to say Toca 2 was the ultimate one. Every change was an improvement, built on the great foundations of this game. Can’t believe it’s 25 years old!
The Formula Ford, the Cerbera Speed 12, the Scorpion ...
Christ my dad yelled at me countless times for the bad words I threw at the screen !
I used to play this on PS1 just recently got it on PC and with a wheel! It's alot better on PC smoother and slightly better looking, falling in love all over again.
Toca WTCC was good too.
@@samuelgarrod8327 Yeh, excellent game. Codies did some good work on PS1. The three Toca games and the two Colin McRae games are/were quality.
ToCA 2 - the sequel - was the game I played to death as a kid. It was fantastic, with a huge amount of replay value from support classes to unlockable tracks. Fantastic memories!
Having attended the races during this era and recently as a marshall. It was much more entertaining! Clelland is a legend. Glad he owns his car from these classic days.
Me and my brother rented the game and hated the lack of progress (needing so many points to unlock tracks) and then, for Xmas, my mom had bought the game and said she purchased before we rented and disliked it. We played it, got into it, had great fun desperately trying to progress and ending up loving it! I still play it today occasionally and love the BTCC then and now. I have fond memories of Murray Walker, great drivers, iconic moments and great tracks. I attend dozens of motorsport events a year now and have done since getting bitten by the bug attending my first BTCC race in 1994 aged 16. Enjoyed this video a lot - great to see the game isnt forgotten.
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing the story😄
I had this on PS1, I played it all throughout my youth. Renault Laguna was my beloved.
This game + TOCA 2 + TOCA World Touring Cars were amazing games and imo (one of) the best games codemasters have ever released thus far.
Thank you for making a video about it!
Our pleasure! Thank you for watching!
I still have it. When the rules changed in the BTCC to beome the 2.0l formula I was 9yrs old. Every other weekend during the season I would park myself in front of the TV on a Sunday to watch the sport that I loved and the legends of touring cars battle it out. When TOCA came out and then TOCA2.... I became one of them. It was an amazing experience. Yes it was only a game, but at the same time i'm now racing around all the same tracks in all the same cars as my idols. NOTHING will ever beat 1990s BTCC, 1991 to 1999 is the best era of racing in any category anywhere around the world.
Im 54 Years old.
I was swearing at my big fat TV every weekend watching the BTCC, still have the Duke videos of all the seasons in the 90's and a VHS player lol.
Cleland, absolute legend, still my favourite racing driver.
Toca and Toca 2 were what got me into PC racing, well that and Fatal racing, the NFS Underground.
I look back now at what we had then, compared to what we have now, played racing games on a Sidewinder joystick lol.
Now I have a full Fanatec rig, but I do miss the good old days.
My mate and I were discussing racing games a few weeks ago, remembering fondly lapping Interlagos in Geoff Crammonds F1 doing lap times within 0.1 of a second consistantly, with a joystick lol.
Oh how things have changed.
It’s amazing how far it’s all come…. Love this comment😂 Hope you enjoyed the video!
I remember watching 90's BTCC here in the US. It quickly became my favorite racing series.
Cleland was fantastic value on and off the track. Toca 2 is still the only ‘game’ I’ve ever bought, blew my mind at the time ❤ Never underestimate the power or influence of such small seeds being sewn in the interests of the young 😊
Wise words father 🙏😂
There is a discord group for TOCA 2 Touring Cars (1998) and I ocasionally still play it from time to time. It was so amazing for it's time and still manages to have certain qualities that are missing on modern games. Maybe my first experience going into a "sim-like" experience. All the critics that one could have on the first TOCA were improved in TOCA2, with more QOL features and more game modes, fantasy tracks and support car championships.
The TOCA PS1 got me into BTCC, and i still go to events to this day. Just came back from Super Tourer Power 2 @ Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago and got to see these classics racing again which was EPIC!
Mega! Would love to see that series sometime 😊
The incredible nostalgic vibes I get with this is insane. I used to play this with my dad when I was a kid. The sounds, the visuals...the memories are amazing. The tank with the turret, the pink caddy and the volcano track you could get where fantastic 😂😂
Awesome, thanks for sharing those memories! It’s a game that hits hard on the nostalgia scale, probably also because of the real-world BTCC state at the time. Not only the game, but the sport as a whole was just magical!
