All Terrain Racing
| Developer: Team 17 | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Team 17 | Sound: |
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| Year: 1995 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Racing | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 2 simultaneous* | Rating: |
8/10 | |
(*) It’s possible to organise tournaments with up to six players, but in the form of a series of duels.
The new attempt by Team 17 to create a hit in the highly competitive top-down racing game genre, following Overdrive in 1993.
Graphically, I’d describe the environments as “console-like”, meaning cute and colourful, but somewhat lacking in personality (and movement, for that matter).
ATR delivers around 40 “off-road” tracks (as its name suggests), packed with all sorts of traps and risky shortcuts. The races take place first in traditional landscapes (desert, beach, mountains), before moving into space, on the moon, and finally on the home turf of the little green men (the last tracks remind me of Roadkill).
You can choose between three vehicles: the jeep for beginners, the buggy for intermediate players, and the Formula 1 car for daredevils.
The money earned in races allows you to upgrade the engine (top speed), gearbox (acceleration), brakes (handling), and body (durability), just like in Nitro or Indy Heat.
In “battle” mode (borrowed from Micro Machines), the camera stays centred on the leading player. If the second player falls behind to the point of leaving the screen, they’re teleported next to their opponent, and the opponent scores a point. At the end, the player with the most points wins the race. Fun bonuses spice things up, like turbo boosts, missiles (which are not very effective), and another particularly nasty one that reverses the opponent’s controls!
Obstacles, bonuses, and slippery zones make the races chaotic and thus more interesting in multiplayer, regardless of your skill level; but of course, learning the track remains a sine qua non condition for winning…
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