Kacey looks at the Ford Racing advergame series with a critical eye- are these games still worth your time? Discord: / discord Footage credits: • Ford Racing Credit
Another video, another author's note: 1. Yes, I'm aware I said "Razorware" several times instead of "Razorworks." Don't record your voiceovers at 3am, kids. I recorded this VO almost two months ago, and didn't notice the mistakes until I was too deep in the editing process for it to be reasonable to re-record, resync and everything. Make fun of me if you wish. 2. This video took TOO LONG to make. I thought I could offset the challenge of covering 7 games in one video by spending less time on each, but even spending 3-5 minutes... y'all see how long it ended up being. This is where I've been. 3. Next video will be a more focused critique of a game I've been wanting to replay for a while..... I hope y'all enjoy!
Can you look up at another "advergame" series that have more budget like the various Ferrari games, and perhaps the first World Racing (that only have Mercedes cars)?
@@mahiru20ten I had originally planned to label this as a series and do these every now and then but given how long this took, I didn't want to paint myself into doing more. That said, I'm definitely interested in doing more of the licensed racers. Raycevick here on RUclips did a very comprehensive and great video about the Ferrari games a few months back. I want to do the Corvette games at some point.
I used to play lots of Ford Racing 2 with my father. I’m a third generation mustang owner so it made sense I’d end up with a copy in my childhood. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
I think the thing woth ordinary cars being left behind in racing games is because of the huge focus on onlinbe play. For example, I played a lot of Forza Horizon 1 online and everybody picked the S or R classes, no one would want to race with the D/E/F classes. Little did they know that with slower cars you get better racing.
The final point of the video nails my thoughts about why I love certain driving games like Gran Turismo, Forza, Driver SF and Enthusia for the PS2. I just love the idea of having a large mix of cars from everyday cars to full on race cars. I just want to hop into a Crown Vic or Toyota Corolla and mess around with them. It's hard to explain why do I like these games to others, people will think I'm weird. Great video btw, glad that RUclips recommended me your channel.
@@waled7564 If you weren't playing in widescreen back then on any version of the game, you won't see this issue at all. The problem is the camera not adapting to the widescreen mode. The HUD may look correct, but FOV is pretty much Vert- (minus), meaning it cuts off a portion of the top and bottom of the screen to keep it from looking squished.
It's most likely because he has his Xbox set to widescreen. Since the setting is set system-wide it'll apply itself to any compatible game. Many Xbox/PS2 games used what's called Vert- for widescreen. Essentially it cuts the bottom and top view to make the ratio appropriate. It seems FR3 uses this. An easy and cheap way to make your game seem technologically forward looking without messing with the game's rendering to get actual widescreen.
That last part hit me hard , Its so nice to see someone who also likes quirky trim levels and more low end common cars instead of always the highest trim level in video games I love ur videos 💖💖💖
Ford Street Racing's team race mechanics are exactly like Driver San Francisco's team racing, all the way down to the rapid shift to jump between both cars quickly. Waiting for your next video :)
Ford has a history with games. Back in the 80's they released a few Ford Simulator "games" and footage of those is all over RUclips. I consider Ford Racing to be the unofficial successors of these programs.
"And today, when you're someone who's more interested in cars themselves than racing, driving games don't feel like they're for you anymore." FINALLY, someone GETS it. Forza Horizon and other games today are fun, sure, but I never feel like I'm actually HAVING fun while playing them. The most fun I've ever had playing racing games is in older Gran Turismos and Tokyo Xtreme Racer titles, because it feels grounded enough in the car selections and whatnot that I actually feel like I own those cars, I feel connected to them. Ford Racing 2 is one of my favorite games of all time because of the car selection, and five year old me thinking "wow, my dad's truck is in this game! Cool!"
Same. I still player NFS Hot Pursuit 2 because it feels connected to the gameplay. Don't forget about its semi arcade handling. FR2 also fun because it has wide variety of vehicle types. Classics, Sports, Modern, Trucks. You name it.
Big same there. TBH I think that's one of the reasons I loved the Black Box era NFS games so much, or at least Underground, Underground 2 and to some exten Most Wanted. These were fun cars, sure, but they were cars normal people could drive. The B15 Sentra SE-R hasn't appeared *anywhere* other than the 2 Underground games.
i think what it is is that a balance needs to be struck between a game like forza where they go "idk here have 4 billion dollars go buy a couple more multi-million dollar hypercars i guess" and a game like the crew that says "have 13 dollars go fuck yourself grind for a few more hours to get that shitbox you wanted'
I loved playing ford racing 3. I think we had multiple perspectives views for the camera on pc, the model A races were pretty lame but I enjoyed the game modes like driving on the racing lines for boost and elimination races, the relay races were fun too. I like how clean the UI is and makes up for a relatively enjoyable game for me.
The last part about uncommon cars in racers is part of the reason why I ended up playing Ford Racing 3 to begin with, when I found out that the Sierra was on it, since it rarely showed up in games compared to many other Fords. It's always cool to see unexpected vehicle choices like that in games. Also, shoutouts to Ford Racing 2's "Funk" soundtrack set, from none other than Tim Follin... which was recycled from a Starsky & Hutch game that Empire put out around the same time. lol
I couldn’t agree more with the last part...for example, I was pretty bummed at the fact that the Dodge Neon & the Mitsubishi Lancer (Not the Evo), which was in NFS Underground, got scrapped completely from the series. It would be nice to be able to drive “uninteresting” cars in some of the newer games out now
I didn’t know anyone else was even aware of Ford Racing 😮😂 I used to love Ford Racing 3, to this day I vividly remember playing it late nights on my PS2
Given how bland the Ford lineup is these days, it's refreshing to see games that celebrate the history of the company...in spite of how hit or miss they actually were. That Ford 3 affixed camera made me ill.
