Happy 15th Anniversary MSR

Here's a short article from Eurogamer Spain.  Nice to see someone else remembers the day! :)

http://www.eurogamer.es/articles/metropolis-street-racer-articulo-15-aniversario

And here's a review from a US game show called Xtended Play.

MSR Early Videos (earliest video first - descending order)

The earliest ones.  2 identical videos dating from late 1998-early 1999.  One was from the old Game Fan website and the other refers to the game under its earlier name, Project Metropolis.

A little later into 1999 now with an interview spot on French TV.  The show was called Game Play.

This is from the same time frame as the previous video.  A spot on a Spanish show called DOF6. A bit more footage from within Bizarre Creation's studios.

Late '99 now and the original head coder has left Bizarre Creations at this point.  The game begins to resemble the final version, although the "gang mode" car colours are still present.

MSR Game Credits

Design, Coding and Artwork
Bizarre Creations

Music, Sales, Marketing and PR
Sega Europe

Bizarre Staff Programming

Design, Structure and Frontend
Martyn CHUDLEY

Technical Coding
Roger PERKINS

Engine and Dynamics Coding
Walter LYNSDALE

Tools and Effects Coding
Phil SNAPE

AI Coding
Dave ALDAINI

Sound Coding
Jonathan AMOR

Additional Coding
Keith PICKFORD

Bizarre Staff Artwork

Shibuya and Shinjuku Modelling
Jon DUGDALE

Financial District and Pacific Heights Modelling
Mark SHARRATT

Trafalgar and Westminster Modelling
Julie MCGURREN

St James's and Westminster Modelling
Derek CHAPMAN

Frontend Artwork & City Textures
Gren ATHERTON

Asakusa Modelling
Paul SPENCER

Car & City Textures
Lee CARTER

Fishermans Modelling
Glen GRIFFITHS

Car Modelling
Steve HEANEY

Production

Senior Producer
Brian WOODHOUSE

Associate Producer
Pete WALLACE

Quality Assurance

QA Manager
Ged TALBOT

Quality Assurance
Glyn WILLIAMS
Kev REILLY

Bizarre Biz

Managing Director
Martyn CHUDLEY

Business Director
Sarah DIXON

Technical Director
Walter LYNSDALE

Business Manager
Michelle LANGTON

Sega Staff

Executive Producer
Kats SATO

Associate Producer
Jose ALLER

Lead Tester
Pete O'BRIEN

Music and Sound Effects
Richard JACQUES

Thanks for Playing
Metropolis Street Racer

Bizarre Creations Staff

Programming

Design, Structure and Frontend
Martyn Chudley

Technical Coding
Roger Perkins

Engine and Dynamics Coding
Walter Lynsdale

Tools, Effects, Additional Frontend Coding
Phil Snape

AI Coding
Dave AI-Daini

Sound Coding
Jonathan Amor

Additional Coding
Keith Pickford

2D/3D Artwork

Shibuya Modelling, Shinjuku Modelling,
Additional Asakusa Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Jon Dugdale

Financial District Modelling, Pacific Heights Modelling,
Additional Fishermans Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Mark Sharratt

Trafalgar Modelling, Westminster Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Julie McGurren

St. James Modelling, Westminster Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Derek Chapman

Asakusa Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Paul Spencer

Fishermans Wharf Modelling,
Additional Car Modelling, City Textures
Glen Griffiths

Car Modelling
Steve Heaney

2D Artwork

Frontend Artwork, City Textures
Gren Atherton

Car Textures, City Textures
Lee Carter

Production

Senior Producer
Brian Woodhouse

Associate Producer
Pete Wallace

Public Relations
Sarah Dixon

Office Management
Michelle Langton

Quality Assurance

QA Manager
Ged Talbot

Production Support & QA
Glyn Williams

Quality Assurance
Kev Reilly

Research

San Francisco Researcher
Alison Marr

Tokyo Researcher
Taiko Higuchi

Cars and General Researcher
Michael Woodhouse

Liverpool Quality Assurance
Scott Denton, Paul Reevell, Richard Ryves,
Graham Buxton, Andy Yasities, Christopher Pickford,
Emma Pye, James Taylor, Richard Duggan, James Harrison,
David McCluskey, Joseph Murray, Ian Wilding, Simon Reevell

Sega Europe, Ltd.

