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SPACING AND LENGTH
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Permission is granted to download and print one copy of this game guide for personal use.
Remember: Plagiarism in ANY form is NOT tolerated!!!!!
INTRODUCTION
Bravo Air Race is a VERY short airplane-racing game: twelve airplanes and only four circuits means that players will likely not be spending a lot of time with Bravo Air Race. However, this game is definite a fun occasional diversion from other games, so it is definitely well worth keeping in the game collection to play from time to time, especially when one wants a 'fast, quick, simple' game to play or one does not have a lot of time to get into a long race, a role- playing game, etc.
Unfortunately, however, Bravo Air Race suffers somewhat significantly from a 'lack' of circuits. With only four circuits presented in Bravo Air Race, there is really not a lot available to 'explore' - especially since the game's circuits are VERY 'linear,' with NO room for diverging off the flight line to better explore an area. Some of the circuits do have one or two (very) minor shortcuts, and all four of the game's circuits also have a few power-ups available, but that is the extent of the circuits' features. However, the environments of the four circuits are quite compelling - perhaps not entirely realistic, but definitely quite compelling nonetheless.
The graphics in Bravo Air Race are highly reminiscent of the early Tomb Raider games - especially the beginning of Tomb Raider II (in China) when flying through the caves at the Mountain circuit - in terms of how the textures are rendered and presented. However, the sounds are even better than the early Tomb Raider games, although it is rather intriguing that when participating in a race, all eleven competitors have the EXACT same voice when they make comments over the radio!!!!!
Overall, Bravo Air Race is an interesting game... for a very, very, VERY short period of time; for most players, the novelty of the game will wear away in about an hour, or perhaps even less. Except perhaps for the youngest of gamers, there is virtually no replay value. This game is fun, however, and thus can be very nice to return to on occasion (perhaps every two or three weeks) for a quick run through the game. As such, Bravo Air Race is definitely a nice game to keep in one's gaming collection despite the lack of routine gameplay; in other words, this will definitely not see nearly as much use as, say, Gran Turismo 2 or Final Fantasy X.
RULES
There are a few rules to keep in mind while racing in Bravo
Air Race:
1.) Hitting anything just slightly will slow the airplane's
progress. Hitting anything head-on will destroy the
airplane. Hitting other airplanes (except in Time
Attack Mode, as the player is alone on the circuit)
could potentially slow both airplanes.
2.) In ALL gameplay modes, the player must complete three
laps of each circuit before the countdown timer expires.
The countdown timer will be raised by a preset value each
time the player flies through a Checkpoint. The timer
can also be raised by two seconds for successfully
completing a barrel roll maneuver (using any of the
shoulder buttons on the controller).
3.) Obviously, once the race or Time Attack Mode has begun,
the ground is no longer a 'safe' place, as the airplane
cannot land during gameplay. Similarly, there is a
'ceiling' to the game. While going above this 'ceiling'
will not damage the airplane, the CPU will momentarily
seize control, slow the aircraft, and bring it back
within the available flying lane. Note that on some
circuits, there APPEARS to be plenty of room to swing
wide of the actual flying lane, but this area is treated
as a 'ceiling' as well. These 'ceilings' are considered
as Course Outs by the CPU.
4.) The flying lane is indicated by a continuous series of
semi-transparent blue 'bubbles' floating in the air.
There are also various signs indicating corners, as well
as where the circuit changes significantly in elevation,
and where the circuit narrows.
5.) Bravo Air Race includes three power-up icons. Each is a
semi-transparent 'bubble' with a letter on it:
a.) D: Attaining this icon is not advised, as the
player's airplane will experience a sudden, momentary
loss of speed. This is the equivalent of severe
braking in an auto racing game.
b.) S: Flying through this 'bubble' will give the
player's aircraft a momentary boost in speed. This
is similar to engaging the turbo on a car.
c.) T: Grabbing this power-up will add five seconds to
the countdown timer.
6.) As mentioned above, successfully executing a barrel roll
(using any of the shoulder buttons on the controller)
will add two seconds to the countdown timer. However,
there are a few issues to remember here:
a.) At the beginning of a race, the player will have
ample time to execute a barrel roll before crossing
the Start/Finish Line to officially begin the first
lap. However, any barrel rolls completed or begun
during this time will not award any time on the
countdown timer, as it does not officially start
until the first lap officially begins.
b.) Hitting anything - even the highly-forgiving branches
of trees - while executing the barrel roll will
invalidate that attempt to add time to the countdown
timer.
c.) For the purposes of attaining the extra two seconds
on the countdown timer, any Course Outs (i.e.,
'ceilings') while performing a barrel roll are
treated as collisions. If a barrel roll is in
progress during a Course Out, the CPU will seize
control and first attempt to right the aircraft
before bringing it back into the flying lane.
==============================================
CIRCUITS
There are four circuits in Bravo Air Race, each using a different type of environment. Interestingly, all feature a highly enthusiastic crowd of spectators, whether participating in a race or taking on Time Attack Mode.
