[LGR Theme]
[fizz, sip]
Aahhh!
In 1989,
Atari released Hard Drivin' to arcades around the world.
Now this was just as arcades were about to make a huge comeback
and real polygonal 3D graphics were starting out.
These circumstances, combined with a realistic control scheme,
a force feedback steering wheel and addictive gameplay,
Hard Drivin' solidified itself
as an instant arcade classic.
It's no wonder that it was ported to about every machine imaginable,
but unfortunately, it really didn't come with that cool arcade cabinet,
or the hardcore steering wheel and pedals.
So a little did get lost in the translation.
There's only so much you can fit in a little box anyways.
Leave it up to other companies to rip off a game
and fill in the gaps where the original disappointed.
Enter Stunt Driver by Spectrum HoloByte,
the coolest game company name in the world.
Released in 1990 for PCs.
It took the same idea as Hard Drivin' and added all sorts of new features
to really make it a standout title.
Well, at least it should have been.
History isn't always kind to the greats,
and judging by its scarcity on the market today,
I'm inclined to say it didn't sell too well.
And that's a real shame,
because it tries hard to make you happy and does rather well at it.
Now I guess you can't judge a game by its box,
especially racing games, but...
Man, this already has a few awesome points for it going right here
just looking at the cover.
A classic Mustang,
simplistic Car & Driver-style fonts,
and a gold "AdLib sound board supported" sticker.
Not to mention the massive "5¼-inch version" sticker.
That's just what I like to see.
"All the fun of real stunt racing without the bruises."
"Road etiquette? Forget it!"
"Get ready for the wildest, most daring stunt driving experience this side of Hollywood."
"Impressive 3D graphics
and true-to-life sounds."
We will see about that.
The whole idea of the game is that you are a Hollywood stunt driver
who must race around tracks riddled with ramps,
high embankments and massive loops.
COMPUTER: "Gentlemen, start your engines!"
LGR: You drive a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350
and race against several opponents,
including a Camaro IROC Z, Porsche 911,
and Volkswagen Beetle.
[engine rumbling]
[electronic beeping]
[engine revving]
There are five courses for you to play around on
where you can race against your computer opponents
or just mess around with the physics engine,
getting your car airborne and flying all over the place
and crashing rather spectacularly.
[engine revving]
[tires screeching]
[car crash]
Those of you familiar with the racing scene on home computers at the time
may be reminded more than a little bit of another game,
Stunts by Broderbund and the guys that made Test Drive.
Interestingly, it was released at nearly the same time as Stunt Driver.
They're not related to my knowledge,
so I imagine they're both just simply inspired a bit by the success of Hard Drivin',
and both happen to come out in 1990.
Gameplay in Stunt Driver remains pretty much open, really.
You can simply ignore your opponents, if you just put it on trainee mode
and you just wanna screw around the landscape,
or you can race against them in any of the other two difficulty modes.
They each have distinct driving styles,
and depending on which one you're going up against, will give you a good challenge.
For instance, the Volkswagen Beetle
is driven by an old grandma who just likes to follow the rules.
You can also take damage, so you have to make sure you don't jump too high
or smash into the other opponents,
or you might destroy your car.
[air wrench, horn beeping]
[air wrench]
If you get bored with the tracks that come with the game,
you can actually change the backgrounds that the tracks use,
which is interesting but only does so much.
After that, there is a track construction set included
to create your own completely new tracks,
just like in Stunts.
In fact, almost everything is exactly like Stunts.
At first glance, they can easily get confused.
The biggest difference seems to be Stunt Driver only lets you drive a Mustang,
and Stunts lets you drive a whole list of
licensed exotic sports cars.
The handling model on Stunt Driver also feels a bit more...
twitchy or something.
It's not quite the same. If you play the two right after each other,
then you'll see what I mean.
You do get almost the exact same replay mode in both games,
which is interesting, and it's one of my favorite features of this game.
It works pretty much like you would expect,
where you can rewind, change cameras and such.
It really does add some depth to the game after you're done racing,
and it's always fun to see your car flying through the air
and explode from all sorts of different angles or in slow-motion.
The graphics are wonderful for a PC game in 1990.
At least, as good as it can,
especially in VGA/MCGA mode.
I think there's music to the game, but
I always just turn it off.
Because what I did here was pretty much rancid.
But the sound effects really aren't half-bad in AdLib,
especially in Sound Blaster mode.
One amazing feature for the time
is the online multiplayer mode over modem or serial cable.
I haven't been able to try this,
but the simple fact that it exists
is darned impressive for 1990.
There's also a hidden bonus feature of sorts.
With an executable included with the game,
you can edit all sorts of features in the game,
including your car, the handling, the world physics like gravity.
This really allows for some absolute insanity if you want
and give you something else to screw with after you're done making tracks.
Stunt Driver is definitely worth checking out.
If you like old racing games that are in 3D
and are more than that tired formula set by Pole Position and OutRun,
I think it deserves a look, especially if you own a DOS machine from the time.
If you have anything faster than a 486, you won't be able to play it.
And of course it works fine on DOSBox.
It's fun, it handles pretty well,
and gives you plenty of options when things start to get stale.
Plus the box just looks cool.
It reminds me of a construction yard.
I feel like I should wear a hard hat when I'm looking at it.
It's awesome and looks great on your shelf.
And who doesn't like boxes that look like items of hard labor?