R.C. Pro-Am is a series of remote-controlled racing games produced by Rare. R.C. Pro-Am is notable in that it is one of the first racing games to feature vehicular combat.
The games in the R.C. Pro-Am series are:
- R.C. Pro-Am (Nintendo Entertainment System, 1988)
- Super R.C. Pro-Am (Game Boy, 1991)
- Championship Pro-Am (Sega Genesis, 1992)
- R.C. Pro-Am II (Nintendo Entertainment System, 1992)
R.C. Pro-Am provides examples of the following tropes:
- Awesome, but Impractical: In II the best motor in the game, the Mega Motor, lets the purchaser move as fast as humans can. CPU opponents however can easily move faster than that solely if they want to, making some lesser motor such as the Hyper or even the Black more practical and better spending money on cheaper Scooper Tires to take better turns and maneuver better than the opponents.
- Bonus Stage: Present only in II.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: Present only in II with red, blue, green, and yellow cars.
- Comeback Mechanic: Multiplayer mode in II.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard:
- Even without weapons, the computerized racers will become extremely aggressive in later races.
- Get too aggressive with the weapons in these games, and one of the computerized opponents will jam on the accelerator and reach up to 500 km/h, making it impossible to beat. These facets could make Pro-Am this trope's codifier.
- In II, airplanes will randomly appear to drop bombs on the cars — focusing primarily on non-computerized players. However, this can actually be used advantageously, since the computer-controlled drones are not immune to the blasts.
- Got the Mega Motor and Scooper Tires? Watch the CPU still easily outrun you.
- Cut and Paste Environments: Many of the later courses recycle previous track layouts while rearranging the hazards and item placements.
- Deadly Walls: Subverted, mainly because any crash involving a wall is really just an annoyance. Oil slicks are often a major cause. Other walls pop up in the middle of the road.
- Endless Game: Possible in the original game. Averted, however, in Super R.C. Pro-Am, since spelling NINTENDO three times — and finishing a race third or batter — will result in seeing a "congratulations" screen.
- Gang Up on the Human: The bomber planes in II. The CPU racers in the same game will ONLY start firing their picked up weapons if the human is in front of the missiles or behind them for the bombs.
- Instant-Win Condition: In the original, the race ends automatically if any car finishes. The player automatically advances if the red car is in second or third place when that happens. This is inverted if the red car is in fourth place, which results in the game ending.
- Invincibility Power-Up: All four games feature roll cages that grant invincibility to whomever picks them up. This is the only item that is found in every game in the series, in all four games, the player(s) and drone racers can pick them up.
- Isometric Projection
- Level Scaling: Completing the spelling bonuses in every game except II results in you and your opponents receiving a new vehicle.
- Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: In all games but II, picking up a missile replaces your entire bomb stock and vice versa.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: The yellow car.
- Nitro Boost:
- All games include chevrons that increase the speed of every car that drives over them.
- Pro-Am II allows has small canisters of nitro found on several tracks — which both players and drones can pick up. Nitro packs can also be purchased between races.
- Non-Lethal K.O.:
- Shooting any opponent's vehicle only knocks it out for a few seconds.
- Also applies to all vehicles — even the player's — when they crash into a wall.
- Obvious Rule Patch: In every game in the series, the player has to finish 3rd or better (of four racers in every game but Championship, which has six) to move onto the next race. In the original R.C. Pro-Am, every race automatically ended after the first car finishes the race, automatically assigning the player whatever position he/she is in at the time. This was fixed in every other game:
- Championship: Each race ends when the player crosses the finish line, or when any three of the five computerized vehicles finish.
- Super Pro-Am and Pro-Am II requires the player to cross the finish line to complete each race, even if the other three racers have completed their runs.
- Oil Slick: Especially annoying when going into turns and corners, which can lead to a crash.
- 1-Up:
- An extra continue is awarded for winning five consecutive races in Championship.
- 1-up tokens can be picked up Pro-Am II, but they are not very common. Alternatively, extra lives can be purchased between races, but the price goes up for every one you buy.
- Power-Up Motif: A sound plays whenever any racer picks up a roll cage.
- Respawn on the Spot: Frequently happens when you crash into a wall.
- Scoring Points: Arcade-style scoring is used in the original, Super, and Championship by picking up items, weapons, shooting opponents, and finishing a race. Pro-Am II ditches this by using circuit-style scoring based on finishing position.
- Scratch Damage: Computer-controlled racers in Pro-Am can be shot and stopped. This is averted in Championship by making enemy vehicles completely invincible to attack after they pick up a roll cage.
- Spelling Bonus: Completing specific words awards a new vehicle in each game.
- R.C. Pro-Am and Super R.C. Pro-Am each require spelling NINTENDO.note
- Championship Pro-Am requires spelling CHAMPION.
- R.C. Pro-Am II rewards a new car to any player who spells out PRO AM II. Unlike the other games in the series, Pro-Am II awards a new car on a player-by-player basis.
- Trophy Room: In R.C. Pro-Am and Championship Pro-Am, finishing a race in first, second, or third will add a trophy to your collection. You even get trophies based on where your total score is on the high-score table.
- Updated Re-release: Championship is essentially a 16-bit upgrade to R.C. Pro-Am.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If you get too aggressive with your weapons, one opponent — the yellow car — will go so fast, you will literally have no chance to catch up to it.
