Street Racer Collection

A rowdy, nostalgia‑soaked party racer, delightfully chaotic in multiplayer, imperfect but lovable in preservation.

Fun but simple kart racer from the 1990s now getting a new life on Nintendo Switch

Overall, it’s been good to play these classic racers again. Nostalgia is doing some heavy lifting though, and if you’re not familiar with Street Racer then I would hazard a guess that you won’t quite see what the fuss is about. A lack of archival content, as well as some other versions of the game, is a shame but if you’re into retro gaming and fancy a fun – if challenging – racer, then this collection is worth a look.

QUByte has put together four very different ports of a cult arcade kart racer that, in some versions more than others, have stood the test of time. With its more involved controls and car mannerisms, it takes a fair amount of investment to get into, but that effort is rewarded with tight and engaging racing, albeit when compared to other racing games of the time. This holds true across all ports, even the almost eye-straining and barely watchable Game Boy version.

Street Racer Collection on PS5 is a fascinating relic that has been preserved with care, but as a modern purchase it feels more like a curiosity than a must own racer. With four ports of a single game, dated handling that never quite escapes the shadow of its inspiration and a bare minimum of extras, this is a package that only truly makes sense for dedicated fans completists and retro historians looking to keep a specific memory alive, not for players chasing a fresh kart racing fix on current hardware.​

Street Racer Collection is a compilation that may divide opinions: while some of its features haven't aged so well for its more than 30 years, it's a cool title that performed decently on platforms with different engineering, making it an item that will at least satisfy the curiosity of younger players and the nostalgia of older ones. The combination of ROMs provides the final touch that makes this collection worthy of being part of any collection.

Revisiting these games has been a treat. I loved them back in the day, and while they haven’t all aged gracefully, I appreciate them for what they are. Nostalgia is a heck of a drug, and I love that we can now play these games on modern consoles. The omission of the Saturn and PlayStation versions is its biggest flaw though and I wish we could have had a complete collection.

Sadly, when you are having to deal with the same game four times, it can feel a little tedious for a steep price, and I can’t help but wonder if Street Racer would have been better mixed in a collection with some other Vivid Image titles.

The main contribution of Street Racer Collection is accessibility: it allows you to play the classic on modern hardware.

To be honest, just before Street Racer Collection released, I was on the hunt for a Super NES or PS1 copy of this game. Let’s just say that I’m not anymore. This is another scenario that the memories are better than the real thing. I remember having blast on the Super NES, but playing this collection made me realized that this game has not aged well. It can be good fun with friends, but this is another example of a game that should’ve stayed in the past. Unless you were a diehard fan of this series, this is an easy pass.