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Super Sprint |
Copyright/Publisher: Electric Dreams, Coding by: Catalyst Coders, Allan Shortt,
Graphics by: Mark Jones, Release Year: 1987, Genre: Formula One, Number Of Players: 1 or 2
The popular Atari two-player racing game has at last arrived on the Commodore
64, courtest of Electric Dreams.
At the start, a one or two player game is chosen. The former pits a solo
driver against two computer controlled 'drone' cars, while the latter is a
head-to-head race, with the option to include a drone opponent.
Four circuits are available, each viewed from above and littered with hazards
such as tornados and oil slicks (causing the cars to spin out of control), and
water puddles (which slow the cars down). When racing round the track, the players
have to use ramps to jump gaps in the circuit, negotiate moving gates and take
short cuts in an attempt to finish first.
Colliding with the side barriers at a slow speed stops the car temporarily,
while high speed smashes require a replacement car, flown in by a helicopter.
Bonus spanners appear regularly, and are automatically collected when driven
over. Collect three and an extra feature is added to the car, either super traction,
turbo acceleration, higher top speed or increased scoring.
If the drone car finishes first, the game ends. Otherwise the track selection
screen reappears, with any completed circuits bearing a flag in the appropriate
winner's colours. When all four tracks have been completed, a fresh set are
loaded in for the competition to continue.
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S.J. |
Okay, so the arcade version is the bees knees, but this version is just awful.
Graphically, the game is tremendous: all of the tracks are beautifully presented,
and the cars are small and neat. The control is a little slow to react, but bearable.
So, what's the matter with it? In a word - bugs, and plenty of them. Cars can
be driven off ramps onto the track below, players who haven't collected
any spanners are allowed to customise their cars and at one point, both cars
exploded, the helicopter froze above the track and the drone car, oblivious to
tall the excitement, went on to win the race. If only Super Sprint had been
properly playtested - it could have been great.
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Julian Rignall |
I love the original - it's really competitive and playable. The Commodore 64
looks very similar, but unfortunelately frequent bugs ruin the enjoyment.
Yes, Super Sprint is badly bugged - something you don't expect to find in
a full priced game. Sometimes the helicopter freezes before it drops a new car
on the track (effectively ending the game), and at other times cars glitch
terribly, exploding or disappearing and reappearing on another section of the
track.
Super Spint could have been brilliant, but it's fallen far short of its
potential.
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