Another beautifully presented video, John.
The "I was a BTCC fanboy - oh dear!" moment commands my respect because I know how much work must have gone into just getting that ONE BIT of audio for a laugh!
As for ToCA's first game, I remember being pathetically poor at it as a kid, after first "learning to drive on a PlayStation" through Colin McRae Rally. I once cut the chicane at Donington Park GP to the hairpin and remember the joy that filled my body seeing "1" by my position and actually seeing the two Lagunas on track for the first time!
My Dad got me and my brother a wheel and pedals as well as these weird force feedback vests one year, and it didn't exactly improve the experience. This is one of those games where you look back now and think "how on Earth did I ever get good at this below the age of 10?!"
It's so difficult to get the hang of! I get that feeling as well with old games.... How on earth did I ever make any progress!? But I think we forget that as kids, that was all we knew and I'm sure we were quick to adapt to the handling models of the time. This time round it took me a good couple of hours of playing before I was able to complete consecutive laps without spinning😂
Really glad you enjoyed the video Chaz, and the appreciation of the Murray clip haha! Glad this game brings back the great memories for you as well. I reckon you should do a series trying to make it through the championship mode nowadays. Avenge yourself 😎
I always remembered this as being the first game where you could have realistic collisions and aftermath. Sometimes the AI would just slide it, sometimes they would spin off. But it all felt real and expected. And sometimes, they would just shovel you out of the way. It was great fun knowing consequences were real from all vectors and you could randomize weather for a bit of spice.
I spent hundreds of hours playing this game during my early childhood, legendary racing game.
thanks for reminding me of my childhood and maybe the reason i now love cars so much
Yes John! Love this game, still play it on my OG PlayStation with TOCA 2, Colin McRae Rally, V Rally and GT's 1 & 2.
Such a great era for racing games. Things have come so far in such a short space of time, but it’s great that these games still hold their charm today.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video and the commentary. I was an official BTCC Photographer during the Super touring era. At the time I never realised what an iconic era it would be become. It’s time I got into my attic and had a rummage! Keep up the great work. 🙂👍🏼
Mega, thanks for sharing! That must have been awesome.
My memories of this era are vivid, I was in my mid to late teens with me and a few friends going to a round or two each year when student funds allowed. Much as I love BTCC still I think the Aussie V8 Super cars is the best saloon tin top series these days.
This game, it's sequel and the original Collin McRae rally were all I wanted to play at that age! So good! Thank you for the video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
A great series of games tbh. The best for me was Toca World Touring Cars. Even though not officially licensed teams-wise, the amount of cars and tracks were incredible. Not to mention night-races, like the BTCC did from 1998-2001. Sad the last outing for the full BTCC license was 2002's Toca Race Driver, based on the 2001 season. I waited for the 2003 season in Race Driver 2, but to no avail. How much I wanted to race that Petronas Proton...
I'm from Brazil and I played many ToCA and ToCA 2 when I was young. I love the vibe from 90s races. We had a lot of influence from European and American racing games in the past, and only in the early 2010s, we had the Brazilian Stock Car game. Now, these games has become Automobilista 1 and 2 and are very competitive games in the market.
I loved this game when it came out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTCC $ DTM WISH THERE WAS MORE OF IT!!!
Got this game as a gift back in the day. Hated the car handling first time I played it, then never touched the game again for years. After dusting it off my shelve more recently, having gotten better at driving and racing games, I stuck the disc in my old PS1 and started playing again and loved it. Got used to the handling and the game was brilliant, fun, challenging, and I totally get why it was popular.
All about powering through the corner, gives you way more stability and grip! Glad you are enjoying it again now :)
Played this to death on a gamester wheel and pedals, no force feedback but you felt so connected to the road. Amazing for the time.
This was the game I bought my and only racing wheel and pedals for. I went to 5 of the tracks, Silverstone being my closest. I spent sooo many nights in my beloved Peugeots on this and TOCA2. The AI was lethal!
