735th played so far
Genre: Driving
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1986
Developer: Tatsumi
Publisher: Tatsumi
There are a bunch of games that look like Buggy Boy, racers from a pre-3D era, running down a semi endless track that relies on sprite scaling to get the illusion of racing forward. Out Run is the canonical example for me, at least the one I remember from my youth. Buggy Boy is from the same era, so we’ll see whether it leaves the same impact.
Our Thoughts
Buggy Boy does follow this standard formula, although it feels like it takes it a step up. The basic gameplay alone does. Rather than beating someone’s time around a track, or making it through on time, there are flags dotted around the course. Collecting them gains you bonus points, which is what the game judges you on in the end. You can also drive through gates, giving you additional time from time to time. It makes the race more strategic, as you need to hit the right points on the track to keep going.
There are five different courses, one a repeated loop and five longer races. They are visually distinct with some different obstacles, but the trick stays similar, getting through without crashing while keeping to time. They’re all unlocked from the start, which gives the game a nice bit of variety which it feels like other games like it tend to lack.
Final Thoughts
Buggy Boy isn’t amazingly advanced, but I don’t think that’s really needed for an arcade racer of the time. I would of course have been happier with no time limits, or easier ones, to make it a bit gentler as a casual experience, but as it is this worked well and felt more varied than most others like it.