Rad Racer
Introduction
Rad Racer, known in Japan as Highway Star, was developed and published by Square, directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and programmed by Nasir Gebelli, with art from Kazuko Shibuya and an early soundtrack credit for Nobuo Uematsu, several of whom would go on to build the original Final Fantasy together the very same year. Square president Masafumi Miyamoto reportedly greenlit the project specifically to let Gebelli show off his 3D programming chops, and the game released in Japan in August 1987 before reaching North America that October. Its most distinctive feature was genuine stereoscopic 3D support, playable by putting on a pair of included red-and-blue anaglyph paper glasses to see the road pop out from the screen, a novelty gimmick that made it stand out sharply from other pseudo-3D racers on the console. Players race a Ferrari-style sports car through eight international-themed courses against the clock and rival traffic, weaving between cars and dodging obstacles while a mounted cassette-style radio plays two looping in-game tunes. Selling nearly two million copies, Rad Racer is remembered as one of the better racing games on the NES and a fun technical curiosity thanks to its optional 3D presentation.