Playing 2 player with my dad who loved btcc as much as I did. Loved both of these games so much
This was the first game I had for PlayStation; I still remember playing it on Christmas morning. If I recall correctly, there's a turn in the last sector of Croft that's great for flipping Audis.
Used to go to Oulton for the BTCC races in the late 90's - some great memories, including being stood around ten meters from James Thompson's crash that went into the Grandstand opening titles. Made me appreciate how much energy they dissipate in a split second. Got to do a few laps in a Vectra Challenge car on a track day for Vauxhall's business customers (thanks Dad!)
The speeds are crazy, tv never does it justice! That sounds very cool😊
I was lucky enough to see the last 2 and a bit years of Super Touring, 1998 in particular was fantastic. Was even lucky enough to get taken to Brands in 1999. All started with the first ToCA game for me, was one of the first racing games we had along with Psygnosis' Formula 1.
great video, this is what got me into racing along with the old commodore/amiga games, truly epic times when i was young...
TOCA Touring Car Championship was the very reason I bought a PlayStation back in the day. I still have my original copy too. I spent many hours like you watching older reviews. Although I was around in the 90s and have clear memories of watching pretty all the races on tv, one of the joys of the internet era has meant I can now go back and enjoy some of the other European series which weren’t available to me as a kid. Without a doubt super touring is my favourite class of racing to date. It was a shame that it priced itself out of existence.
Every late 90s motorsport game had that same kind of music 😂 nostalgic 😍
Banger 🔥
Brands Hatch held the Super Touring Power event this year for the rest time and it was also not only the static display of super tourers as well as Group A, 60s and 70s displays as well but the super touring and classic touring car races were awesome. They also had star drivers from that era like Alain Menu and Paul Radisich turn up. They also had a tent sent up for people to play TOCA 2 on PS1s can't wait to go back there for next year's event :)
I feel very lucky to have been a 6 year old playing this game on my PlayStation, often battling my brothers for console time. The many, many, many hours of game time I got in at such young age set me on a path of loving most Codemasters future releases and not being too shabby with a thumb stick (roll on arthritis in a few more years)
Epic!
I'm old enough to remember the touring cars from the late 80's when the Cosworth was around, another golden era. The super touring era is probably the best as there was lots of great drivers and manufactures involved at that time. Probably the BTCC is the best touring car championship in the world. I am hoping the new BTCC game coming can be a match for the real life championship, hopefully with some classic touring cars in there as well as the new generation cars
The 80's cars were lions, whilst super tourers were yappy terriors. Two amazing eras, very different but both filled with awesome machinery!
This is my first racing game. I played only demo. But later a buy TOCA 2 and racing wheel and my adventure is begin :-) Great wideo👍
Many of us have a very similar story. Glad you enjoyed the video!
TOCA2 was my very first PSOne game. Absolutely loved it, was especially fond of the lochside bonus track.
Thanks for this video this was and still is an awsome game the hours spent playing this!! Good times!!!!!😊
What a fantastic video
Loved this game as a 12/13 year old
Spent many an hour on it
And yes the tank / Cadillac / Hades track were extremely bizarre!
Thank you for watching!
Amazing game, I got this together with a Thrustmaster Formula T2 for Christmas in 97. Also an amazing time for BTCC, and a bit partial (being a Swede) for the station wagon Volvo and Rickard Rydell.
I played this game a lot and I never knew you could drive a tank around the track! Brilliant game.
Taking the phrase "I fired them off" a little too literally😂
@@TraxionGG lol
I'm slightly older so my first love was Senna's Super Monaco GP on the Mega drive but my god Toca on the PS One blew my mind.
I loved the Toca series and have wanted for another ever since.
The Grid series is the closest we will ever get I suppose unless Codemasters give us a remake which would be amazing.
Love your channel by the way 👍
Being in the US the BTCC was almost completely unknown. It was not until a PlayStation 2 version came out that we were able to learn about the BTCC. My memory was my first venture on to Oulton Park short course. I had seen a diagram and several pictures of the track but no video footage. About the fourth lap I yell at my brother who was racing me "There is not a straight flat piece of pavement in this entire track!".