You're not alone when it comes to driving mundane cars in video games, I like to drive cars that most people skip over in games as those cars may prove to actually be pretty good.
Thank you for making the point about regular average cars in games. As someone who is a real petrol head, and seriously interested in cars themselves, I really do miss the days when racing games would include totally mundane cars, and of course if there's a customisation aspect then it's pure heaven. These days it's all boring hyper cars.
Ford Racing 2 was still the best IMO. The AI was great, racing on the hardest difficulty was really entertaining when you made everyone use the same car as you. Ford Racing 3 on the other hand, looks pretty dull. The enviroments are bland, the AI is braindead, and while there are more cars, they decided to change the sounds to some of them during the transition from FR2, ruining them in the process (Examples: Powerstroke Concept, Crown Victoria, Focus FR200, Taurus Stock Car, Ford GT (That supercharger whine ruins the harmony of any car that has it in FR3) And after FR3... oh boy, the car sounds took a nosedive in quality (Seriously, the Super Chief in OffRoad sounds like the green Mustang GT from FR3 wtf?) But hey, Street Racing was a fun time when i was a kid, so it holds a little place in my heart, just like FR2.
I currently have a FR3 in my W10 PC and try to learn how to mod the game. Maybe I'll release a mod to bring some FR2 aspects back. But FR3 sounds good for me now.
@@camero4134 I already know how to swap the sounds in FR3, i have been doing it every time i played the game since i was a kid. I feel sorry for anyone who cant play it on PC and do the same thing
The franchise may be shovelware, but it still managed to have 1 or 2 decent games throughout its lifespan. I have recently bought Ford Racing 2 thanks to this video, and may check out Off Road some time. Ford Racing 3 is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, mostly because it's the first game in the series I played and at the time, I was more interested in the more simple, budget style racing games like Trackmania and GTI Racing, before Colin McRae DiRT changed all that. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind hearing what you have to say about the GTI series of racing games, like GTI Racing and GTI Club. I hope you will cover them in a future video!
Whoa i love the parabloid map reflection on the cars in Ford Mustang game and the next one. Yeah PS2 has an incorrectly designed interlace flicker fixer circuit, it's a documented hardware bug. For this reason, games completely disable it, all of them. The few games that do have a proper interlace flicker filter, make one in software as a post process step, but that takes up extra GPU time. The effects of the lack of flicker fixer are varied, but in general it's a jittery image and greatly reduced number of perceived lines of detail particularly in motion.
Thank you, I feel like I'm weird when I say I want to drive a Chevy Cavalier or Monte Carlo in a racing game. I want to drive those cars in the games because when else am I gonna get a 2004 Impala up to 114Mph?
This video almost made me cry... very fond memories. I had so many of the PS2's great racing games. FR2 was for sure. Me and my dad also fell in love with Ford vs Chevy
I know what you mean about Forza, nowadays whenever they add a new car it always has to be the newest, highest trim which makes creating overpowered builds a lot less satisfying.
Yeah, haha, I coulda sworn Forza 4 had an older 9-3. Not sure which game I was thinking of, probably PGR. But I had to get all the footage together before I left for a trip home for the holidays.
This is probably one of the many reasons I love the GTA series, albeit the cars being unlicensed, the devs actually took great effort into putting detailed versions of mundane vehicles which are always really fun to drive, at least for me.
I found a copy of FR3 in my cereal box 12 years ago. Now I'm driving a Ford and I collect just about anything related to Ford. But that game is where it all started.
me: ^sees title^ also me: ^sees thumbnail^ also me: ^dies inside^ I MISS THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! miss tthem days when games were fun on the ps2:(. ^sad blanc^
Completely with you on the last part of this video. Recently hooked my old PS2 up to play enthusia. That game has thee best car list of all time, for ordinary and obscure cars.
@@CardboardSliver or a smart four two cabrio... But I'm absolute favourite cars on that game are: Renault Avantime Citroën DS Pallas Nissan March / Micra Nissan El Grande Honda Mobilio 2004 VW Beetle Damn, I really miss all those. But the only thing that's scratching that itch recently is the very few common / weird cars Gt Sport has, like the BMW i3, Mazda Demio / 3, and Honda Fit / Jazz
Damn, I thought it I was only one that played this game as a kid. It was one of my first ps2 games I've owned in 2006 and I've heard nobody talk about the game on the internet years later.
I fully agree on the love of driving more "normal" cars. Getting the licensing and importing them into the game may not feasibly be worth it most of the time due to little interest from the majority of the modern racing playerbase, but sometimes I just want to drive a Yaris more than I do a Ferrari or a BMW.
My favourite Ford series game is actually Street Racing XR Edition I played on an PSP emulator. If I recall my faith in the rebooting franchise I have two ideas: 1. Ford vs GM - The two men are discussing which brand would win the Westington cup, however after watching it on a TV, they decide to sign up for it after seeing it. The interface of the would be improved from Ford vs Chevy. 2. Ford Racing 4 - Again a collection of Ford cars to drive, but physics come up more realistic and cars are customizable.
