Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (FDS)

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Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally
Famicom Grand Prix II 3D Hot Rally - FDS.jpg
Platform: FDS
Year: 1988
Developer: HAL Laboratory, Inc.

Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally is a racing game developed by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory. It was one of the few games released on the Nintendo that allowed for a 3D mode, similar to Rad Racer (NES). However, the game is a sequel to the game Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race (FDS).

There are three cars and four lengthy tracks to choose from. The goal of each race is to make it to each checkpoint before the timer runs out. Scattered along each track are H icons; when eight of them are picked up, the player can use their turbo boost. Similar to Taito Chase H.Q., there are also many forks in the road, with each path containing different scenery, which was revolutionary at the time. Though there are only a few, each track takes 10 minutes (give or take) to finish. On certain parts of each track, red markers are placed on the road which the player can collect. Collecting eight of these markers will allow the player to use a turbo boost for an extended period of time. However, the player must also avoid traps placed both on the side, as well as inside the road. These mostly include rocks and trees, the latter of which have a face for some reason. A nice feature of this game is that the game has a day-to-night transition throughout the track.

Before each race, the player has to set their repair-point, which can be any of the checkpoints on the track. This is because your car has a damage meter, and taking too much damage will force you to retire for the race. You can also repair your car any time during the race, but this will cause you to pull over to do so, wasting precious time. Also, you must beat the time listed for each checkpoint, though the game allows you some time to clear it before it disqualifies you.

Though the game was never released outside of Japan, a majority of the game is in English, and can easily be picked up and played by English speakers. While this game did not get its own sequel, it did serve as a precursor to the F-Zero series, which would spawn just a couple years after. The game received mostly positive reviews from critics and players alike.

Screenshots

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Title Screen.png

The title screen.

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Main Menu.png

The main menu.

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Service Data.png

Viewing the service data.

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Selecting Track.png

Deciding which track to race on.

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Just Start.png

Placing repair points on the track.

Famicom Grand Prix II - FDS - Gameplay 1.png

Deciding which path to choose during the race.

Music

3D Hot Rally has quite an impressive soundtrack for its time, considering its earlier release date of 1987. This is due to two factors; a very talented sound team consisting of HAL's Hideki Kanazashi and Hiroaki Suga (Adventures of Lolo, Air Fortress), as well as Nintendo's Soya Oka (SimCity, Pilotwings), as well as the use of the RP2C33 provided by the Disk System. The Disk System's extra channel is used in each song as a sort of slap bass.

The main genre in the game is rock 'n' roll, though tracks like Fireball and Wing Commander have an overall Latin feel, like many of Kanazashi's other works. Oka's tune, Monster Dance (not to be confused with the Castlevania song of the same name) is a fast-paced rock number. The track Opening is interesting in that it starts off with the 9/8 time signature for the first part of the song; something unheard of in video game music at the time. The song was later arranged and used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (WII). The track Message also sounds similar to the Above Ground BGM from Super Mario Bros. (NES).

Normally, since each course can take a long time to play through, the music would get annoying after extended play. However, this isn't the case in 3D Hot Rally, because each of the three cars not only have their own themes, but in addition, span over a minute in length. This, combined with the catchy nature of each tune makes it hard for one to want to hit the mute button.

To create the music, Kanazashi and Suga used Music Maker. Soyo Oka may have used this program as well, or Suga may have arranged her music into the program, as Music Maker was a program by HAL Laboratory.

The song titles are taken from the game's official soundtrack released after the game was released, titled 3D Hot Rally (see below). The soundtrack includes both Japanese and English names. The English names are used below.

Recording

# Title ComposerProgrammer Length Listen Download
01 Opening Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 2:01
Download
02 Game Select Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:21
Download
03 Just Start Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:40
Download
04 Fireball Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 2:16
Download
05 Wind Commander Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 2:47
Download
06 Monster Dance Soyo OkaHiroaki Suga 3:30
Download
07 Goal In Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:09
Download
08 Congratulation Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:48
Download
09 Message Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:48
Download
10 Retire Hideki KanazashiHiroaki Suga 0:03
Download

Credits

(Source)

To view the game's credits, you must beat all three courses with all three cars. After this, you can save your game to watch the ending.

The official soundtrack CD 3D Hot Rally (see below) identifies the real names of each composer. While Hiroaki Suga receives credit as a composer in the game, the CD does not attribute any songs to him, so he was most likely the sound programmer. Hideki and Hiroaki both use their respective pseudonyms in other games as well. Kanazashi's alias means "Runaway Kanazashi".

Albums

3D Hot Rally

3D Hot Rally Soundtrack CD.jpg

1988-07-25

Game Rip

Format

Download

NSF.png

N/A


The NSF contains all ten songs. NSF ripping is an arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site. The recording was made in VirtuaNSF.

Releases

  Japan.svg   Japan
Famicom Grand Prix II 3D Hot Rally - FDS.jpg
Title: ファミコン グランプリⅡ スリーディー ホット ラリー (Famicom Grand Prix: 3D Hot Rally)
Platform: FDS
Released: 1988-04-14
Publisher: Nintendo

Links