The Duel: Test Drive II

So it's basically along the same lines as its predecessor, and it could do with a few of its raggedy edges clipped, but Test Drive II on the Amiga is simply brilliant. The view from the windscreen, when beating a hasty path up one of the many twisting, winding roads, is particularly effective. Sadly, the outside objects, such as trees, do tend to go into spasms when travelling at low speeds, but then again this is a game where acceleration is not only a lot of fun, but a necessity, so less than 60mph is a rarity. So while it won't get you through your driving test, it will provide some superb entertainment.

The C64 game has been crammed onto one disk, and in terms of general gameplay, little has been lost in the transition from one computer to the other. But both colour and sound are bland, while oncoming vehicles lack detail and advance rather jerkily. Apart from those small gripes though, there is little actually wrong with the 8-bit version which stands up as an impressive piece of programming.

When Test Drive first introduced everyone to life in the fast lane some fourteen months ago (about the same time the original Crazy Cars appeared coincidentally) people started to sit up and take notice. The future of gaming, nice graphics, lovely touches and finishing pointed to a day when all games would be this polished. Test Drive had one major failing – it left out any long term appeal. Its gameplay was limited to trying to keep the car on the road and in one piece for as long as possible. Its sequel does not look to have improved this much.

The graphics on the CPC are what you'd expect, i.e. very colourful and blocky. Sound is limited to vroomy engine noises and a smash, bang, tinkle effect when you crash. This is old hat now, Accolade, but some of you out there might not be quite as tired of this as me.

Den zweiten Teil von "Test Drive" gibt es jetzt auch für den C 64. Allerdings muß der Spieler einige Abstriche gegenüber den PC- und Amiga-Versionen hinnehmen. Grafik und Sound sind recht mager, die Steuerung ist schwammig und unpräzise. Dazu kommt, daß auf der Straße wesentlich weniger los ist als bei den 16-Bit-Versionen. Die Ladezeiten der einzelnen Kurse bewegen sich gerade noch im Rahmen des Erträglichen. Alles in allem ist "Test Drive II" für den C 64 eine enttäuschende Umsetzung.

Racing games, eh? (As our Jack would start a review.) What'd we do without 'em? Well, we'd buy a lot fewer games this Christmas, that's for sure. Yup, from Chase HQ to Power Drift to Continental Circus, everyone's gone car bloomin' crazy! There are some more serious driving simulations bouncing about too. The jury's still out on Hard Drivin', but here comes The Duel, Accolade's follow up to the mega-successful PC/16 bit driverama Test Drive. In fact. It's quite heart warming to see a respectable, simulation-based outfit like Accolade dipping its toes into the Speccy market this late in the day. So it's a real shame I can't bring myself to write anything very nice about the results. Because, to be honest. Test Drive II smacks a bit of old tosh.

Wer schon immer mal sehen wollte, wie sein Mega Drive technisch in die Knie geht, muß leider zu Test Drive 2 greifen. Schon die Computerspiele waren nicht gerade ein Ausbund an Schnelligkeit - Mit der Modulversion wird die Raserei gänzlich zur Qual.