And now we have it on so many racing games!
I played TOCA Touring cars and played TOCA 2 when it released on my brother's PSX. I never got to see the Super Touring Era, my family and I were supposed to see the last round at Silverstone in 1999 but my grandad fell ill on the Sunday morning as we were getting ready to go. He passed away a couple of months later and yeah never went to a Super Touring Era BTCC meeting.
I absolutely adored TOCA 2 though. To this day I keep trying to replicate and find a sim that gives the same enjoyment as that game did all those years ago; the only one I've found was RACE 07.
Race 07 was absolutely mega. Can’t wait to do a video on that franchise!
Ah TOCA! The game that started a lifelong obsession! Let me explain, I raced Karts from a young age and was ok but I was never going to cut the mustard in the professional sport. TOCA got me into Touring Cars and gave me the Heroes we know to follow. Fast Forward 20 years to 2022 and the Classic Touring Car Racing Club (CTCRC) introduced the Super Touring Class for these cars. Not only the cars (the real ones) but some of the drivers came back to race their cars! So to my point, I race a Honda Civic in the said Classic Touring Car Championship, which means, last year, I got to race against John Cleland and Anthony Reid oh and a bloke called Colin Turkington, whoever he is!! They say you should never meet your heroes as you will be disappointed. I'm hear to tell you my Hero, John Cleland is an absolute Gentleman and still an animal in a car! I shared a garage at Silverstone with him and he really is engaging, interesting and interested, full of banter and a genuine nice man. So, thank you TOCA! You put me on the tracks that have shaped my life in the real world.
TOCA 2 and Colin McRae 2.0 were my first Codemasters games, I completely fell in love with the cars because despite not even being British, they certainly fell like your regular middle class car. The gameplay was just fantastic and the circuits were really well made for that time.
whenever I look at the graphics nowadays, a cringe creeps up afterward. but back in the day, I remembered that I was totally in awe of the game. couldn't make my mind up whether I'd go for gran Turismo or this title. at the end of the day, I made a pact with my mate for each to buy separate games and exchange them afterward. win-win situation I guess
Played the PC version almost religiously. Was always so much fun
As I said on your Dave cam video the other day, console players need a new dedicated touring car sim, this game was amazing, you just brought back some great memories 👌
Great to hear!
TOCA was my entry to motorsport- I still go to BTCC most years. Love me some ACC but please let the BTCC game upcoming be good.
We also have our fingers crossed!🤞🏼
Played the PC version of this game quite a lot as a kid. I have never seen the actual races (nor did I know where the tracks actually were back then), but it was a lot of fun. As a kid I was more focused on ramming other cars and shooting at them with the tank, but nevertheless it was one of the first racing games I played and enjoyed. It's a funny coincidence that this video is published now, as I actually recently found the disc again and played it again for a bit, it's still lying on a table next to me.
Great to hear it!
que recuerdos!!!! gran juego! el honda accord era mi preferido
This brings back memories
The nostalgia is strong!
The best thing about this title on PC, along with a few others around this time was Hardware Accelerated graphics, my Orchid Righteous Voodoo 1 3dfx card transformed the visuals and frame rate of this game and others for ever, a true game changing golden age for gamers of all tastes
I really starting to the super touring era of the btcc it must been very good racing and the racing game TOCA is very good If I ever get my hands on TOCA or TOCA 2 I think I may post some of the game. Thanks for sharing and liking that you are a Big BTCC fan 💯😊👌
You are very welcome! I hope you enjoy playing them, would love to see the footage!
Was not broadcasted in Sweden but it reminds me of STCC from the same era with the supertourers
Ah man! STCC racing on Race07 had a similarly epic effect on me. Amazing series 😍
@@TraxionGG simbin made those games didn't they
I started with TOCA 2 in 1998. I was to impulsive in my driving as a 9-year old child to ever progress past the "Easy" championship, but back in 2018 I installed TOCA 2 again, and finally finished what I started - won the Medium and Hard championships. I love the Accord, Laguna and Primera the most, though all the cars from that era look sexy and very distinct from each other. I look at pics from modern BTCC and I dunno... they all look the same to me.
as a dtm fan, i was and will forever be *very* jealous of the btcc fans of the 90s. i had to wait until 2002 to experience that......with a revived, somewhat less exciting championship, and in the follow-up series to the btcc games, no less. *jealous* , i tell ya !
