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Programmed by the legendary Magnetic Fields team of Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris, Supercars II was released to a warm reception on the Amiga in May 1991; after the massive success of Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (1990) and before the arrival of Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 in the Autumn of 1991. Supercars II was a welcome return to the top-down environment of the original Supercars (1990) only this time with many more features and power-ups, along with a new 2-player split screen mode. The game came originally on two disks and had a high compatibility with most early Amiga setups (OCS/ECS) with an 000 onboard. The game was not originally hard drive installable.
The premise is a simple one. As the driver of a new sleek red supercar, your task is to finish all three racing seasons in the top spot in order to be crowned World Supercar Champion. To do this, the player must finish in a high position in each race of the season - and the player with the most points at the end of the season gets the trophy. But it's a long and hard road to get there, and at the beginning of the game, perhaps unsurprisingly, we start with practically nothing.
Top Gear??
Loading the game up, several presentation screens appear, along with the infamous Magnetic Fields impact screen (the music taken from Richard Wagners: Siegfried's Funeral March), and a quick protection check later and we're at the title screen. Or should that be title screens? Leaving the titles to roll for a few moments we see that Supercars II begins with a number of story screens, which, along with a caricature of Harrison Ford, presents a introduction to this fictional supercar world. At this stage we also get our first glimpse of the turbo-charged monster we'll get to drive in the game - in this case, an unnamed 5.5 litre, 8 cylinder, 16 valve beast with a top speed of 243Mph and a 0-60 time of just 3.8 seconds (that's a whole second faster than a Lotus!). The car design itself is taken from the 1990 Alfa Romeo SZ; which was an attractive, if far less technically impressive car in real life.
A press of the fire button then takes us to the options page. From here we can choose the level of difficulty (Easy, Medium or Hard mode: each featuring seven different tracks), the number of players (1 player / full screen, or 2 player / split screen), as well as being able to name the driver(s) and choose their preferred control method (fire to accelerate or fire to brake). A second player can also play using a joystick or the keyboard. Lastly, there is the option to turn the games communication screens off; but let's leave these on for now and head on into the game itself.
The easy mode (for example) begins with a stats screen which gives a little bit of information about the next track. In this case, the track is called Bagley Marsh (named after a real place in Shropshire, appearing again in Lotus 2), which is 5 laps in length and is, by all accounts quite easy. The screen then clears and we see our car for the first time - in last position - and as the engines rev and a Beep-Beep noise ticks down the last few seconds, we jam on the fire button to increase the throttle, and then - Go! Go! Go!
There are nine other drivers to compete against, all hell bent on claiming the top prize, and the player must remain among the top five finishers in order to qualify for the next race. At this stage the aim is to get used to the controls and avoid as many of the other drivers as possible. Things are fairly calm on this initial level, and the other drivers seldom use too many sneaky tricks, so it won't be long before we stream home in a good position.
The Gadget Show
Now things begin to get interesting. At the end of each race we are given the chance to work on our car and upgrade it thanks to our amazing Amiga 1000 desktop computer. The first thing to notice is a list of all the damaged parts we have managed to hack and grind off our machine during the previous race. The more damage there is to the car, the less well it is likely to perform in the next race, and so it's always a good idea to spend some cash on our ride to minimise this effect. Some things will require a lot of money to repair, and some things (like the tires and steering) will have more of an effect on the cars performance.
At the lower corner of the screen (opposite 'quit' - which takes us to the next race) is the 'trade' option. Clicking on this will then bring up a shop full of goodies; which will allow us to upgrade our mule to much higher specifications. Here we'll find engine blocks (more speed), bumpers (protection and ramming power), and armour plating (protection), as well as some nasty little weapons such as missiles (forward and reverse fire), smart rockets, mines, homing missiles and even a turbo boost feature - which allow us to jump over things Knight Rider style. We can sell items too, and as we are given a small selection of missiles at the start of the game, isn't it about time we sold those in favour of something better? Another function also gives us the ability to choose our weapons by pushing forward or pulling back on the joystick, and we can assign a unique weapon in those directions as appropriate.
How The West Was Won?
The next races become increasingly challenging and more important from a championship league point of view. The other players - frantically keen to destroy our championship hopes - now begin to attack with heavy weaponry and blocking tactics. The courses become narrower and with more traps and shortcuts to manoeuvre around, and the first of the high jumps also begin to appear. A high jump is basically a ramp over the circuit which requires a very straight approach and follow-through. If we get into trouble with any of the crazy features listed above, we'll blow up, and must catch up from much further down the field. Our vehicle is very tough and robust, but if the damage meter gets too far into the red then sorry pal, you're out!
There are three course types in Supercars II: snow courses, mountain courses, and the standard grass-banked circuits. Grip will be a premium concern on snowy sections, and hazards such as oil spills (which throw the car into a skid), and water patches (which slow the car down) begin to appear on mountainous sections, making driving just that little bit harder.