I remember my dad bought me Ford Street Racing back when i was about 8, that just made me explored almost the entire franchise. Talking about Bold Moves, Ford Street Racing: XR Edition is the best version exclusive for AU, but there are 3 additional cars for the PSP game instead of replacing the 3 original cars, although the gameplay might be similar.
r e d l a n c e r Ferrari challenge... that game made me rage so many times. Then there was supercar challenge, which I never even bothered trying after the first championship
Don't you dare to try and insult my child "Downtown Run" 1:02 jokes aside i really like your content and i'm glad to see atleast someone remembers Downtown Run xD
You summed it up perfectly, these games are a time capsule of automotive history, albeit, obscure and mundane models we use to see on the road growing up. It's especially cool if your family owned one of those featured sedans, SUVs, or pickups back in the day. Aside from the sports cars and top models, we'll probably never see most of these vehicles in any future games. Grand Turismo 2 holds a special place in my gaming memory because of the regular sedans and vehicles we say day to day on the road. It was amazing to think that a current game would feature your common sedan your parent's probably owned. Half the fun was playing in attainable coupes and sedans that were on the road - of course putting a turbo charger and a drag package didn't hurt either :) Nothing has really matched that type of variety and depth of vehicles for me since GT2.
I grew up fairly poor, so Mustang The Legend Lives came out right when i got my PS2. That and Ford Racing 2 are a couple of the games that i have the fondest memories playing.
I loved ford racing, played it so much as a kid. Nice thing that Ford Racing 3 has a lan support so i could play a match using hamachi. EDIT: About the camera thing, i have never played a different racing game back then, so i had no issue whatsoever with the camera, i actually liked it. ANOTHER EDIT: Well, i have to disagree with this video. Expecially saying that Off-Road is the best ford racing game? I HATED this one the most, i haven't even finished, while on the other hand i finished the pervious PC titles more than 3 times. Off Road was extremetly boring, ran out of contet very soon, it felt like a complete garbage.
Oh man, memories of ford racing 3 I remember getting those cereal bags with a game inside, and within them, Ford racing 3....it looked like the developers were desperate to actually give these games for free. It was some kind of advertisement or maybe offer but that lasted like 3 months
This review started out great and dances into a passive aggressiveness towards this game series. Ford Racing 2 is a very good game and so is Ford Racing 3. But, I think you’ve missed an opportunity with FR3 and judged it harshly. This is the game that most people have nostalgia with and my biggest issue with FR3 is the clear bland map design and getting used to the camera view for the cars will reward you with a fun experience that is Ford Racing 3. Calling Ford Racing:Off Road one of the best in the franchise is a long reach... it’s considered to be the worst and that is absolutely correct. It’s a buggy mess and the AI can be complete cheaters in the game. The Wii port is a tragic mess as well with the motion controls barely working half the time. I think, you needed to do more research for this game franchise. Ford Vs Chevy aren’t apart of the franchise and as well as Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives. They were completely made by different publishers and devs, they just happened to have the Ford license. If you want to get interested into this series, I highly recommend buying FR2/FR3 and even Ford Street Racing if that suits you enough. Personally, this review feels rushed just like a budget title game.
I still unironically play FR2 to this day. I got it is some sort of 3 game bundle at Walmart when I was a kid (the only time I ever remember seeing this). I think it came with Super Trucks Racing and Corvette maybe.
The niche cars and multiple trims are what made me love the earlier racing games. The newer ones are all about the fastest and the flashiest like forgetting about what sort of customers they have as an audience. Sure it's nice to drive that brand new Ferrari, but it would be equally good, if not much better, to see my daily driver in game and do what I normally can't with it. I adored Gran Turismo when it had the first gen Honda Fit, especially the Spoon race car. Why couldn't they add that nugget or the newer Brio RS in the new ones? Same goes for the other games. I honestly think racing games no longer have any soul in it. Hopefully, GT7 will fix that but I won't keep my hopes up.
I want games to have more mid and lower trim cars, plus Forza is guilty of fucking up with cars by getting top spec version and having idiotic upgrades over something that should be an upgrade over base version of certain car in aspects of aero, and performance. They dont even understand engine generations with engine swaps making some older generations inferior with no option to get later rendition of same engine to it.
somehow the licensed games of the 00s felt more..like that had some effort put into them. today it's like: we've got to make a game for our new product/franchise! let's make a match three puzzler!
I unironically hold the opinion that Ford Racing 3 for the DS is the worst game I have ever played, and I’ve been playing video games since before I even started going to pre-school.
This messy camera in FR3 is specyfic for Xbox version. I completed game about month ago on PS2 and it was normal
3 года назад+1
iirc that bad camera in fr3 is caused by widescreen. Instead of adding to the sides to make it wide many games from that time just cut off a bit of the top and bottom
Good point about the missing collection aspect in many newer games. Maybe it's not so surprising I've picked up every single game you mentioned in this video over the years. I wish there were more modern games that would make deep dives into a single brand's cars.
Nothing's off the table, I have TOCA 2 on OG xbox that I've never really played. It's more likely that I'd cover GRID, being an evolution that set itself apart way more, but TOCA is a possibility.
@@EastDallasKicks why not? Ford Falcons sold wildly in Australia and New Zealand, and during the time these games were released ford Australia were negotiating an export deal to ford usa to send Australian falcons to the US market
@@EastDallasKicks monarch lmao we aren't the UK, we've separated since 1901, you'd know the difference if you weren't cocky and a mindless drone of the US
@@EastDallasKicks lmao "slum" when Melbourne has held most livable city 7 years in a row, Adelaides vinyards has won best wine awards years in a row, we are up there with the best coffee culture in the world and the fact that we managed to get a multicultural society that is virtually free of Racism, and yet your backwater town has accomplished what exactly? Last I checked people don't visit countries as tourists to see a military with a massive budget
Damn, haven't played Ford Racing 3 in the PS2 for so long... never finished it cause my 2 2mb memory cards were broken... kek (and I couldn't be arsed to buy more) Subbed to the channel. PS: 2mb wow. 2mb today isn't nothing lmao
Overall as a compilation review for multiple games, I think you did well. You explained what you thought worked and didn't work. I disagree with how you feel about FR3 though, hehe. I'm sorry, but that's my favorite FR game of Razorwork's series. I don't recall the camera really being that bad really, my bigger gripe was with some of the track designs and the lack of stability on some cars. Anyway, I also share your desire to drive more regular cars in racing games. One of my favorite cars to drive in FM4 was the Ford Fusion Sport you shown at 26:23, there's something fun about seeing what these normal cars can do on a race track. I remember being happy when Turn 10 added the newer Lincoln Continental to one of their dlc packs in FM7.
