SUPER CARS II (AMI)
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Publisher: Gremlin Graphics.
Developer: Magnetic Fields. Released: 1991. Genre: Combat Racing. Other versions: AST; C64. Posted 30th October 2014. By Alan Passingham © 2014 |
What do Nitro, Turbo Trax, Hot Rod, All-Terrain Racing, Overdrive, Super Skidmarks and Micro Machines all have in common? Yes, that’s right; they were 2D top-down racers of varying degrees of total bobbins available for the Amiga back in the Halcyon days of yonder. Well okay, Super Skidmarks was slightly 3D but it remains pretty much of the same ilk so, uhm, p!ss off! Consequently what is the single most recurring failing amongst each one of these racers? Too slow? Wonky controls? Awful collision detection? Actually, not one of them featured a red Alfa Romeo with the capacity to fire missiles up the exhaust-pipe of the arse-biscuit in front hogging your rightful place on the winner’s podium. Kind of obvious really! Luckily Super Cars II provided gamers with the option to blow the pants off opposing cars, whilst combining tough racing antics with an abundance of chuckles. Marvellous! Presumably it’s good then?
Well, it gets off to a rather fine start. Magnetic Fields, them of the rather splendid Lotus Turbo Challenge trilogy, were the chaps in charge so at least it was not in the bumbling hands of perennial clowns Titus. By the first bend it gets better. Noting that most 2D top-down racers are fun for all of a nano-second before the looping around derivative circuits gets so dull your eyes begin to bleed, the inclusion of missiles, mines, reinforced body armour and engine enhancements suddenly gives the racing a defined edge. No longer is this just a dredge of memorising circuits and cutting corners to gain an advantage; now tactics come into play. Balancing the fine-tuning of one’s weapon stash with ever-increasing repairs to the charred remains of your vehicle is an important art in avoiding the dreaded game over screen. Take too much damage and it’s off to the car heap in the sky for the bashed up old Alfa.
Race position is, therefore, of critical importance with more cash generated to make those all-important repairs and purchases the further up the field you finish. Yet this is no straightforward task as Super Cars II helpfully sticks two further fingers up at convention. Why have the stock three or four participating vehicles when you can make the racing more arduous with ten cars on the track. That’s nine other bar-stewards dropping mines that need avoiding. In addition the circuits are short and punchy throughout, meaning you’ll often become entangled with back-markers who love nothing more than to turn your vehicle into toast for a laugh when tailgating behind them. Narrow circuits, level-crossings featuring speeding trains, gorge jumps and rewarding shortcuts through opening and closing barriers all assist in making the racing that little more hair-raising than p!ssing slowly around rubber ducks in a bathtub.
Marginally less prone to breakdowns than real Alfa cars
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Always easy to identify which is yours in a car park
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Indeed, Super Cars II is a persistently tough game. Computer A.I. is sensible, but not totally barbaric to remove the element of fun from the frantic pursuit. Whilst your own vehicle may be blasted by a rocket and then quickly felled by a sneaky mine it is not uncommon that the same relentless outcomes also befall your opponents. The A.I. is out to get each other, not just the player, giving Super Cars II remarkable balance. Further depth is provided by the post-race communication screens, which add another layer of fun and woe to proceedings. Of course, these can be turned off if you are a complete t*ssbag who wants to make Super Cars II as unchallenging as possible, but the chance of earning extra points, more money or being fined for crimes against driving and/or the feckless destruction of the environment with a turbo boost are really not to be missed. Particularly when some of the responses you can give to the questions posed are a real hoot. However, get an answer wrong when questioned in a police interview room and the hefty fine received will wipe out most of the cash earned for repairs and upgrades making progress through the next race doubly difficult. Still, it’s nice to note that some 25 years on from being a rather dim teenager I can now get through the Highway Code questions unscathed and with a full complement of five bonus points for my awesomeness!
Down the back straight and Super Cars II really does begin to pull away from its sluggish contemporaries now. Visuals are great with picturesque backdrops doing a great service to the speedy cars and frequent explosions. Collision detection is bang on ensuring skilled driving is required, more so when an engine boost ramps up the frame-rate to ludicrous speed. The only real issue is with the other nine cars the player faces – they all look the same making it difficult to establish which cars are ahead and which are backmarkers. Whilst the in-game skids, screeches and engine revs are all serviceable noises the real audio delight comes from the games main theme and options screen soundtracks which are two of the finest compositions ever produced for the Amiga. The game is neatly presented throughout and has a cracking sense of humour – the circuits’ unconventional Welsh titles also provide a tickle where a tickle might otherwise not have been found.
Down the back straight and Super Cars II really does begin to pull away from its sluggish contemporaries now. Visuals are great with picturesque backdrops doing a great service to the speedy cars and frequent explosions. Collision detection is bang on ensuring skilled driving is required, more so when an engine boost ramps up the frame-rate to ludicrous speed. The only real issue is with the other nine cars the player faces – they all look the same making it difficult to establish which cars are ahead and which are backmarkers. Whilst the in-game skids, screeches and engine revs are all serviceable noises the real audio delight comes from the games main theme and options screen soundtracks which are two of the finest compositions ever produced for the Amiga. The game is neatly presented throughout and has a cracking sense of humour – the circuits’ unconventional Welsh titles also provide a tickle where a tickle might otherwise not have been found.
Editors busy at work planning the next series of Top Gear
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"Nothing to do with me Officer, I was facing the other way"
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There is also longevity not normally found in this type of racer. Whilst the 21 circuits available (seven for each of the three difficulty settings available) might sound short-shrift, the challenge Super Cars II provides is immense. Tackling five jumps on the bounce on a narrow circuit over the course of eight laps is clearly insane even if it was just you on the track. Chuck in the other nine cars and it is time to curl up in a ball, cry like a baby and pray! As you learn the particulars of each circuit things begin to get less harsh, although defeating the comedy monikered racers (Nijel Mainsail, T. Hairy Bootsen, Crashard Banger – the hilarity) will take time to master, even on the easiest settings. Remember ‘easy’ here actually means ‘tough as old boots’ whereas the ‘hard’ setting can only be described as f*ck-off impossible. Furthermore, if you can find someone in this day and age to sit in the same room as you to play, then the two-player mode is brilliantly manic hair-brained split-screen fun. The A.I. might come from a particular brand of arsehole, but nothing beats the arsehole sitting next to you taking a giant dump on your championship dreams by obliterating your car at every opportunity available.
Super Cars II works as a top-down racer purely because it does things differently to what was the bog-standard template for such a game. Magnetic Fields understood that a slight tweak to the game mechanic, in this instance blowing the shit out of each other, along with a good dollop of humour was a winning combination to tell the protracted boredom of other top-down racers to do one. Quirky and daft, simple yet hugely challenging, Super Cars II remains a quality title and one all Amiga-maniacs should remember with fondness. It certainly makes Micro Machines shrivel up in the corner with embarrassment…
Super Cars II works as a top-down racer purely because it does things differently to what was the bog-standard template for such a game. Magnetic Fields understood that a slight tweak to the game mechanic, in this instance blowing the shit out of each other, along with a good dollop of humour was a winning combination to tell the protracted boredom of other top-down racers to do one. Quirky and daft, simple yet hugely challenging, Super Cars II remains a quality title and one all Amiga-maniacs should remember with fondness. It certainly makes Micro Machines shrivel up in the corner with embarrassment…
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Similar to...
Super Off-Road (1989)
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VERDICT
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 9/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 8/10 |