Though the Saturn version of
Scorcher was hyped in the press during its development, the completed game underwhelmed most critics upon release. Reviews typically commented that despite its prolonged development cycle,
Scorchers graphics were still cutting edge,
Jeff Gerstmann, writing for
GameSpot, said that it was simply too generic, while James Price of
Saturn Power cited a lack of variety in the tracks. Lee Nutter agreed on this point, and additionally felt the concept of an obstacle-laden, platformer-influenced racing track was fundamentally flawed. He also criticized that "there are only three other competitors". Sushi-X of
Electronic Gaming Monthly felt these competitors offered no challenge, and the track obstacles suffer from poor collision detection. His three co-reviewers defended the game, saying that it seems awful at first but is enjoyable once one masters the difficult controls. They gave it scores of 7.0 and 7.5 out of 10, while Sushi-X gave it a 3.0/10.
Next Generation contended that few gamers would be willing to work their way over this frustrating learning curve, particularly complaining at the steep increase in difficulty on the third track and the fact that players who fall down a pit are respawned right in front of the same pit. In Japan, where the Saturn version was ported and published by
Acclaim Japan on August 22, 1997,
Famitsu gave it a score of 21 out of 40. ==Notes==