Viper Racing: Sierra's OTHER 1998 Racing Sim

A never-heard-of-'em from the golden era of PC sim racing? Of course I need some of that. Providing it's on a budget label, which my copy naturally was.

But parsimonious late '90s purchasing decisions aside, does Viper Racing's dedicated single model focus result in a satisfying simulation experience? You're a mere twelve minutes from finding out. Also finding out why games stopped following that model. Plus learning the phrase "Smörgåsbord Simulator", which I did not coin and will almost certainly fail to pronounce every time it appears in my script.

Difficult Gear Shifts:

0:00 The tyranny of the roster
0:27 I fail to say "Smörgåsbord"
1:45 It's 1998 and 200 cars is not normal
2:43 One car. That's what's normal.
4:33 Velvet Realism and Nico
5:13 Getting a 23-year-old Viper running
6:30 Does it hold up?
7:25 The slightly more good bits
9:05 Gran Turismo with 0.5% of the car list
9:25 Don't let Timberwolf in the paint shop.
9:39 Let's not make another mod hunting video
10:04 Inevitable joke about the M25
10:20 Buried for a reason?
11:35 Third time's the Smörgåscharm?

Music by Telecasted / RKVC / Everet Almond (YouTube Audio Library)

1. Cattle (Telecasted)
2. Crops (Telecasted)
3. That One Bar Scene (RKVC)
4. American Idle (RKVC)
5. Down The Drain (Everet Almond)

Games Featured:

Forza Motorsport 7
Gran Turismo 2
Test Drive
Test Drive 2
Car & Driver
The Need For Speed
Porsche Challenge
Beetle Adventure Racing
F355 Challenge
Viper Racing
Grand Prix Legends

Comments are pre-reviewed to avoid spam. I aim to publish all comments, including dissent, but overly pedantic or negative ones may be moderated. Hearing about different experiences and what things were like in other countries adds a lot to the video! Please try to do so in a positive way while remembering that if I had to explain every minor international difference the video would be 2 hours long and boring, rather than 12 minutes long and boring. Failing that, at least make me laugh.

Bonus fact: The first "Dodge Viper" I encountered was a Matchbox model called the Sunburner, strongly resembling the concept car but renamed after a licence agreement with the Chrysler Corporation failed to materialise.