Nitro


Title           Nitro
Publisher       Psygnosis
Game Type       Driving
Players         Up to 3
HD Installable  No
Compatability   A500
Submission      Chris Burns

Review
 There's a few good overhead view race games for the Amiga and I'll
concede from the outset that the likes of Supercars 2 and Micro Machines
are probably the rulers of this particular genre.  However, if you've
finished those, then you could do worse than play Nitro!

 Nitro takes place over 20 or so daytime AND nightime races, grouped into
4 different environments, namely The City, The Country, The Desert and The
Apocalypse. You can choose between 3 types of car which are supposed to
have different strengths and weaknesses across the different terrains.  I
say 'supposed' because it doesn't really seem to matter very much which
one you choose.  You compete against 3 other cars, of which 2 may be human
controlled. There's little intelligence involved in the computer cars;
they won't try and ram you off the road or anything.  That might have been
a nice touch, but we're talking about 1990 here, remember!

 The tracks in the main are full of hairpin bends with dollops of oil
(which makes you spin) and grease (which makes you slow right down)
splattered along it every now and again.  Bollards are another obstacle
but these can be driven through, at cost to speed. Strewn objects,
barriers and trees abound by the trackside so failure to stay right on the
track can result in car damage and costly delays. No matter how bad your
damage gets though, your car won't blow up a la Supercars 2. Swizz! (or
maybe my driving just isn't that bad!! :-) On the good side, there's
plenty of goodies strewn over the track which can be picked up - like
nitro booost (spelt with an extra 'o' for some reason), money and extra
fuel. Money can be used at the end of race shop to buy pretty much
everything you can pick up on the track or to repair or swap your car.
You can't buy or pick up rockets or anything that would damage or blow up
your competitors though - another swizz!!

 The main criticism with the tracks is that it's not always easy to tell
which way you're supposed to be going.  There are sometimes multiple roads
leading off the screen, only one of which will 'scroll on'..  Other times,
you're supposed to 'know' that you have to drive through a gap in a fence.
The desert races are particularly difficult as they, in general, have no
roads - so guessing which part of the desert to aim for is a bit tricky.
And as for night time races in the desert, well - forget it!  Best tip
here is to stay with the other cars, let them guide you through the route
then speed ahead when the finish line is in sight.  This is either very
poor design or an immense challenge, depending on which way you look at
it! I suppose the other criticism I would make about the tracks is that
they're all rather short.  The longest takes about two minutes to complete
which means that, even dawdling, you can complete the game in less than an
hour.

 You get a reward of fuel for finishing in the top 3 - but last place gets
no fuel!!  So to progress, you need to keep on winning. This might sound
obvious but you can't sustain yourself just by picking up fuel on the
track or buying it and a string of third places would totally cripple your
championship chances. Graphics and sound are good and clear, without being
absolutely brilliant. Gameplay is the watchword here!  Once you're used
to controlling the car and steering it around the tight bends then the
game is quite easy but I'll admit it took me a few goes before I got any
good at it..

 There's no point in me saying "Nitro is better than Supercars 2!" because
it isn't.  But it is a challenging and fun game and if top down racers are
your thing, this is a pretty good one!  Oh, and if anyone's familiar with
the old Spectrum game "Trans-Am" then Nitro definitely pays a little
homage in that direction.






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