Oh Hot Pursuit 2... I threw my disk at the wall back then, shattering it lol. That helicopters and those explosive barrels... Too much F&F instead of NFS, frustrating me too much. Ford Racing 2 was really fun though. Had it from a cereal box back then. Was an awesome time
Hot Wheels Velocity X! Played the hell out of it on PC as a kid and picked it up again as an adult, surprisingly fun for a kids game. Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@Kaceydotme It's available on PC? Well I was planning on going to bed tonight, but I think i'll find a download and play that all night. I only ever played it on PS2. And as always, love your videos. Still surprises me you only have 2k subscribers.
@@WilliamRowan if i remember correctly it's even pretty plug and play with windows 10. i didn't even have to map my xbox one controller last time i played on pc, it just worked. thanks for the kind words as always
I think Ford Racing 3 and the others are up for a free dl on MyAbandonWare, but honestly 3's worth replaying, the PC version is just as good as the consoles and it's actually giga challenging. It's not long, but it's a good game.
The wish of having more normal cars in games is why car modding is a thing, swapping out the fancier vanilla car roster with something that's considered rare on a digital platform or wouldn't be on a digital platform at all, just to scratch that car guy itch. You know that we wish for more "normal" cars in racing games when such a car comes out for a game brimming with much cooler cars (both new and old mind you) that you'll be more interested in the former than the latter.
I used to own Ford Racing 2 & 3... But about 3... I don't remember the camera being stupidly close on the PS2 (note: I'm Canadian). Could be on your end, I think.
Another video, another author's note:
1. Yes, I'm aware I said "Razorware" several times instead of "Razorworks." Don't record your voiceovers at 3am, kids. I recorded this VO almost two months ago, and didn't notice the mistakes until I was too deep in the editing process for it to be reasonable to re-record, resync and everything. Make fun of me if you wish.
2. This video took TOO LONG to make. I thought I could offset the challenge of covering 7 games in one video by spending less time on each, but even spending 3-5 minutes... y'all see how long it ended up being. This is where I've been.
3. Next video will be a more focused critique of a game I've been wanting to replay for a while.....
I hope y'all enjoy!
Can you look up at another "advergame" series that have more budget like the various Ferrari games, and perhaps the first World Racing (that only have Mercedes cars)?
@@mahiru20ten I had originally planned to label this as a series and do these every now and then but given how long this took, I didn't want to paint myself into doing more. That said, I'm definitely interested in doing more of the licensed racers. Raycevick here on RUclips did a very comprehensive and great video about the Ferrari games a few months back. I want to do the Corvette games at some point.
4x4 evo next
you also forgot the ds ford racing game.
INFO CONTENT didn’t forget it, just didn’t want to prolong this video further. I will talk about it sometime
I really liked Ford Racing 2. I remember they were packaged with cereals back in the day. So pretty much everyone had it in the school.
yeah that's how I got my copy for PC
edit: grammar
Only Ford Racing game I've played is Ford Racing 3 on the DS.
That's how I got my copy of Ford Racing 3.
Wasn't all that bad.
Yeah, with Nestle cereals
៊
I used to play lots of Ford Racing 2 with my father. I’m a third generation mustang owner so it made sense I’d end up with a copy in my childhood. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
I had ford racing on DS lite. My mom got it for me because it was at a discount.
Bharath Naveen was it worth it or nah
I think the thing woth ordinary cars being left behind in racing games is because of the huge focus on onlinbe play. For example, I played a lot of Forza Horizon 1 online and everybody picked the S or R classes, no one would want to race with the D/E/F classes. Little did they know that with slower cars you get better racing.
Totally agree
But in games like Gran Turismo and NFS, you felt your progression by driving shitboxes at the start
Which is why I believe they should really bring some kind of Progression to horizon games
The final point of the video nails my thoughts about why I love certain driving games like Gran Turismo, Forza, Driver SF and Enthusia for the PS2. I just love the idea of having a large mix of cars from everyday cars to full on race cars. I just want to hop into a Crown Vic or Toyota Corolla and mess around with them. It's hard to explain why do I like these games to others, people will think I'm weird.
Great video btw, glad that RUclips recommended me your channel.
i always liked racings games from the ps2 era they have this certain charm to them
I've played through FR3 multiple times and never had trouble with the camera lol, maybe the Xbox version is different from the PS2 version?
I agree, awful camera angle is just in Xbox version.
In PC and ps2 versions you can Change the CAMERA
@@waled7564 If you weren't playing in widescreen back then on any version of the game, you won't see this issue at all. The problem is the camera not adapting to the widescreen mode. The HUD may look correct, but FOV is pretty much Vert- (minus), meaning it cuts off a portion of the top and bottom of the screen to keep it from looking squished.
It's most likely because he has his Xbox set to widescreen. Since the setting is set system-wide it'll apply itself to any compatible game.
Many Xbox/PS2 games used what's called Vert- for widescreen. Essentially it cuts the bottom and top view to make the ratio appropriate. It seems FR3 uses this.
An easy and cheap way to make your game seem technologically forward looking without messing with the game's rendering to get actual widescreen.
