Pitstop II

The Good
Pitstop II is one of the only racing games that I have from my Commodore 64 package. Before the advent of 3-D Graphics for racing games, and before the advent of Racing Wheel Controllers for computers and game consoles, it was just blocky rasterized 2-D graphics, like any other 80s game, and you had to use a joystick to control the car.

The Watkins Glen track is the most interesting in this game, because sometime during the year the game was released in, a Grand Prix was held with Formula One/Indy race cars before NASCAR took over a few years later. That was just for a historic purpose of racing.

The car engine sounds were processed with Saw Wave tones on the C64 SID chip, and when your car moves faster, the pitch increases! Pretty cool! (That was before Digital Audio and DSP in late 90s racing games for the PC such as the Staccato Systems physical modelling technology used in EA Sports' NASCAR Revolution and ValuSoft's NHRA Drag Racing 2.)

The Bad
None so far!

The Bottom Line
This is not for hardcore simulation geeks in mind, but only for retro gaming enthusiasts who like racing games on a Commodore 64.

I would recommend Pitstop II for anyone who wants to play some racing games on a Commodore 64 with a joystick. And if you are ready to step up to the future, grab a used PlayStation 3 and a copy of CodeMasters' F1 2010, and optionally grab a Logitech or Thrust Master racing wheel, for some hardcore simulation!