Ladies and gentlemen, today we’re testing Rage Racer on the PSIO prototype. Not Ridge Racer, Rage Racer! I’ve got the game loaded through the Systems Console, and we’re still using hardware 1.1 with software 1.1 revision 1.2.

The game starts up nicely, which is always a promising sign. Unfortunately, the background music seems to be missing, so we’re going to have to make do without that for now. At the time I suspected something to do with CD-XA support, although Rage Racer also uses CD audio tracks for its music. I haven’t established exactly what’s causing the problem in this test.

Once the race begins, things get considerably more entertaining. The handling reminds me a little of Need for Speed, although the way the cars bounce off the scenery is something else entirely. These crash physics might even be more realistic than Burnout 1 or Need for Speed III. Well, perhaps not!

The game seems to be running well enough to complete a few laps, and I even managed to set some records. I did notice a few interesting graphical effects while driving, including scenery that seems to shift around and reveal the sky behind it. Whether that’s the game or something worth investigating further, I’m not certain.

I’ve also discovered that I can drive a car straight into a barrier quite effectively. Steering around the barriers is considerably harder! At least the game doesn’t seem to mind, and I managed to finish the race despite my best efforts.

So Rage Racer is playable in this test, with the missing background music being the main compatibility problem I noticed. There’s still plenty more to investigate, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the later PSIO versions can do.

Please remember that these results apply to prototype hardware 1.1 and software 1.1 revision 1.2, not the final product. You can hit up ps-io.com for more information, since I’m just the tester!

Prototype test conditions

  • PSIO hardware: 1.1
  • PSIO software: 1.1, revision 1.2
  • PlayStation: PAL SCPH-5502

Sources