Product Department

Director of Product Development
Naohiko Hoshino

Executive Producer
Kats Sato

Associate Producer
Jose Aller

Sound Producer
Richard Jacques

Test Manager
Jason Cumberbatch

Lead Tester
Pete O'Brien

Associate Lead Testers
Dan Stater, Nick Bennet, Mark Dearsley, Wayne Gardner

Technical Support Manager
Serge Plagnol

Hardware Engineer
Tamer Tahsin

Support Engineer
Sandeep Bisla

Spanish Translator
Roberto Párraga-Sánchez

German Translator
Angelika Michitsch

French Translator
Caroline Ruiz

Producer (Japan)
Katsuhiro Hasegawa

Producer (USA)
Howard Gipson

Marketing Support

Euro Product Marketing Manager
Jim Pride

Euro Product Marketing Executive
Mathew Quaeck

UK
Tunde Orelaja

France
Cedric Marechal, Benoit Bohet

Germany
Kim Shon, Tina Sakowsky

Spain
Begona Sanz, Esther Barral

Manual & Packaging

Senior Designer
Ross McLeish

Localisation/Design Co-Ordinator
Sarah Ward

Network Support & Marketing

Director - Network
Keizo Fukahori

European Promotions Manager
Neil Russell

European Promotions Executive
Rosle Newey

Online Game Server Engineer
Colin Carter

Online Editor
Steve Bradley

Operations & Manufacture

European Operations Director
Naoya Turumi

Product Planning Manager
Hitoshi Okuno

Sega Europe Management

Chief Executive Officer
Jean-François Cecillion

Chief Operating Officer
Kazutoshi Miyake

Music and Sound

Music and lyrics by Richard Jacques

Featured Artists

Vocals
Jason R. Campbell, Helana Davison, Gavin Skeggs,
Stephen Stapley, MC Stepz

Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Stuart Lee

Additional Guitars
Richard Jacques

Bass
Matthew Lee

Acoustic Piano, Percussion, Programming
Richard Jacques

Trumpet and Flugel
Gerard Presencer

Saxophones
Nigel Hitchcock

Trombone
Mark Nightingale

Horn section arranged by Mark Nightingale
and Richard Jacques

Horns recorded by Matt Howe and Neil Tucker
at Metropolis studios

All tracks engineered, mixed and produced
by Richard Jacques at Sega Digital Studio (Europe)

Voice Artists

Noriko Alda, Sophia Ashen, Tim Bentinck, Andrew Burt,
Elizabeth Conboy, Ben Fairman, Elly Fairman,
Stefan Ashton Frank, Steve Hope Wynne, Togo Igawa,
Naoko Mori, Larissa Murray, Akemi Otani, John Schwab,
Laura Shavin, Hiroyuki Tachimoto

Voice Overs recorded by Jonathan Cook at Hobsons

Sample CD's used in this soundtrack include
Miroslav Vitious Orchestra (Unisync)
Peter Siedlaczek's Advance Orchestra (Best Service)
Masterkit (Real Drum Company)
Datafile 3 (Zero G)

Intro Movie
Mathew Quaeck, Matthew Ashton

Special Thanks to:

Sam Hall, Dominic Evans (Ford), Paul Delderfield,
Peter Lait, Jyate Bacon, Jim Twigg, Thomas Szirtes,
David Nulty, Charlie Thomas, Yukifumi Makino, Orelaja,
Helen Ttofa, Atsuya Sato, Sam Toms, Mimi Morozumi,
Keith Anderson

All at MIRA, all at Jensen Motors, Richard Leadbetter,
Ron Dixon, Keith Stuart, Ed Lomas, Shigeru Okada,
Helen Ttofa, Teruo Yabumoto, Hitoshi Okuno,
Takuya Matsumoto

Alfa, Audi, Fiat, Ford, Jensen, Mazda, Mercedes,
Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Rover,
Toyota, TVR, Vauxhall

All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated
imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or
copyrighted materials of their respective owners.
All rights reserved. Although the game features
the trademarks and the designs of the cars actually
produced and/or distributed by Toyota, Nissan,
Mitsubishi, Mazda in Japan, the trademarks and
the designs of the cars that appear in the game is
as those cars are produced and/or distributed in Japan.

Merci à Automobiles Peugeot pour son aimable collaboration.

Merci à Renault pour son aimable collaboration.

TGI Friday's is a trademark of TGI Friday's of Minnesota, Inc.