Mountain
This circuit is designated 'easy,' but that will still
greatly depend upon the chosen airplane's maneuvering
capabilities. The circuit takes place primarily between
mountain peaks, but there are rocky tunnels and a
mountaintop city to challenge competitors. The corners
are not very tight, and the horizontal flight path is
somewhat wide compared to the other circuits.
South City
Despite the name of this circuit, it is not a 100% urban
venue. It is also best to NOT use the roadway below as a
guide, as there are times when the roadway diverges from
the flying lane; any attempts to follow the roadway in
these cases will result in a Course Out. South City has
plenty of bridges as well as 'cut-outs' in some buildings
to keep players challenged. It is VERY easy to
inadvertently perform a Course Out at the first major drop
in elevation, shortly after leaving South City itself.
While the waterway section is rather straightforward
and somewhat wide, there is not too much of a vertical
flying area here, so it is quite easy to create a Course
Out or to hit the river below. After passing through a
tunnel, the flight lane emerges over a beach, and
eventually rejoins the roadway and returns to South City
itself. However, once in the city, there are still many
challenges before completing a lap of this circuit.
Snow Land
Just beyond the Start/Finish Line, the player must fly up
over a mountain cliff, between two mountain peaks, and
then descend. After this, the flight path is relatively
easy to follow and not very tricky, although there is a
snow bridge near the ground.
Once through the short ice tunnel, the circuit
descends quickly through a snow tunnel; this descent is
very difficult to spot due to the vast amount of whiteness
in the area, so the player can expect to destroy the
aircraft on the side or roof of the snow tunnel at the
entry until this section of the circuit is committed to
memory.
Shortly beyond the snow tunnel is the Checkpoint.
Shortly beyond that is a long ice tunnel which
continually curves from side to side. Once out of this
ice tunnel, the flight path follows a river and widens
significantly; there are a few snow bridges and signs here
to provide obstacles. Eventually, the player must fly
over a cliff and make a quick descent through another
snow tunnel and rejoin the river.
Once the raceway leaves the river, the ceiling is VERY
low, even as the player must fly over obstacles and
toward another ice cave. This ice cave is a bit shorter
than the previous ice cave, but does contain several
semi-tight corners. This ice cave opens onto the initial
runway and the Start/Finish Line.
Canyon
This is listed as the most difficult circuit in Bravo Air
Race. While there are many more twists and turns in this
circuit and many narrower sections overall compared to the
other circuits in the game, it is not really 'difficult'
so long as the player is using a fairly maneuverable
airplane and has some fast reflexes.
The opening segment of the circuit has many corners,
all of which are easy to see and are not really very
difficult; what may be difficult is that each corner
quickly flows into the next corner. The circuit then
briefly follows a green-colored river, flies through a
narrow rock tunnel, then comes back out over the river
into an area which looks like ancient ruins; it is
imperative to avoid the standing columns and the arches
over the river in this section. The final arch is the
Checkpoint.
Beyond the Checkpoint, the flight line descends into
an area deep within the canyon, so almost everything is
dark due to the shadows here; clear visibility is rare
in this section, so an excellent memory of the layout of
this section of the circuit is key to success overall.
This is fortunately a relatively brief section, as the
flight line then ascends and follows the green-colored
river once again.
After a few easy-to-spot corners, the flight path
heads directly toward a waterfall. In a most unrealistic
section of the circuit, the flight path goes THROUGH the
waterfall, through a water-filled tunnel in the canyon
wall, and through a waterfall on the other side to follow
yet another green-colored river briefly before rejoining
the ground below. After several more twists and turns in
the flight line, the circuit returns to the Start/Finish
Line.
GENERAL TIPS
For those unaccustomed to flying games, it is important to remember that the Up and Down buttons on the D-pad have the inverse effect upon the movement of the aircraft. In other words, pressing the Up button will cause the aircraft to descend, while pressing the Down button will cause the airplane to climb in elevation.
It may help to think of the D-pad's Up and Down buttons as directly affecting the nose of the plane. In other words, pressing the Up button is like placing one's hand on the top of the nose to force it downward, and vice versa.
The player should never try to fly too high or stray to
either side of the immediate flight line. Doing such will result in a Course Out, slowing the player's progress as the CPU seizes control and returns to player to the flight line.
As a general rule, the player should never attempt to fly higher than the tallest mountain, building, etc., on either side of the flight line. To fly higher than these side markers risks incurring a Course Out.
The player should look for the word 'Caution' on the screen when participating in a race (i.e., when not in Time Attack Mode). If the word 'Caution' appears, this means that there is at least one airplane ahead in close proximity to the player. This is important to note, as the other aircraft can often be tricky to see - either due to its coloring compared to the surroundings, and/or due to shadows or dark tunnels and caves.
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford
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Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are.
- Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ =======================================================================
What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================
