Uniracers
Encyclopedia
Uniracers is a video game created by DMA Design (now Rockstar North
) for Nintendo of America
, called 1x1 during development, that was released for the SNES
in North America
in 1994 and in the PAL
territories on April 27, 1995. The game focuses on fast moving action, and was released to show that the SNES could handle games similar to SEGA
's popular Sonic games.
The gameplay of Uniracers involves racing riderless unicycle
s around a 2D track. Heavy emphasis is placed on performing stunts.
The game features nine tours of five tracks each (two race
, two circuit, one stunt
) for a total of 45. Beating each of the first eight tours requires defeating computer-controlled opponents for each of bronze, silver, and gold ranks. The last circuit features the Anti-Uni as the computer-controlled opponent. During that tour, touching the Anti-Uni causes several odd effects, such as the track becoming invisible, the controls reversing, and the background no longer moving in sync with the actions.
Split-screen
two-player modes are available as well, including a league mode that allows up to eight players to compete in one-on-one races. There are 16 different colored unicycles to choose from, each with a save file and customizable name.
The track is made of bars with patterns on them which correspond to the track's properties at or near that point. For example a solid yellow bar indicates a shortcut and orange/yellow bars indicates an upcoming hazard. There are also various obstacles like speed-ups, corkscrews, loops, twists, and of course, jumps.
for allegedly copying the unicycle design and concept from their 1987 short film Red's Dream
. Mike Dailly, one of the developers at DMA Design, commented, "The problem with Pixar was that they seemed to think that any computer generated unicycle was owned by them."
DMA Design lost the lawsuit, and as a result, Nintendo had to terminate production of further Unirally cartridges. According to Mike Dailly, "The deal was that Nintendo wouldn't make any more carts so Unirally only sold the 300k initial run".
Many reviewers and players believe the game would have been quite successful, given its critical praise, had it not been limited to its 300,000 production run.
Rockstar North
Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA....
) for Nintendo of America
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, called 1x1 during development, that was released for the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 1994 and in the PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
territories on April 27, 1995. The game focuses on fast moving action, and was released to show that the SNES could handle games similar to SEGA
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's popular Sonic games.
The gameplay of Uniracers involves racing riderless unicycle
Unicycle
A unicycle is a human-powered, single-track vehicle with one wheel. Unicycles resemble bicycles, but are less complex.-History:One theory of the advent of the unicycle stems from the popularity of the penny-farthing during the late 19th century...
s around a 2D track. Heavy emphasis is placed on performing stunts.
Gameplay
Performing stunts causes the unicycle to go faster on race or circuit tracks and earn points on stunt tracks. The stunts that can be performed are relatively simple, mostly only involving jumping in the air and rotating about a given axis in 3D space. The idea is to be able to perform these stunts quickly in tight situations while landing the unicycle on its wheel to avoid wiping out, which results in the loss of accumulated speed. If a long series of stunts are completed before landing you can receive a message saying,"Dude!", "Flower Power!", or something similar.The game features nine tours of five tracks each (two race
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
, two circuit, one stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
) for a total of 45. Beating each of the first eight tours requires defeating computer-controlled opponents for each of bronze, silver, and gold ranks. The last circuit features the Anti-Uni as the computer-controlled opponent. During that tour, touching the Anti-Uni causes several odd effects, such as the track becoming invisible, the controls reversing, and the background no longer moving in sync with the actions.
Split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
two-player modes are available as well, including a league mode that allows up to eight players to compete in one-on-one races. There are 16 different colored unicycles to choose from, each with a save file and customizable name.
The track is made of bars with patterns on them which correspond to the track's properties at or near that point. For example a solid yellow bar indicates a shortcut and orange/yellow bars indicates an upcoming hazard. There are also various obstacles like speed-ups, corkscrews, loops, twists, and of course, jumps.
Lawsuit
Shortly after the game's release, DMA Design was sued by PixarPixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
for allegedly copying the unicycle design and concept from their 1987 short film Red's Dream
Red's Dream
Red's Dream is a short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by John Lasseter, which was released in 1987. To date, this is the only short that has not been attached to one of Pixar's feature films in some form, the only Pixar short to be rendered on the Pixar Image Computer, and...
. Mike Dailly, one of the developers at DMA Design, commented, "The problem with Pixar was that they seemed to think that any computer generated unicycle was owned by them."
DMA Design lost the lawsuit, and as a result, Nintendo had to terminate production of further Unirally cartridges. According to Mike Dailly, "The deal was that Nintendo wouldn't make any more carts so Unirally only sold the 300k initial run".
Many reviewers and players believe the game would have been quite successful, given its critical praise, had it not been limited to its 300,000 production run.