What
Something called Cyber Spin was released by the Japanese publisher Takara in 1992. It is based on the anime series Future GPX Cyber Formula, though all of the anime stuff appears to be stripped from the U.S. version. Instead, we get characters like, uh…C. Davis?
All of that brings us to the most important question – what the hell is Cyber Spin? As it turns out, it’s a top-down racing game. If you had that in your Retro Roulette pick ‘em league, go get your prize. The mechanics are pretty simple – you should go fast, can use a boost meter to go slightly faster, but that meter is also your health, so it’s gotta be used intelligently. You can take a pit stop to restore that meter, but it takes a bit of time off the clock to do so. That’s about it! That’s really the whole game.
So is it any good? In a word – no.
Oh, you wanted more words? Alright, well, it’s a functional game, but it’s frustratingly light on features, even for a game of its era. Like a lot of older racing games, it offers “variety” in its courses, but that mostly means that the backgrounds are different and there are different turns. There are no extra modes or features to speak of – just a small handful of courses and that’s it. It does remind me a bit of some old arcade-style racers I enjoy to some extent, but it does so in a way that reminds me how those games are just better than this one. Nice going, Cyber Spin. If this game’s primary is to make me want to go and play better games, it definitely has that going for it.
While not outright awful, Cyber Spin offers no depth, no innovations in gameplay, and no other reasons to justify its existence. It’s just…sort of there. If you’ve ever considered going to your local game store, barging through the doors and demanding “Give me the least necessary game you have,” I believe I’ve found what you’ll receive. This is almost worse to me than a game that’s outright awful – at least then there’s a laugh or two you can potentially get out of it. With Cyber Spin, there’s barely anything to even write about.
Cyber Spin was a relatively early release in the history of Arc System Works, which has since become much better known for its crazy, super-detailed 2D fighting games, including the BlazBlue and Guilty Gear series. Those games are pretty cool, unlike Cyber Spin.
Next week’s game is an under-appreciated NES puzzle game that is better than Cyber Spin. See you then!