There are a few reasons. First of all, the four-player competition is gone. Not only does the computer take over the two remaining vehicles, but they are unflinchingly the best and worst on the track, respectively. That means that you're going to come in second or third almost all of the time. That certainly takes the competetive edge away from the game, especially when you play solo.

Another really good reason is that there are no options whatsoever. You start the game on the same track and continue on and on, every game racing the same sequence of tracks. Although there are 16 different courses in all, some of the best ones don't show up until you've done the earlier ones two or three times. Why is that, I wonder?

Now onto the good points. The playfield looks just like it did in the arcade. The Super NES' excellent color palette is mostly responsible for this, with its many shades of brown, you might think you're looking at a digitized image of an actual track. The trucks themselves are very tiny, and it takes a little while to get the hang of re-orienting yourself when you spin out of control, but that's a minor point. The sound effects are sparse but effective, and the soundtrack is outstanding. I had to laugh, though, when I first entered the parts selection screen and the Toyota theme song pumped through my speakers.

You're not going to jump out of a flatbed for Super Off-Road, but it's a good arcade translation that should provide some good two-player competition.