Summary
Few developers can boast a roster of licensed tie-ins to rivalRadical Entertainment,the plucky Canadian studio that was once all over the map. Just take a look at some of these colossal entertainment properties that have committed their IPs to Radical Entertainment titles over the years:Super Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Pixar, Marvel, Scarface, The Simpsons,and evenCSIfor some reason (and more than once).
With a record spanning all the way back to the Nintendo Entertainment System, Radical often go underappreciated as seasoned veterans of the video game industry. Sadly, the studio is all but dissolved into thelarge conglomeration that is Activision these days, with little more than ports of their older titles put out under the Radical Entertainment name in the past decade. So let’s take this moment to appreciate ten ofthe most thrilling, iconic, and often wacky titles that Radical Entertainment ever developed.
It would be easy to look atCrash Tag Team Racing,coming in hot on the coattails ofMario Kart: Double Dashaddinga fresh twist on the Karting genre, and assume it was a shameless clone, but that’s not the case. There will be plenty of time for that later. There’s actually a surprising amount of platforming in this installment of thepopularracing series.
What racing is present adds a very novel mechanic of Clashing, where any two racers can combine their cars on the track to form a powerful dual-action car for a burst of speed. All the combinations are unique, even if they share some similarities, and it adds a layer of strategic depth far above simply selecting two characters per Kart. Sadly, this comes at the expense of the series' steep learning curve, meaning the game struggled to satisfy fans.
The time has come.The Simpsons: Road Ragebore more than a passing resemblance to the popular arcade gameCrazy Taxi,so much so that parent company Sega sued for patent infringement. Yikes. To be fair, it was a pretty blatant example of homework copying, right down to the HUD elements.
That said, what game wouldn’t be improved by the iconic TV family slapping their endless quotable references all over it? This game is full of clever nods to the source material, like Seymour Skinner wanting to be dropped off at the box factory. On top of that, there is a fun, arcade-style driving game to be found here, all about racing across town to deliver various Springfield residents to their destinations within the allotted time limit.
8Mario’s Time Machine
Where In The World Is Super Mario?
We’re cheating a little here because finding reliable reviews for any of thebonkers spin-offs Nintendo commissionedin the earlier days of console gaming is a tricky task. It’s strange how they’re a lot more protective of their properties these days, but in defence of Radical Entertainment, theirMariospin-offs were intended to provide educational value, which was bound to limit their appeal.
Mario’s Time Machinesees Bowser stealing famous artifacts from across history to display in his castle. With the timeline in jeopardy, Mario requisitions the ‘Timulator’ (Time Machine) and sets out on a voyage to return them all to their proper time. The gameplay features a combination of mild side-scrolling action and answering questions about historical places and figures to guide Mario on his quest.
7Jackie Chan Stuntmaster
Rumble In The Bronx
This is right up there withDark Angelfor the strangest licenses acquired by the company: Jackie Chan. A brand that somehow spawned multiple games and an excellent animated series, completely unconnected in canon but all starring the iconic Kung Fu star as himself in fantastical scenarios reminiscent of his movies.
Jackie Chan Stuntmasteris a 3D beat ‘em up game with platforming elements that follows Jackie kicking his way across New York to save his uncle. It delivers exactly what that premise promises and is still worth booting up if for nothing more than to hear Jackie Chan quipping Mario’s famous catchphrase ‘here we go’ when starting a new level.
6MTV Sports: Pure Ride
Shredding The Slopes
For anyone who wasn’t a gamer in the 90s, it’s hard to explainthe significance of the snowboarding/skateboarding genre. For a good while,Tony Hawk’s Pro Skatertitles were lauded as the absolute pinnacle of gaming on Metacritic with near-perfect reviews across the board. Pun intended.
MTV Sportsseries was Radical Entertainment’s bid to get a bite of that cherry, withMTV Sports: Pure Ridenarrowly edging out the competition as the best in that series. The game featured an impressive assortment of modes typical of the genre with a split focus on speed and tricks. Plus, it featured a decent mountain builder mode where players could place an assortment of obstacles to pull sick tricks off of to impress their friends.
5NHL Championship 2000
One For The Road
Sports titles were a cash cow for Radical Entertainment throughout the 90s, with the developer releasing 12 licensed sports games in 7 years, andNHL Championship 2000was the pick of the bunch. Ice hockey was the most recurring sport in the catalog, so it’s no surprise that the system was refined over time to the best it could be.
It was also the last entry in the Fox Sports-backed series, as NHL video games soon became consumed by the twin powers of the more arcade-styleNHL Hitzseries and the all-encompassing EA Sports umbrella. Like most sports games, there’s little motivation to return to it today unless fans have a particular affinity for retro titles.
This game was released as a sequel to Brian De Palma’s gangster masterpiece by changing the ending of the movie to see Tony Montana survive. Having lost everything, Tony must rebuild his empire from scratch and take revenge on Alejandro Sosa. It sounds like it should be awful, but the narrative carries itself well, fleshing out characters who weren’t given much dedicated screen time in the film.
There’s an added emphasis on viscera compared to open-world gangster contemporaries of the time, giving combat a little more kick, and the pumping 80s soundtrack that’s playable on demand just makesScarface: The World is Yoursa barrel of fun. It’sGrand Theft Autowith the added flair of Al Pacino’s cult performance, portrayed in a recognizably rendered likeness, cussing and blasting his way to the top. What’s not to love?
Sadly, ambition that falls just short of execution was a recurring theme for Radical Entertainment,and none of their games better typify that thanPrototypeand its subsequent sequel. ThePrototypegames throw the player into the shoes of asuper-powered protagonist who can unlock a huge array of new powersand abilities in an impressive skill tree that offers complete freedom of choice.
However, it’s that same variety that ultimately underpins the experience with an overwhelming number of combos to memorize and cookie-cutter mission design ensuring no upgrades are essential for progression, making most abilities feel superfluous and interchangeable. Plus, the game frequently bombards players with so many enemies that an average playthrough results in as much spent time face down as there is flying through the air and firing off combos. When it does come together, though, it’s a great power fantasy to tear through.
The Simpsons: Hit & Runrepresents the dichotomy of Radical Entertainment in contrast to any of the shortcomings of the aforementioned titles, showcasing everything that made the developer so special. Sure, the game could use a coat of polish, and sure, there might be more driving in this open-world action-adventure game than inCrash Tag Team Racing,but who else could take a concept likeThe SimpsonsmeetsGrand Theft Autoand deliver this generational gem?
Hit & Runis the definingSimpsonsgame, and arguably themost requested remaster in the history of gaming. Developers are leaving money on the table at this point. The game was full of charm and character, and it perfectly inhabited the source material’s world like all great adaptations.
The most critically acclaimed game in Radical Entertainment’s catalogue makes full use of the two things the developer excelled at the most: Love for the source material and unadulterated fun. In many ways,The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destructionwas the blueprint for thePrototypeseries, but even next-gen hardware fell short of generating the chaos of a rampaging Hulk.
So much of the environment is not just destructible but capable of being weaponized, and even hours into a playthrough, players will still be discovering new cool weapons and combos to wreak havoc on the Hulkbusters. Boss fights are suitably grand in scale and challenging, borrowing cues from hack-and-slash titles of the era. Put simply,no game before or sincehas delivered the power fantasy of embodying the iconic Marvel monster quite like this.