That last part hit me hard , Its so nice to see someone who also likes quirky trim levels and more low end common cars instead of always the highest trim level in video games
I love ur videos 💖💖💖
Thanks for the kind words, they mean a lot. Please don't explode in my pocket.
Same
Facts, I can count on one hand the number of games that let me drive a Nissan Xterra.
I can agree with this, Cars nowadays don't come in manual if its a higher trim for what ever reason.
Glad I'm not the only one too, lol. There's something to being able to drive a car ingame that you could very much own irl
Ford Street Racing's team race mechanics are exactly like Driver San Francisco's team racing, all the way down to the rapid shift to jump between both cars quickly. Waiting for your next video :)
Ford has a history with games.
Back in the 80's they released a few Ford Simulator "games" and footage of those is all over RUclips. I consider Ford Racing to be the unofficial successors of these programs.
Same
"And today, when you're someone who's more interested in cars themselves than racing, driving games don't feel like they're for you anymore."
FINALLY, someone GETS it. Forza Horizon and other games today are fun, sure, but I never feel like I'm actually HAVING fun while playing them. The most fun I've ever had playing racing games is in older Gran Turismos and Tokyo Xtreme Racer titles, because it feels grounded enough in the car selections and whatnot that I actually feel like I own those cars, I feel connected to them. Ford Racing 2 is one of my favorite games of all time because of the car selection, and five year old me thinking "wow, my dad's truck is in this game! Cool!"
Same. I still player NFS Hot Pursuit 2 because it feels connected to the gameplay. Don't forget about its semi arcade handling. FR2 also fun because it has wide variety of vehicle types. Classics, Sports, Modern, Trucks. You name it.
Big same there. TBH I think that's one of the reasons I loved the Black Box era NFS games so much, or at least Underground, Underground 2 and to some exten Most Wanted. These were fun cars, sure, but they were cars normal people could drive. The B15 Sentra SE-R hasn't appeared *anywhere* other than the 2 Underground games.
i think what it is is that a balance needs to be struck between a game like forza where they go "idk here have 4 billion dollars go buy a couple more multi-million dollar hypercars i guess" and a game like the crew that says "have 13 dollars go fuck yourself grind for a few more hours to get that shitbox you wanted'
Oh god
Ford vs Chevy
I’m getting violent flashbacks
I expected you to be here after i heard the phrase "Ford Vs Chevy"
I'm pretty sure we all expected this guy here sooner or later
wait your a furry?
:O they have spicy memory!
I remember my dad having a conniption when he saw Ford VS Chevy. He was a stonch Chrysler guy, a masochist, if you will.
I loved playing ford racing 3. I think we had multiple perspectives views for the camera on pc, the model A races were pretty lame but I enjoyed the game modes like driving on the racing lines for boost and elimination races, the relay races were fun too. I like how clean the UI is and makes up for a relatively enjoyable game for me.
The last part about uncommon cars in racers is part of the reason why I ended up playing Ford Racing 3 to begin with, when I found out that the Sierra was on it, since it rarely showed up in games compared to many other Fords. It's always cool to see unexpected vehicle choices like that in games.
Also, shoutouts to Ford Racing 2's "Funk" soundtrack set, from none other than Tim Follin... which was recycled from a Starsky & Hutch game that Empire put out around the same time. lol
also holy shit those Ford vs Chevy cutscenes are something
Ford Racing 3 will always have a place in my heart. I miss it so much on the ps2
I couldn’t agree more with the last part...for example, I was pretty bummed at the fact that the Dodge Neon & the Mitsubishi Lancer (Not the Evo), which was in NFS Underground, got scrapped completely from the series. It would be nice to be able to drive “uninteresting” cars in some of the newer games out now
Christ I could have sworn I made up Ford Racing 2 in my fever addled 6 year old brain
I didn’t know anyone else was even aware of Ford Racing 😮😂
I used to love Ford Racing 3, to this day I vividly remember playing it late nights on my PS2
Looks like the camera problem is an exclusive of the xbox version... On PC the camera is the same as the second game.
*hears The Objective from the R4 OST*
ah, i see you're a man of culture as well.
One of the best racing game soundtracks of all time, and a great game too.
Given how bland the Ford lineup is these days, it's refreshing to see games that celebrate the history of the company...in spite of how hit or miss they actually were.
That Ford 3 affixed camera made me ill.
Bronco, Edge ST, Explorer ST, Mach E GT, Mustang GT, BULLITT, GT350, GT350R, GT500, Mach 1, Raptor, Ford GT.
@@SuperAngryWalrus Bronco Raptor, F-150 Lightning, F-250 w/ 7.3l (Godzilla), F-150 Tremor, Ford Maverick, and Ranger Raptor too.
You're not alone when it comes to driving mundane cars in video games, I like to drive cars that most people skip over in games as those cars may prove to actually be pretty good.
Thank you for making the point about regular average cars in games. As someone who is a real petrol head, and seriously interested in cars themselves, I really do miss the days when racing games would include totally mundane cars, and of course if there's a customisation aspect then it's pure heaven. These days it's all boring hyper cars.
Ford Racing 2 was still the best IMO. The AI was great, racing on the hardest difficulty was really entertaining when you made everyone use the same car as you.
Ford Racing 3 on the other hand, looks pretty dull. The enviroments are bland, the AI is braindead, and while there are more cars, they decided to change the sounds to some of them during the transition from FR2, ruining them in the process (Examples: Powerstroke Concept, Crown Victoria, Focus FR200, Taurus Stock Car, Ford GT (That supercharger whine ruins the harmony of any car that has it in FR3)
And after FR3... oh boy, the car sounds took a nosedive in quality (Seriously, the Super Chief in OffRoad sounds like the green Mustang GT from FR3 wtf?) But hey, Street Racing was a fun time when i was a kid, so it holds a little place in my heart, just like FR2.
