Arcade The arcade game was a major worldwide commercial success upon release, surpassing Sega's expectations and with high demand exceeding production output. The Deluxe and Twin cabinets were both selling very well, with the expensive Deluxe version selling about a fifth as many units as the less expensive Twin version during 1992. In Japan,
Game Machine listed it as the most successful upright/cockpit
arcade cabinet of October 1992. In the United States, it debuted at the top of the
RePlay arcade earnings chart for deluxe cabinets in October 1992. It remained at the top for the rest of the year and much of the following year, from February 1993 to July 1993, until it was dethroned by
Sega AM1's
Stadium Cross (with
Virtua Racing at number two) in August 1993.
Virtua Racing remained at number two in October 1993, below
Suzuka 8 Hours.
Virtua Racing was America's third top-grossing arcade game during Summer 1993. The game was also a major commercial success in Europe. and the United States. The following year, it was the
highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1993 in Japan, and one of America's top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1993. The arcade game was well received by critics upon release.
Electronic Gaming Monthly called it a "racing masterpiece" and said its "lifelike racing sensations are extremely impressive and exciting". They called it "one of the most realistic racing games ever" and concluded that it leaves "all other racing games eating its technological dust". At Japan's 1992 , it was nominated for Best Action, Best Direction, and Best Graphics, but lost to
Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition,
Art of Fighting, and
Xexex, respectively. At North America's 1993 AMOA Awards, held by the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA),
Virtua Racing won the award for Most Innovative New Technology.
Ports GamePro named the Genesis/Mega Drive version the best Genesis game shown at the 1994
Consumer Electronics Show, commenting: "While obviously a great deal of graphic clarity, detail, and color was lost, the game play is stunningly faithful to the coin-op. ... this is the best version [of
Virtua Racing] you'll see until
Sega's mystery 32-bit home system leaves orbit". In their later review, they complimented the game on its inclusion of all the elements of the arcade version aside from the support for up to eight players, and remarked that though the graphics are not as good as the arcade version, they feature faster-moving polygons than any other cartridge game. They criticized the audio and low longevity but nonetheless concluded "VR is the best 16-bit racer yet".The four reviewers in
Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the audio but held that the game, though not as good as the arcade version, was the best racer yet seen on cartridge-based systems.
Mega placed the game at number 4 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time.
GamePro gave the 32X version a highly positive review, stating that it successfully addressed the Genesis version's longevity problem with its new cars and new tracks. They also praised the improved graphics, details, and controls, and the retention of on-the-fly view switching even in two-player split-screen mode.
Next Generation reviewed the 32X version of the game,
Virtua Racing Deluxe, and stated that "
VR Deluxe is a near-perfect conversion of a game that's still fun to play". The two sports reviewers of
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Saturn version scores of 8 and 7 out of 10, with the first reviewer praising the added content and overall improvement over the previous home ports, and the second reviewer saying that the game is enjoyable but doesn't fully use the graphical capabilities of the Saturn. A reviewer for
Next Generation felt that
Virtua Racing was antiquated by this time, particularly with the imminent release of
Sega Rally Championship on the Saturn. However, he acknowledged that the game had enough historical impact to draw its share of loyalists, and said the Saturn version "is not only arcade-perfect, it also contains crucial features not present in the original". Rich Leadbetter of
Sega Saturn Magazine praised the additional tracks and cars as giving the game more depth than an arcade racer, but countered that what most gamers wanted was a straight conversion of the coin-op
Virtua Racing, not a home-oriented remake. He concluded that the Saturn version is good on its own terms, but completely overshadowed by the Saturn conversion of
Sega Rally Championship, which was to be released just a few weeks after.
Maximum made the same comments but were more vehement in their criticism of the fact that the Saturn version is not a straight conversion of the arcade game. ==Legacy==