Produced under the authority of The Coca-Cola Company,
owner of the trademarks 'COKE' and 'COCA-COLA'.

(c) Bizarre Creations Ltd. 2000 All Rights Reserved.

(c) Sega Enterprises Ltd. 2000 All Rights Reserved.

Developed by Bizarre Creations Ltd.

PRESS RELEASE - 22/03/1999 (Metropolis)

Bizarre Creations and Sega are proud to release the very first, early screenshots of their Dreamcast title, codenamed Metropolis.

Even though the game is still midway through development, we feel that the time is now right to show people something of Metropolis. Therefore, we are proud to release these five early screenshots, taken from the pre-Alpha version of the game.

The game is currently known under the working title of Metropolis. It is a city-based racing game, which has been in development for just over a year. Metropolis was commissioned by Sega to figure exclusively as a key title for the European Launch of Dreamcast.

As a specially created title for the console, the game has been designed to show off the impressive features of the Dreamcast. It should appeal to a broad audience – providing arcade thrills for the hardcore gamer and a more complex, progressive mode for the in-depth player.

As you can see from these early shots, the environments and cars are highly detailed. Both are still far from completion, and there are also many visual effects that still have to be implemented. However, we feel that the shots – taken in-game from the TV camera perspective – should give you a representative idea of the style of the game.

Metropolis is anticipated to be a world-wide release, with European release planned for the Dreamcast’s launch in this territory. No schedules are available for American and Japanese release as yet. More game details will be released at Metropolis’s press unveiling, later this year.

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/19991005015306/http://www.bizarrecreations.com/metpr2.htm

Sega Europe Statement Regarding Bugged Retail Version (PAL)

**THE FOLLOWING WAS ADDED TO BIZARRE CREATIONS'S OLD WEBSITE ON 8 DECEMBER 2000**

Sega Europe have just released an official statement on MSR. This includes information for those who have found problems in the first retail version of the game, on how to go about getting a replacement disk. The statement is below:

Official Sega Europe Statement: 

The development of MSR has been an astonishing accomplishment and has since set new standards within the gaming industry - pure driving games will never be the same again. Thousands of calls have been received since launch, complementing on the sheer size and precision of the sound, visuals and game play, though undoubtedly, a game of this calibre will experience some difficulties. It has come to the attention of Sega that the first version of MSR, currently in retail, has shown some irregular, minor problems which may affect game play. Since discovering this issue, we have all have worked extremely hard to produce an updated version of the game for you, eliminating these problems.

Should you discover anything unusual then do not hesitate to call the Sega Customer Services number 08456 090 090 [NOW DEFUNCT], where helpful Sega staff will be on hand to process your details and replace your troubled disk. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope you enjoy the game everyone is talking about - Metropolis Street Racer.

--------- end ---------

We, at Bizarre Creations, are also happy that those people who have experienced problems will have them solved by Sega's Customer Services, and are sure that they will be able to answer all your queries. We're sorry that we've not been able to put any more information up here on the website, or give out more by e-mail, but Sega have needed to focus customer support and the solution to the problems at their HQ.

Now there that the disk replacement operation is in place, Sega have assured us that they will be doing their utmost to help all of their customers as soon as possible - as a games publisher, they are already set up to provide swift and effective support for their products. And, of course, we hope you continue to enjoy the game.

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20021025022207/http://www.bizarrecreations.com/msr2.html

Honda NSX In Early Version

Bizzare Creations statement explaining why Hondas were excluded:

....As you know, some car manufacturers imposed restrictions on the game - such as no pedestrians, no proper traffic, no one-way/no entry signs, the car not allowed to leave the ground, etc.   Sega were in discussion with Honda to include their cars in the game, but the additional restrictions they asked for would have compromised the game too much. Therefore it was with sadness that we had to remove all Honda cars from the game.

Original MSR Fan Sites

Here are two fans sites I've found from back in the day.  Both are now "offline" but can still be viewed via their archive links

MSR HIGH SPEED (UK fan site)

Contains a review, some nice pictures from the older versions of MSR and an unofficial Kudos ranking.

Link: http://www.geocities.ws/ibennetty9/msr/index2.html (WARNING: archived page now filed with bots and pop-ups!)

MSR FAN (French website)

This one is a bit more in-depth.  We have a review, comparisons with other games ie Gran Turismo 3 and Le Mans 24h, and some strategy guides for various chapters

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20050208013401/http://msrfan.fr.fm/