I currently have a FR3 in my W10 PC and try to learn how to mod the game. Maybe I'll release a mod to bring some FR2 aspects back. But FR3 sounds good for me now.
@@camero4134 I already know how to swap the sounds in FR3, i have been doing it every time i played the game since i was a kid. I feel sorry for anyone who cant play it on PC and do the same thing
I thank RUclips for putting your NFS Undercover video in my recommendations. I’m excited to see more videos from you in the future :)
The franchise may be shovelware, but it still managed to have 1 or 2 decent games throughout its lifespan. I have recently bought Ford Racing 2 thanks to this video, and may check out Off Road some time. Ford Racing 3 is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, mostly because it's the first game in the series I played and at the time, I was more interested in the more simple, budget style racing games like Trackmania and GTI Racing, before Colin McRae DiRT changed all that. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind hearing what you have to say about the GTI series of racing games, like GTI Racing and GTI Club. I hope you will cover them in a future video!
GTI Racing isn't part of the GTI Club series.
The former is about racing volkswagen, the GTI Club games are arcade games.
Ford racing 2 and 3 are literally my childhood. Thank you so much for this!
Whoa i love the parabloid map reflection on the cars in Ford Mustang game and the next one.
Yeah PS2 has an incorrectly designed interlace flicker fixer circuit, it's a documented hardware bug. For this reason, games completely disable it, all of them. The few games that do have a proper interlace flicker filter, make one in software as a post process step, but that takes up extra GPU time. The effects of the lack of flicker fixer are varied, but in general it's a jittery image and greatly reduced number of perceived lines of detail particularly in motion.
Thank you, I feel like I'm weird when I say I want to drive a Chevy Cavalier or Monte Carlo in a racing game. I want to drive those cars in the games because when else am I gonna get a 2004 Impala up to 114Mph?
This video almost made me cry... very fond memories. I had so many of the PS2's great racing games. FR2 was for sure. Me and my dad also fell in love with Ford vs Chevy
I know what you mean about Forza, nowadays whenever they add a new car it always has to be the newest, highest trim which makes creating overpowered builds a lot less satisfying.
27:02 I don't need a game to drive a 2002 saab 9-3. I own a viggen :)
Also shows a late 2000s turbo X in the footage
Yeah, haha, I coulda sworn Forza 4 had an older 9-3. Not sure which game I was thinking of, probably PGR. But I had to get all the footage together before I left for a trip home for the holidays.
@@Kaceydotme The old 9-3 is the Viggen hatch
TX is still a 9-3. Just the 2.8 Aero, with AWD.
@@CardboardSliver Yes, because full name is Saab 9-3 Aero Turbo-X, irc all TX have AWD
Also, the first Forza had an OG Saab 9-3 Viggin.
I think 4 had the 99 Turbo, the 9-3 TX, and OG 9-3 Aero, or the SE to the Americans.
This is probably one of the many reasons I love the GTA series, albeit the cars being unlicensed, the devs actually took great effort into putting detailed versions of mundane vehicles which are always really fun to drive, at least for me.
I found a copy of FR3 in my cereal box 12 years ago. Now I'm driving a Ford and I collect just about anything related to Ford. But that game is where it all started.
me: ^sees title^
also me: ^sees thumbnail^
also me: ^dies inside^
I MISS THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! miss tthem days when games were fun on the ps2:(. ^sad blanc^
Completely with you on the last part of this video. Recently hooked my old PS2 up to play enthusia. That game has thee best car list of all time, for ordinary and obscure cars.
Probably the only game where we can play as a Saab 9-5.
@@CardboardSliver or a smart four two cabrio...
But I'm absolute favourite cars on that game are:
Renault Avantime
Citroën DS Pallas
Nissan March / Micra
Nissan El Grande
Honda Mobilio
2004 VW Beetle
Damn, I really miss all those. But the only thing that's scratching that itch recently is the very few common / weird cars Gt Sport has, like the BMW i3, Mazda Demio / 3, and Honda Fit / Jazz
Honestly, I have fond memories of playing 2 and 3 on my pos Windows XP PC
FR3 was the first one I've ever played. I even remember my first ever race, Track 1 on Collonial Run with a red Falcon XR8.
Damn, I thought it I was only one that played this game as a kid. It was one of my first ps2 games I've owned in 2006 and I've heard nobody talk about the game on the internet years later.
I fully agree on the love of driving more "normal" cars. Getting the licensing and importing them into the game may not feasibly be worth it most of the time due to little interest from the majority of the modern racing playerbase, but sometimes I just want to drive a Yaris more than I do a Ferrari or a BMW.
In 4:3 mode on a crt the view is not as near as the 16:9 widescreen mode in Ford Racing 3
Just play the 4:3 mode
GO TO THE OPTIONS ;)
My favourite Ford series game is actually Street Racing XR Edition I played on an PSP emulator.
If I recall my faith in the rebooting franchise I have two ideas:
1. Ford vs GM - The two men are discussing which brand would win the Westington cup, however after watching it on a TV, they decide to sign up for it after seeing it. The interface of the would be improved from Ford vs Chevy.
2. Ford Racing 4 - Again a collection of Ford cars to drive, but physics come up more realistic and cars are customizable.
I remember my dad bought me Ford Street Racing back when i was about 8, that just made me explored almost the entire franchise. Talking about Bold Moves, Ford Street Racing: XR Edition is the best version exclusive for AU, but there are 3 additional cars for the PSP game instead of replacing the 3 original cars, although the gameplay might be similar.
