Amiga

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation

The 'real world' generated by the 3D vector graphics is very convincing. You have total freedom within the confines of the track. If you fancy, you can drive the wrong way, reverse around the track, stop broadside across the home straight, or use the pitlane as an alternate route if there's too much traffic. Indy 500 is the best racing game to have appeared for ages, tussling with Stunt Car Racer for the title of best racing simulation available for the Amiga, and shouldn't be missed by any Amiga owning speedfreak.

All the features of the original – the instant replay angles (1 Meg only), the indestructibility mode, ability to go backwards and destroy all your fellow racers – are here, and all on one disk to boot (geddit), so there's far less hassly disk swopping. One added extra the PC lacked is sound. Instead of the usual IBM sound chip labouring to spit out a car sound, Indy Amiga has sampled vrooms, sampled squeals and sampled tinkling wreckage sounds when you collide with the spectators at Mach 3. It makes a surprising amount of difference. For instance, you can now actually hear cars approaching from behind. The high-pitched schrieks and climb-downs of gear changes enable you to be more 'in tune' and 'as one' with your engine. And as for the exhilaration factor as well...

It can't be denied that Indy 500 is totally fab, with all the fun of the PC version crammed in! All the thrills, spills and laffs of turning a hundred and eighty degrees and driving head-on into the opposition are still there to be savoured! See this game in motion and prepare to be amazed!

Die Vektorgrafik ist detailreich und ultraschnell, auf der Stufe mit den wenigsten Details fliegt die Strecke richtig an einem vorbei, Soundtechnisch sind eine brauchbare Musik und Effekte vom Feinsten geboten. Am meisten hat sich die Steuerung verbessert, außer Joystich und Tastatur darf jetzt auch die Maus gequält werden. Ein wahres Superspiel also! Einzige Einschränkung: Es gibt nur eine (unkomplizierte) Strecke, die Freude dürfte also nicht ewig währen – aber was währt schon ewig?

Well, it's better than Days of Thunder, but other than the fast screen update and the much vaunted Instant Replay feature there's not much else to hold your attention. One track just isn't enough, especially when it involves 200 rather repetitive laps. I couldn't even manage 20 laps in the top-of-the-range Penske/Chevy with its ultra-fragile tyres! It's a challenge, I'll give it that, and it proved quite entertaining inching past rival drivers on the straights and dodging wrecked cars but it's very frustrating to make a simple mistake or shunted from behind and get knocked out of the race. Effects like the debris coming off cars with realistic sonic accompaniment just do not add enough.