Stunt Car Racer

"Step into the driving seat of one of the most wicked stunt cars around as a Stunt Car Racer. It's now up to you to prove just how good you are and to see whether or not you can ultimately become Division One Champion. With a super-quick, turbo-charged V8 engine that will power you to incredible speeds, and long-travel suspension that enables you to soak up the bumps, your car really is an awesome projectile. The tracks are totally out of this world. Banked corners that enable you to 'pull g', undulating bumps that throw your car uncontrollably from side to side and huge ramps that catapult you into mid-air. In fact, you seem to spend so much time airborne, you could almost qualify for a pilot's licence! Battle it out on the track against other computer controlled rivals, such as, Dare Devil and Road Hog. Race and jump so fast that your car starts to break up under the strain and then accelerate even more. There's no prizes for being second best in this game - it's all or nothing.
Stunt Car Racer - do you think you could be up there with the best?
- Championship points system
- Accurate simulation of stunt car
- Realistic suspension and handling
- Amazingly lifelike 3D graphics
- Wicked tracks with huge jumps and banked corners
- Highly skilled computer controlled adversaries"

Stunt Car Racer was released on pretty much all the 8 and 16bit home systems of the time and well remembered on them all. Whilst each version differs slightly in their presentation due to hardware differences, the great gameplay is faithfully reproduced on all of them. Developed by Geoff Crammond who had previously developed Revs, The Sentinel and later the Formula one games for Microprose.

The game has very minimal overall presentation and just gets right into the game and on the Amiga, it is a single load so no waiting around for tracks to load. There are eight tracks of varying difficulty, some allowing you to race around and others need a bit of strategy to hit the jumps and platforms just right. You start off in Division four and have to work your way up. You play each track twice for a total of sixteen races. Races consist of three laps against a single opponent with a limited amount of boost speed. Ideally you only use the boost whilst the wheels are on the ground to make the most of it. The opponent can be quite aggressive so you need to be mindful of where it is as you don't want to bump into it as it can severally damage your car. Damage is taken from hitting bumps, taking turns too fast, landing too hard and especially by falling off the track. Taking a sudden hard hit results in a hole on the top bar. These go with you between rounds which cause the upper cracking to progress faster, you don't want that.

Completing the normal league opens the super league. This is especially tough as the opponent wont let up for a second and fitted with technology from the future making every race a photo finish although you do get a slightly faster car than you had in the previous league. The tracks are fairly unique from each with differencing including elevation, gaps, tight bends, long drops and even a moving drawbridge. The first league is notably easier and I play it quite aggressively not caring to much about damage as the opponent isn't to hard to beat. But in the Super league every care has to be taken. The opponent is not only out to win, but to destroy you if you get in its way!.

Overall, its a great and fondly remembered driving game but also very frustrating at times especially if you really want to take on the super league. It is not helped by the very choppy framerate when run on a standard Amiga 500. What there is of an ending is very anti-climactic and doesnt feel very rewarding. One more picture as champion of the universe would have been enough!

00:00:00 Titles
00:00:37 Division 4 - The Little Ramp
00:04:10 Division 4 - The Hump Back
00:08:12 Division 4 - The Little Ramp
00:11:38 Division 4 - The Hump Back
00:15:47 Division 3- The Stepping Stones
00:20:22 Division 3 - The Big Ramp
00:23:53 Division 3 - The Stepping Stones
00:28:17 Division 3 - The Big Ramp
00:31:55 Division 2 - The High Jump
00:35:48 Division 2 - The Roller Coaster
00:41:42 Division 2 - The High Jump
00:45:12 Division 2 - The Roller Coaster
00:50:54 Division 1 - The Ski Jump
00:54:55 Division 1 - The Draw Bridge
01:00:20 Division 1 - The Ski Jump
01:03:52 Division 1 - The Draw Bridge
------- Super League ------
01:09:34 S Division 4 - The Little Ramp
01:12:42 S Division 4 - The Hump Back
01:16:20 S Division 4 - The Little Ramp
01:19:21 S Division 4 - The Hump Back
01:22:58 S Division 3- The Stepping Stones
01:26:55 S Division 3 - The Big Ramp
01:30:20 S Division 3 - The Stepping Stones
01:34:15 S Division 3 - The Big Ramp
01:37:47 S Division 2 - The High Jump
01:41:14 S Division 2 - The Roller Coaster
01:46:21 S Division 2 - The High Jump
01:49:44 S Division 2 - The Roller Coaster
01:54:50 S Division 1 - The Ski Jump
01:58:15 S Division 1 - The Draw Bridge
02:03:16 S Division 1 - The Ski Jump
02:06:40 S Division 1 - The Draw Bridge
02:11:58 Lost Race / Wrecked Images