The story of Metropolis Street Racer (MSR) is a tale of revamping and revolution within the racing game genre. Raising Hell Software, later known as Bizarre Creations, shifted gears from 2D platformers to a more realistic 3D racing experience in the PlayStation era. They had success with their entries in the Formula 1 series, which unexpectedly caught the attention of Sega officials.
The company was originally well-aligned with Sony, working on successive Formula 1 titles. However, the relationship soured when Sony was allegedly dishonest about holding the game's license. This, paired with the exhausting process of annual game development, led the studio to break ties with Sony and subsequently engage with Sega, which was then exploring options for a successor to its Saturn console.
Bizarre Creations' sizeable shift from Sony to Sega came with the invitation to discuss possibilities for the forthcoming Sega console, codenamed Dural, later revealed as the Sega Dreamcast. Discussions about using the Ferrari license progressed into the concept of a racing game featuring affordable sports cars, rooted in the personal experiences and preferences of the developers.
Sega's enthusiastic, albeit ambiguous, interest in a game from Bizarre Creations, coupled with the studio's own passion, set the stage for what would become Metropolis Street Racer. Initial Dreamcast hardware specifications were foggy, and the rumor regarding Microsoft's OS integration caused some concern, as the team was accustomed to direct hardware programming for optimal performance.
The intent to use real car models and brands in MSR required negotiations and permissions, which Sega handled adeptly. Achieving a sense of real driving required extensive research, including renting and analyzing vehicles. The development process used a comprehensive editing tool, MetGP, which contained the realistic specifications of each car to feed into the game's physics engine.
MSR distinguished itself further by choosing to depict real cities, an aspect that had received significant positive attention in early media coverage. Yet, the development ride was bumpy, with passionate disagreements about the game's direction, including a demo that received critical feedback for feeling too much arcade-like rather than an authentic driving experience.
These disagreements and a subpar E3 demo lead to significant restructuring of the team and project, as well as an entire year's worth of development time being funded by Bizarre Creations' dwindling cash reserves. Martyn Chudley, the founder, became more involved than ever, overhauling the engine and focus of the game.
A signature innovation, the Kudos system, which rewarded stylish driving, was conceived late in development. This, among other features, cemented the uniqueness of MSR but also resulted in a harrowing push to meet the revised deadline. The game finally launched but suffered from bugs due to its ambitious scope and the team's exhaustive state.
Post-launch, Bizarre Creations faced the abrupt end to Dreamcast with declining sales and explored potential porting to PlayStation 2, an idea Sega initially rejected. Sega's eventual exit from the hardware industry allowed rights retention excluding the name and licensed content for Bizarre Creations.
The missteps with Sega paved the way to a partnership with Microsoft for what would evolve into the Project Gotham Racing series. Microsoft's structured approach was a stark contrast to Sega's freewheeling style, and Bizarre Creations grew into a more seasoned studio, going on to develop lauded titles before eventually being purchased and later shut down by Activision.
Metropolis Street Racer remains a testament to the risks, innovations, and unwavering passion of a bygone era of game development. It set the stage for subsequent successes, and while Bizarre Creations is no longer a part of the industry, its legacies, both in MSR and the PGR series, continue to influence racing games today.
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