I actually knew of Laurent Aiello because of DTM, it was a big surprise to me when I was a little older and went back to watch this era of BTCC! What a driver. Early days DTM was an amazing series as well, but you are right. I think what was missing was the number of manufacturers perhaps?
I was at Knockhill in 94 when Tarquini rolled his Alfa. That’s my only memory of that day, apart from it being absolutely freezing!
I don’t remember playing any of the games though?
The freezing part is guaranteed at Knockhill, I know it all too well….
Amazingly, Tarquini still races competitively in touring cars at the ripe age of 136.
Loved this game. Spent hours with it.
Toca 1 was awesome but Toca 2 was perfect in my opinion. My 3 favourite racing games of all time are f1 97, Toca 2 and the original Colin McRae which I still play to this day. Still so much fun and at the time so ground breaking all 3 .
Great game. Quick correction to the video, the Windows version released at the same time as the PlayStation version. This was November 1997 for the European market. The North American releases were in 1998, so I suspect that is where the confusion came from.
Never had the PlayStation version, but have plenty of memories of repeatedly flying off the track at the Donnington Esses on the PC.
TOCA 2 brought with it plenty of enhancements, but I always preferred the cars from the original.
Thanks for the info! You are so right about Donington, keeping it on circuit down the hill and through old hairpin is very challenging 😂
TOCA was about my fave game when i was younger. I had it on playstation. I also had Formular 1 which had the 1995 teams and drivers, F1 97 and 99. I had TOCA 2 on PC i remember that had support races from the ford fiesta and formular ford championships if i remember correctly. I also had i think it was called TOCA world touring cars on playstation also.
Great game, my only gripe was the lack of the independents, my favourite was Matt Neal in his red Ford Mondeo/Nissan Primera, and I would have loved to have raced as Ian Heward's bright yellow Vauxhall Cavalier.
I only got the PC-Version by my parents in the late 90s. I didn't even know the championship's name (maybe because it's unfortunately not that popular in germany). I remember that I was impressed by the weather effects, graphics and a cockpit view. Also the sounds were cool. But I also remember that I was very, very bad in this game.. I never unlocked any track, I only had Silverstone and Donington to race at..
Awesome! It certainly isn't easy but you do get the hang of it. All about avoiding lift-off oversteer, you have to nail the throttle whilst turning through the corners, get the braking done nice and early :)
@@TraxionGG well today i love front wheel drive touring cars, at first WTCC/WTCR in Raceroom, now BTCCs in rf2- it's so much fun to race on Knockhill with these cars :]
BTCC in the 90's - a crashing series where a race might accidently happen.
Not wrong 😂
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! WHY IS THERE NO MODERN TOCA TOURING CAR SEQUEL????
I understand you were too young but I was there.I watched it all Live.
R factors 2 BTCC content is rather good. Sure rf2 has its issues, such as optimisation but when they get it right, it's bloody good. Always loved BTCC, since going with my dad in the mid 90s. Super Stevie Soper, is a LEGEND!!!!The codie games were great for the time
Would be nice if the upcoming BTCC game had a "historic" setting simular to what F1 did a few years back, would love to race around in the 1997 BTCC cars again in full HD - shame in a way that there is no current game on the market with any of the road going vehicles in e.g Forza that you could recreate the liveries on
Would be very cool!
I had more affiliation with the second game, but they were both amazing and still really really fun games today!
One of my favorite games and racing series ever. I bought all the games, Toca,Toca 2, Jarrett and labonte stock car racing, pro race driver, etc... In the 2000s btcc started to lose my interest as the aero made the cars less recognizable and frankly, rally and speedvision's own touring car championship nicely filled the void of btcc. I've still spent the last 20 years trying to replicate those gaming moments. Building these cars in gran turismo and forza as best I could. Even today my favorite racing is in raceroom's touring cars and bootleg mods for assetto corsa and automobilista. It's a shame that no game company has gone back in and built car models for these iconic racers. I would love to see an early 90s, mid nineties, and early 2000s btcc pack in just about any modern Sim.
