Xtreme Racing (Second Review)


Title           Xtreme Racing (Second Review)
Game Type       Driving
Players         1-4 (2-8 on a linkup)
Compatibility   AGA
Submission      Isaac Abraham

Review
Already someone has written a review of this game, but I love it so much I
thought I`d write one as well, just to, well, emphasise how good it is. And
also I`ve discovered the reason why Amiga games sell so poorly (read on, all
will be revealed later....=). XTR is a spoof driving game. Well, the idea is
to race against seven other cars, over x amount of laps, and finish 1st.
Nothing unusual there. You can make your own tracks up with a reasonably
good course designer. Quite good, eh? Now, the thing that sets this game in
a class of it`s own. The sound fx can be changed! This may seem unimportant
to you, but picture the scene ... You`re in first place on the final lap,
whilst your 25 year old brother is coming up behind you (well, let`s say
closing in on you instead, eh?) with a turbo charge. Suddenly, you craftily
drop a banana skin onto the track, directly in his path. He`s going so fast,
he finds it impossible to react, and ends up in a spin, leaving you to win
the race. Now that would be bad enough, but I`ve configured the sounds so
that every time he lands on a banana, you hear Sid James unmistakable "Kyah
Kyah" laugh instead of the "splat", which IMHO elevates XTR onto a new
platform of racing games. It`s caused fights between four of us as to who to
blame for knocking people off the road. Now, I`m not usually very obsessive
about games, but this game just is the best, and is the perfect excuse to
let that competitiveness in you out (it`s even better than old Super
Skidmarks!).
There are dozens of tracks to race on, plus tons to get off Aminet (provided
you don`t mind downloading them, they can be quite large), plus more if you
get the data disk. Whilst I`m on the subject of the data disk, it does have
a few faults. For some reason, the link up doesn`t work on it, and, sadly,
the computer controlled cars don`t fire at each other! Now, they just
trundle along, side by side (well, except for the crappy red van...), until
some unpredictability enters the fray i.e. you.
There are plenty of options for you. You can choose between CD32, 2 button,
one button etc. controllers, number of laps, the music to be played in game
and so on and so forth. But it`s the game that matters, and thankfully it`s
great. Only the few A1200 owners who have stayed with their heads in the
sand with their 020 processors will be a little peeved off, because they`ll
need to stay with the Virtua Karting-like "wishy washy" dithered version.
Everyone else can enjoy the chunky pixel 3D verison, 1x1 to 2x2. 030-50 is
easily enough for all but the most demanding gamesplayers. And don`t forget
the sound effects (any xtr owners who want my sound file, get in touch)!
Unfortunately, XTR sold in tiny amounts, even for the Amiga market - I heard
that it sold in the HUNDREDS. Yep, under one thousand copies! WHAT IS GOING
ON??!!! XTR is a classic example of a great game made from a small
programming company. Years ago the "bedroom programmer" made the C64 and, to
an extent, the Amiga, great. Now, however, for some reason, IQs have dropped
sharply and all the best games are being avoided like the plague. If you
think of buying a game soon, get this - Epic sell it for 17 quid with the
data disks, and it has more playability than Lotus 1, 2 and 3, Stunt Car
Racer, all of them. I`d concede that in one player mode it`s lastability is
questionable, but then I`d remember that you have the cups and tournaments
which are great.
XTR development has now ceased, and Siltunna have gone on to the PC, just
like everyone else, really. We had the opportunity to keep some great
programmers on our machine, and missed it. Madness, sheer madness, because
XTR is brilliant, and how people managed to not buy it is beyond me. Mad.
Right, I`m off to play carams, and stay up watching TV all night. Ah, the
beauty of having finished A Levels..... =)))))

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