Hard Drivin’
| Developer: N/A | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Microdeal | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Racing | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
4/10 | |
Here’s one that truly lives up to its name! It’s also notoriously difficult to get running. Using WinUAE, I managed it with the following setup: “A500, 1.3 ROM, OCS Agnus, 512KB Chip RAM”.
This is a passable adaptation of a 1989 arcade game worth mentioning for its historical significance. It was the first 3D driving simulator equipped with pedals, a steering wheel, and a gear stick—the ancestor of those you now find in driving schools.
The driving experience aimed for realism and immersion, but only two tracks were available: the first focused on speed, and the second on “stunts” (featuring a loop-the-loop and a tilting bridge).
The Amiga version suffers from severe frame stuttering and clunky controls (the mouse sensitivity is through the roof). I’ll let you picture the Commodore 64 version—yes, it exists. A bold idea, no doubt!
This game is most entertaining thanks to its “slow-motion” feature (triggered after a crash) and its myriad bugs. Your car has a knack for taking surreal trajectories whenever it veers off-road, not to mention the sometimes bizarre behaviour of other vehicles. On the Amiga, they even boast the remarkable ability to remain visible through both ground and walls…
The 1991 sequel, released exclusively for home computers, added a track editor.
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