Totally agree, would be sensational!
Great review, I had TOCA2 and loved it. Wish I could play it still now, as despite the graphics, it was eminently playable with the various support series too. I would be interested to get the new game that is coming, but I think it has been cancelled.
The tank. It was the tank that made it so special.
I think only TOCA 3 came out in the US with completely different bait and switch name :D. That was a great PS1 game!
I remember this game so well. When I got the ps1 for Christmas 97, this was the game I wanted the most but I ended up getting the V-rally. But a friend received the Toca and from time to time he would lend it to me. It's a pretty tough game. 😅 Good times... 🙄
I remember it well, great game tbf for that period of games console. Codemasters did great work with that and Colin McRae rally. If I remember you had a option to race track in reverse too, cheat wise I think. I remember doing Donington backwards. Today 2 was good, think it had some fiesta series on too. Was not a big fan at first of the handling as when breaking you could not turn.
Ahhh I soooo wish we had this remade in a modern sim! (I know about AC) BUT IMAGINE!!!
B5 A4 is such a good looking car
Still holds up well now!
You forgot the amazing soundtrack the first TOCA game have.
Ohh I hated the 'required finish' stuff so much :p Though it did mean I raced Donington way more, and it's now one of my favourites, so silver linings :D
It''s a little unfair to directly compare the graphics of GT and ToCA. GT never had more than 6 cars in a race, had all fictional tracks (so they could hide pop-iin with strategically based bridges and tunnels) and Polyphony had access to (possibly invented? memory's fuzzy) the Playstation Performance Analyser dev tools which allowed them to super-optimse (which Codemasters wouldn;t get access to for another couple of years). ToCA had 16 cars, and real world tracks (many of which were disused airfields, and damage. The need to reflect the real-world tracks and grid imposed a set of restrictions on Codies that GT didn;t need to worry about, allowing Polyphony them to focus on graphics and physics to a far better degree.
I was a ToCA 2 addict!
I still remember the complete fear when hitting the brakes on the first S at Snetterton under the thunderstorm ...
😂
1:40 "I'm going for first - said John Cleland".
God I miss Murray Walker.
I temember playing Toca 2 - by going the wrong way on purpose and doing head on crashes :D There was a damage system implemented there :)
Can very much relate to those memories😂 We were just testing the damage model for them!
I was working in Nissan dealership when these games were out. Coz i worked every second Sunday, i took my playstation in as there was customer tv there already....and no bosses. Customers loved it as I'd let anyone play it. Boss came in once on one his bike rides and asked me why the hell it was there. Told so customer could drive a Primera round a track. Did ask him if he was gonna stay and watch F1 with us.
He let me continue to take the playstation in btw
Enjoyed the game but found the twitching almost impossible in controller so never completed a season
It takes time, but you eventually learn the technique. Key is to be very gentle tapping the steering through the fast tricky corners (like craner curves), brake early, and nail the throttle as you turn to keep the car stable through the corner. I was struggling to prevent spinning at first when I returned to the game this time round, but by the end I was winning on Hard! Patience is key 😊
Interesting!
I'd be surprised if licensing alone kept the independents absent from the grid, it's probably got a lot to do with performance too. The game doesn't run at consistent frame rate when there are multiple cars on screen, especially at the start of races, and in wet weather. There's a way to fix it, but you need an emulator to do it.
you come for the intro
leave when the review actually starts
I think in TOCA 2 if you put POSHKID as your name it gets rid of the points requirements in the championship. Also anyone recommend any more recent games with good BTCC mods? Mostly looking for the Super Touring years 1991-2000
*This and Group B Rallying were the equivalent of motorsports violence !!!*
Throw Group C sportscars in there and you have the ultimate holy trinity
@@TraxionGG Yeah true ..... Good days man.
Those races was more exciting than F1 races from now a days. FOR LONG!
Как всё начиналось 🔥😏
TOCA!!
We all share this energy 🙏🏻
fact the next time we got a Knockhill track was projectcars 2 so of course i used a btcc car