Resurrect It: R.C. Pro-Am

Objective: Maneuver a radio controlled automobile around a race track. Along with relentless opponents who always manage to regroup and run you down toward the end of the race, you must collect power ups and avoid nasty hazards.

R.C. Pro-Am is like a metaphor for everyday life. Everyday you you try to make it to the end with as many upgrades as possible. Along the way, you come in contact with people who probably wish to take you down in order to advance themselves.

Admit it, The folks over at Rare are pretty deep. They made the first R.C Pro-Am back in 1988, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Rare was destined to later go on create games like Jet Force Gemini, GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie.

For some reason, whenever there's talk of the best NES games, R.C Pro-Am is is often left off the list. This is either one of three reasons for this omission.

A.) A warped memory of the NES's library, thus they include sub far entries(It wasn't flawless, there were plenty of clunkers in that garage.)
B.) Multiple entries from one particular series(All three Mario games are good, but for the love of evil snapping turtles, just pick one!)
C.) People forget what made this game great.

I assume it's either A or B. I've seen enough questionable top ten lists to know A and B are the most feasible answers. Just to cover my bases, I'll go ahead and remind people about the subtle nuances anyway.

Track layout.
This is THE key to making a good racing game. Nothing else matters if boredom sets in while driving. I don't care if the developers go for a hyper realistic look for a Playstation 3 title. if the track bores me shitless, I'm going to want a refund.

Drifting.
Nobody knew what to call this in 1988. it was best described as automatic power sliding, or banana peel racing. I'm almost convinced street racers stole the idea of drifting from either a video game, or people who try to drive on black ice.

Weapons.
R.C. Pro-Am predated Twisted Metal, Vigilante 8 and all other vehicular combat games. Unlike those games, Pro-Am didn't need an ice cream truck driven by an insane clown, or controversy involving a school bug in order to create interest.

Educational.
Letters were scattered around the tracks. When collected, they would spell out "NINTENDO", and you would earn a new R.C. car. It's another metaphor that means learning can net you cool stuff in life. Brilliant Rare, BRILLIANT!

Fun for all.
You say you don't like racing games? I say you're weird, and I feel sorry for your family for having to deal with you on a daily basis....

...Perhaps that was a bit too harsh. Just play it already. R.C. Pro-Am is one of those games that transcends demographics. You can probably get older family members, who don't play any video games, hooked on it for a while. It's not Gran Turismo, anyone can pick up on this game with ease.

Unfortunately, Rare is no longer Rare. That company is nothing more than a shell of it's former self. With Microsoft pulling the strings, there's very little chance of seeing R.C. Pro-Am cross the finish line one more time.