I'm glad someone finally acknowledged Ford Vs Chevy and the Mustang Games. I know they weren't the biggest but they were so fun at the time.
Ford Racing 3 got a DS release, so that means Off Road wasn't the first one on Nintendo hardware to let you know.
And GBA
I watched for the title, and stayed for the RR4 soundtracks
Oh yeah, i remember playing ferrari Challenge for ps2
r e d l a n c e r Ferrari challenge... that game made me rage so many times. Then there was supercar challenge, which I never even bothered trying after the first championship
Don't you dare to try and insult my child "Downtown Run" 1:02
jokes aside i really like your content and i'm glad to see atleast someone remembers Downtown Run xD
You summed it up perfectly, these games are a time capsule of automotive history, albeit, obscure and mundane models we use to see on the road growing up. It's especially cool if your family owned one of those featured sedans, SUVs, or pickups back in the day. Aside from the sports cars and top models, we'll probably never see most of these vehicles in any future games. Grand Turismo 2 holds a special place in my gaming memory because of the regular sedans and vehicles we say day to day on the road. It was amazing to think that a current game would feature your common sedan your parent's probably owned. Half the fun was playing in attainable coupes and sedans that were on the road - of course putting a turbo charger and a drag package didn't hurt either :) Nothing has really matched that type of variety and depth of vehicles for me since GT2.
I remember gifting my friend Ford racing 3 for his birthday in 2004 lol
I grew up fairly poor, so Mustang The Legend Lives came out right when i got my PS2. That and Ford Racing 2 are a couple of the games that i have the fondest memories playing.
I loved ford racing, played it so much as a kid.
Nice thing that Ford Racing 3 has a lan support so i could play a match using hamachi.
EDIT: About the camera thing, i have never played a different racing game back then, so i had no issue whatsoever with the camera, i actually liked it.
ANOTHER EDIT: Well, i have to disagree with this video. Expecially saying that Off-Road is the best ford racing game? I HATED this one the most, i haven't even finished, while on the other hand i finished the pervious PC titles more than 3 times. Off Road was extremetly boring, ran out of contet very soon, it felt like a complete garbage.
Oh wow I have some of these, specifically 2 or 3 I think. My uncle had it and gave it to me along with a bunch of other games he had.
I loved Ford Racing 2 and 3! I liked the simplicity of it all, it harkened back to oldschool arcade racing (PC).
Oh man, memories of ford racing 3
I remember getting those cereal bags with a game inside, and within them, Ford racing 3....it looked like the developers were desperate to actually give these games for free.
It was some kind of advertisement or maybe offer but that lasted like 3 months
Bruh I remember playing ford offroad lmao.
This was one of the few games I had when I was young and I absolutely loved it.
Oh, this game was a huge part of my childhood!
This review started out great and dances into a passive aggressiveness towards this game series. Ford Racing 2 is a very good game and so is Ford Racing 3. But, I think you’ve missed an opportunity with FR3 and judged it harshly. This is the game that most people have nostalgia with and my biggest issue with FR3 is the clear bland map design and getting used to the camera view for the cars will reward you with a fun experience that is Ford Racing 3. Calling Ford Racing:Off Road one of the best in the franchise is a long reach... it’s considered to be the worst and that is absolutely correct. It’s a buggy mess and the AI can be complete cheaters in the game. The Wii port is a tragic mess as well with the motion controls barely working half the time. I think, you needed to do more research for this game franchise. Ford Vs Chevy aren’t apart of the franchise and as well as Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives. They were completely made by different publishers and devs, they just happened to have the Ford license. If you want to get interested into this series, I highly recommend buying FR2/FR3 and even Ford Street Racing if that suits you enough. Personally, this review feels rushed just like a budget title game.
I still unironically play FR2 to this day. I got it is some sort of 3 game bundle at Walmart when I was a kid (the only time I ever remember seeing this). I think it came with Super Trucks Racing and Corvette maybe.
I have ford vs chevy on ps2 and its actually fun
The niche cars and multiple trims are what made me love the earlier racing games. The newer ones are all about the fastest and the flashiest like forgetting about what sort of customers they have as an audience. Sure it's nice to drive that brand new Ferrari, but it would be equally good, if not much better, to see my daily driver in game and do what I normally can't with it.
I adored Gran Turismo when it had the first gen Honda Fit, especially the Spoon race car. Why couldn't they add that nugget or the newer Brio RS in the new ones? Same goes for the other games.
I honestly think racing games no longer have any soul in it. Hopefully, GT7 will fix that but I won't keep my hopes up.
Ford Racing 2 was my first game, it determined my taste in racing games and made me a fan of Ford cars!
I want games to have more mid and lower trim cars, plus Forza is guilty of fucking up with cars by getting top spec version and having idiotic upgrades over something that should be an upgrade over base version of certain car in aspects of aero, and performance. They dont even understand engine generations with engine swaps making some older generations inferior with no option to get later rendition of same engine to it.
somehow the licensed games of the 00s felt more..like that had some effort put into them. today it's like: we've got to make a game for our new product/franchise! let's make a match three puzzler!
I unironically hold the opinion that Ford Racing 3 for the DS is the worst game I have ever played, and I’ve been playing video games since before I even started going to pre-school.
I don't know how eutechnyx goes from ford mustang the legend lives, to ride to hell, and then to the early 2010's nascar games, such varied qualties
This messy camera in FR3 is specyfic for Xbox version. I completed game about month ago on PS2 and it was normal
iirc that bad camera in fr3 is caused by widescreen.
