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There are a couple of top-notch game-programmers in gaming-history, ones that contributed greatly to computer-entertainment. One of those is certainly Geoff Crammond! Although, making a little detour in 1987 with the brilliant and original The Sentinel, he has committed his life to making racing games. And without exception these games are brilliant in their own right. His first game was Revs, back in 1987, which was a very accurate Formula one simulator, and heaps ahead of its time. This relatively simple game would later be pushed to new heights with Geoff’s excellent Grand Prix series. In 1989 Crammond surprised the gaming-world with his Stunt Car Racer, which I will review here.
Stunt Car Racer is an original racing game, set in the year 2006 (when this game was released, that was 16 years into the future!), in which professional racing has pushed the limits far beyond the 1989-level. Cars are able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than two seconds and racing tracks are elevated and contain daring ski-jumps and moving bridges to enhance the spectator’s thrills, as well as the danger for the drivers. You are one of the heroic drivers who risks his or her life on a daily basis, competing on these tracks, for victory.
You start in Division 4, competing with two other drivers on two tracks. You can earn points by winning the race and by setting the fastest lap time. The driver with most points after four races will advance to the next division. The ultimate goal is to win Division 1 and to be crowned champion! Every division has two unique tracks so there are a total of 8 fierce tracks to race on. After winning Division 1, you will get the chance to compete with other Division 1 champions in the Super League. This will take you back to Division 4, but now all drivers, including you, will own cars with even higher top speeds and faster acceleration.
Driving your car is rather simple. You can accelerate by pushing your joystick forward and you brake when you pull your stick towards you. Your car also has a few gallons of Nitrous on board, which you can inject by pushing the button, causing a sudden increase in engine power (and some big flames coming from your exhaust pipes!). Besides finishing first, staying on the track will be your main concern in Stunt Car Racer. Falling with your car into the depths will not only cost much precious time, but it will also damage your car.
The damage to your vehicle is indicated at the top of the screen. When the bar is full it’s “game over”! Structural damage, shown as holes in the damage bar, will be repaired after each race in division 4, but in the following divisions you will take the damage with you all through the season, so reckless drivers should temper their enthusiasm a little bit. Besides tournament driving, you can also practice tracks without competitors, or you can drive against friends, via multi-player or directly when connecting two Amiga’s with a modem-cable. Your progression can be saved as well as your fastest laps!
This all sounds exciting? Well, it is! Stunt Car Racer is a brilliant game, featuring ultra-fast driving on nicely designed 3D-tracks. The graphics are simple yet, beautifully designed, giving you a real sense of height and speed. The sound is okay, with some nice soundeffects when colliding or when the bottom of your car is scraping on the track surface. Engine sound is a bit to tame in my opinion. But most importantly, as with all Geoff Crammond games, this product is packed with playability and options. The different tracks are extremely challenging and certainly the hard ones need a lot of practice. The game itself keeps you coming back for more, making you try to win the championship and the save-options pushes this game even further ahead. In one-player mode this game is awesome, and with the inclusion of multi-player and the link-option, this game is almost infinitely lastable! Stunt Car Racer is another gem from the master Geoff Crammond! Racing game fans as well as gamers who are less fond of this genre should really play this game! You won’t be disappointed!
Extra note: If you like this brilliant game, you should also check out the C64-version, which is, considering the machine's capabilities, even better! No joke!
Extra extra note: Geoff Crammond has recently announced that he has teamed up with Lost Boys to make Stunt Car Racer Pro, a follow up of this awesome game!!!
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The graphics in Stunt Car Racer are nicely done, giving you a real sense of height and more importantly speed! The 3D graphics run very smoothly indeed. And although not very detailed they do the job more than sufficiently!
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Stunt Car Racer lacks music but the in-game sounds are very good. There are some nice sound FX when disaster strikes in the form of collision-sounds and scraping metal on concrete. The engine sound could have been a bit more violent.
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Where should I start? The racing experience of Stunt Car Racer is awesome! The control of your car is very good and the different tracks are very challenging indeed! The difficulty level is very well balanced, giving you relatively easy opponents and tracks at the start and very challenging tracks in the harder divisions. This will make you coming back for more and more practice to build up your competence, which is an element of all Geoff Crammond games and which makes his games ultimately lastable.
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| If you still aren’t convinced, then get your hands on a copy of this great game right away and play it yourself! I’ll bet you love it immediately! Master Geoff Crammond has produced an excellent and very original racing game with Stunt Car Racer, which is very challenging and addictive alone, and which can be even more thrilling when playing together with friends! |
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