I still remember when I was a child, I clutched my crumpled pocket money, ran to the shelf in the corner of the video game store, and rummaged through a pile of colorful pirated cassettes. At that time, who cares what genuine and pirated copies are, what can be plugged into GBA and PSP and run is our entire universe. A yellow cassette contains dozens of "super horsepower" in one, or "Ridge Racer" with scratched stickers, which can make my best friend and I squat in front of the TV and rub the handle all afternoon, and we can't bear to stop even if our fingers are scratched.
Later, mobile phones became smarter and smarter, and emulators were installed one after another, but it always felt like something was missing. Until today, I was browsing on the forum and saw a recommendation post for "Little O's Ultimate Rush 4". The moment I clicked on it, the familiar smell of engine oil and track tire noise seemed to rush directly into my temples from the screen. 🚗💨
To be honest, when I played pirated racing games back then, there were two things I hated the most: First, the disk reading was as slow as a commercial in a TV series, and second, the cars on the screen looked like pieces of paper, and they could break through the mold even if they hit a wall. This time I opened "Oscar 4" on my mobile phone, and boy, the reflection of the Bugatti Veyron's paint, and even the details of the splash when the tires ran over the gravel, were more vivid than what I remembered from "GT Racing" on the PSP. What's even more amazing is that it actually makes "building a team" into the core gameplay, recruiting drivers and adjusting tactics. Isn't this our ultimate dream of arranging troops for a fictional team with a small notebook? 🚦
And it's actually packed with plot! In the past, the racing games on pirated cassettes had no plot at all. The most they had was "You won, congratulations" in white with black background. Now that I have completed the World Tour, the drivers can still have some weird and yang exchanges in the middle cutscene, and there are even career choices. It makes me feel like I am playing a fan RPG of "Initial D". Youth is really back, and it's back with turbo boost. 😭
Of course, as a nostalgic person, I still can't help but complain: the original version of “Little O's Ultimate Rush” on the GBA had a black and white pixel style on the cassette, and the entire cassette was hot to the touch when running. Now the mobile version has such high definition that you can count the driver's eyelashes, but the ceremonial sense of “click” when the cassette is inserted can only remain in the memory forever. However, if you can play such an exciting sequel for free on the 5.0 system, what else do you need? It's time for those pirated ROMs in your favorites to give way to the myth of drag racing in this new era. 🎮
No more talking, I went to pick up my first team member. I wish every old boy's youth would be like this game. Even though he is ten years late, he can still burn the tires red when he steps on the accelerator. 🔥