Video and words by Derrick Sanskrit
My fellow 61FPSers know that I'm a big fan of the quirky 1994 SNES racer, Uniracers. Aside from starring self-aware, unmanned unicycles and having appropriately psycho-geometric backgrounds, the game ran at Sonic the Hedgehog speeds. It pioneered the whole doing-tricks-earns-points-and-makes-you-go-faster mechanic later popularized by the Tony Hawk: Pro Skater series and borrowed by every racing game from SSX to Mario Kart Wii.
A lot of Uniracers' charm is explained by looking at the other work by its developer, DMA Design Limited. They broke onto the scene with the wildly popular Lemmings in 1990. That, along with Uniracers, won them some favor with Nintendo, who helped DMA with Body Harvest, a 3D vehicular action game for the Nintendo 64. DMA took everything they'd learned from Body Harvest to build the extremely controversial, unexpected hit Grand Theft Auto. Soon enough, DMA was bought out and renamed Rockstar North, where they continue to make Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt games to this day.
So yeah, Uniracers is the senseless SNES racer by the people who made Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto 4. Interested yet?
Similarly, Think About Life is a very odd band. Members of the Alien8 family of Canadian experimental pop musicians, Graham Van Pelt and Matt Shane produce tunes that sound like a Casio keyboard exploded under the weight of one-thousand anthropomorphic Jolly Rancher candies, some of whom were having a party and some of whom were very sad to realize they were made of such sweet delicious fruit flavored candy. While Van Pelt has had more success recently with his Miracle Fortress side project, Think About Life developed a solid fan base by opening for indie-rock powerhouses Wolf Parade and Art Brut. The steady rhythms, flanged triangle waves, and sheer eccentric wackiness of their music makes it a perfect soundtrack for the nonsensical racer from the EXTREME era of the mid-1990s. Please enjoy:
Previous Alternate Soundtracks:
Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Ratatat
Donkey Kong '94 vs. Les Savy Fav
Need for Speed: Underground vs. Justice
Super Street Fighter II vs. The Go! Team