Instead of adding to the sides to make it wide many games from that time just cut off a bit of the top and bottom
Good point about the missing collection aspect in many newer games. Maybe it's not so surprising I've picked up every single game you mentioned in this video over the years. I wish there were more modern games that would make deep dives into a single brand's cars.
So, there's actually one game you forgot: the NDS Ford Racing game.
Damn i love your videos (and nails
Ford Racing 3 the only game with an F-350 Powerstroke and a dually
Holy balls this game has the Crown Victoria to a Super Duty Dually
I love your videos. Are you planning on making a video about TOCA Race Driver? It was one of my favourites back in the day,
Nothing's off the table, I have TOCA 2 on OG xbox that I've never really played. It's more likely that I'd cover GRID, being an evolution that set itself apart way more, but TOCA is a possibility.
I remember when Ford Racing 3 was the shit to play in class
I remember playing this back in the day. Crazy how these games we grew up with are now retro games.
I still play Ford racing 3 on my ps2 sometimes
I find the lack of Australian Ford in these games disappointing, so much potential for the Aussie ford hero cars completely overlooked by Ford USA
@@EastDallasKicks why not? Ford Falcons sold wildly in Australia and New Zealand, and during the time these games were released ford Australia were negotiating an export deal to ford usa to send Australian falcons to the US market
@@EastDallasKicks and yet they paid special attention to add all the hot British ford cars too which only sell in Britain and parts of Europe
@@EastDallasKicks coming from the country who's all so "glorious" and "holy" president is being impeached for power abuse lmao
@@EastDallasKicks monarch lmao we aren't the UK, we've separated since 1901, you'd know the difference if you weren't cocky and a mindless drone of the US
@@EastDallasKicks lmao "slum" when Melbourne has held most livable city 7 years in a row, Adelaides vinyards has won best wine awards years in a row, we are up there with the best coffee culture in the world and the fact that we managed to get a multicultural society that is virtually free of Racism, and yet your backwater town has accomplished what exactly? Last I checked people don't visit countries as tourists to see a military with a massive budget
Ford racing 2 was the first racing game I remember really getting into. Good times.
Damn, haven't played Ford Racing 3 in the PS2 for so long... never finished it cause my 2 2mb memory cards were broken... kek
(and I couldn't be arsed to buy more)
Subbed to the channel.
PS: 2mb wow. 2mb today isn't nothing lmao
You should try more obscurer racers, like Road Trip Adventure.
road trip adventure is one of those games that is FAR from perfect and yet i absolutely adore it for what it is!!
Overall as a compilation review for multiple games, I think you did well. You explained what you thought worked and didn't work. I disagree with how you feel about FR3 though, hehe. I'm sorry, but that's my favorite FR game of Razorwork's series. I don't recall the camera really being that bad really, my bigger gripe was with some of the track designs and the lack of stability on some cars.
Anyway, I also share your desire to drive more regular cars in racing games. One of my favorite cars to drive in FM4 was the Ford Fusion Sport you shown at 26:23, there's something fun about seeing what these normal cars can do on a race track. I remember being happy when Turn 10 added the newer Lincoln Continental to one of their dlc packs in FM7.
You can argue most racing games are advergames
I kid you not.
First time I played Ford Racing 3 was because they were giving away the PC installation disk as a cereal box prize.
16:35 nice Skyline
Ford Racing 2 was the bomb back in the day ! That intro song drove me crazy...in a good way.
It's "Cyberchrist" by Pivit. You're welcome.
Ford Racing 3 is my childhood.
Fond memories of Ford Racing 2000 and the insane speed killing grass.
Oh Hot Pursuit 2... I threw my disk at the wall back then, shattering it lol. That helicopters and those explosive barrels... Too much F&F instead of NFS, frustrating me too much. Ford Racing 2 was really fun though. Had it from a cereal box back then. Was an awesome time
Try the non-PS2 version of HP2. Far more like the older games
@@Kaceydotme Was the PC version of HP2
Ok, this is quality content. You deserve more subs.
please do a 4x4 evo review
Great video! What's the game at 23:34? I played it a bunch at a friends house when I was young but no idea what it was called.
Hot Wheels Velocity X! Played the hell out of it on PC as a kid and picked it up again as an adult, surprisingly fun for a kids game. Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@Kaceydotme It's available on PC? Well I was planning on going to bed tonight, but I think i'll find a download and play that all night. I only ever played it on PS2. And as always, love your videos. Still surprises me you only have 2k subscribers.
@@WilliamRowan if i remember correctly it's even pretty plug and play with windows 10. i didn't even have to map my xbox one controller last time i played on pc, it just worked.
thanks for the kind words as always
BROOOOO U did Ford Vs. Chevy Dirttyy.
The Mustang Mach III was also in Need For Speed II SE.
Hit me with the two Downtown Run clips out of nowhere. Wasted so many years as a kid on that game. Its OST is still fantastic.
What's the game at 23:34?
I think Ford Racing 3 and the others are up for a free dl on MyAbandonWare, but honestly 3's worth replaying, the PC version is just as good as the consoles and it's actually giga challenging. It's not long, but it's a good game.
The wish of having more normal cars in games is why car modding is a thing, swapping out the fancier vanilla car roster with something that's considered rare on a digital platform or wouldn't be on a digital platform at all, just to scratch that car guy itch. You know that we wish for more "normal" cars in racing games when such a car comes out for a game brimming with much cooler cars (both new and old mind you) that you'll be more interested in the former than the latter.
I used to own Ford Racing 2 & 3... But about 3... I don't remember the camera being stupidly close on the PS2 (note: I'm Canadian). Could be on your end, I think.
Playing Ford Racing 2 on PC with an Xbox One controller set to the hardest difficulty with assists off is still extremely satisfying.