Hobsons Choice...
Between the stages, the action just keeps on going, as not only do we have to fix up our battered chariot, and keep it pimped with arse kicking firepower, we may also randomly come across other denizens of the Supercars world. These 'communications screens' include: the Department of Transport Inspector, the Policeman, the Environmental Health Officer, the Journalist, the Sponsor and the Solicitor. Some of these people may offer huge amounts of cash if you can blag your way through a series of ridiculous questions. Others, such as the Policeman, will offer to reduce or cancel an excessive fine if you can weasel your way out of the interrogation. The Department of Transport will also want to see you at some point to make sure you know your Highway Code, and a good interview here can mean more (or sometimes less) world championship points.
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Having bodged your car repeatedly back into shape, armed it to the teeth, jumped everything and taken all the shortcuts, you may at last have earned the right to compete in the final race of the season. The final races are always very hard, and if the world championship isn't in the bag by now then you may struggle to get there. On one such level, a hulking great train rolls through the entire curcuit to cause huge pile-ups. On another, a series of jumps - one after the other - makes winning all but impossible outside of super perfecto driving. Perhaps the most important thing is to qualify, and having done so you will get a screen informing you that this section of the game has been completed. You can then enter your defining features into the high score table before plowing on to the next season. When the hardest season falls into the bag then it's job done. Congratulations!
Mmmm Good! - Real Good!
The graphics of Supercars II have had a very nice upgrade from the 1990 original. The colour scheme is less bright and cartoony, rather more sedate and gloomy, but the shades of browns and greys seem to flesh out the game just that little bit more. The detail is fine for a top-down game, and the whole screen moves with the car - smoothly and professionally. The communications screens really stand out graphics-wise, and the hand drawn images (which sometimes feature the Magnetic Fields crew, see below) are probably the nearest you could get to a photo on the Amiga outside of digitisation.
The sounds of Supercars II are just as meaty as the original game - if not more so. The cars screech and skid, weapons fire with a huge gush, and cars explode with a meaty bang! The music of Supercars II is as professional as always - featuring mainly synth rock tracks over the title screen and the communications screens. However, the in-game jangley bass guitar numbers of the first game have gone - leaving the player just with sound effects to listen to during the actual levels. The cheering crowd from the first game (who applaud a winning run) are also noticeably missing from this title.
Playability wise, Supercars II is still in a league of its own. Easier to handle perhaps than ATR, bigger and better than Championship Sprint, and more going on than the first Supercars, Supercars II can be fun and furious - especially when the bigger engines are bought from the shop. The main playability issue is the fact that the tracks are so narrow that it can take a supreme effort to keep things rolling in right direction. Players will often ricochet off the sides of the road (and the other cars) in an attempted passing manoeuvre; only to see their own machine blowing up in a cloud of smoke. This makes stunts - such as the high jumps - much harder to judge at high speeds, and much harder to power through at lower speeds, leading to much frustration. Two player mode could have saved a few wrinkles, but the vertical split screen leaves so little room to actually see the track that players often do more crashing than winning.
Having said that, Supercars II is still a great game to play, especially with a few tactical master-strokes gained through experience. The communications screens really add a lot to the game, and the questions are funny and crazy, while still remaining somewhat logical enough to get through. The Transport Inspector is even competent enough to be educational, (or at least he was back in 1991) and it would have been nice to be able to play him as some sort of Highway Code tutor. The rest of the game is highly polished and professional; as you'd expect from a genre defining title; and Supercars II is certainly a game of high standards. Not only that, but with the release of Supercars III on the PC in 2007, it is likely that the Supercars legacy will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of fans throughout the world. Highly Recommended!
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The graphics of SCII are certainly a step up from SC1 are would not be topped until the likes of ATR and the AGA game Roadkill come along some years later. The communications screens in particular are very well crafted and with plenty of detail. In contrast, the game-over and 'season complete' screens are very basic and would have benefited from some kind of winning graphic, sound or animation.
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Sounds wise, SCII features a rockin soundtrack over much of the game, although not present during the races themselves. The sound effects are of high quality; including strong screeching and smashing sounds as the cars get bashed about, and the obligatory Magnetic Fields 'vaccum cleaner' engine noises.
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Playing SCII can be fun once the player gets to grips with the car handling and width limitations of the tracks. Jumping over things is often tricky, as is avoiding all those weapons flying all over the track. Being blown up a lot can also be very frustrating, but the game seems to take this in it's stride and generally lets the player recover. Winning a race is often a good feeling after such a huge battle to get there.
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| There are certainly lots of things to like about the game, and certainly a few things to challenge the player. It may have been nice to be able to buy new cars (ala Supercars 1), and be able to alter the cars characteristics. However, the inclusion of weapons largely makes up for these shortcomings to leave the player with a healthy respect for this classic title. |
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