Summary
A surprisingly fun game with good graphics and "Twisted Metal" style characters.
The Good
Powerslide has a lot of personality, especially the characters. They're a lot like those found in "Twisted Metal" -- psychopaths and freaks of nature, with names like Colonel Slanders (a former pigeon breeder turned "feral entrepreneur") and Radiation, um, Boy. (It looks more like a female developer in a baseball cap to me. Perhaps the radiation affected the poor lad's hormones?)
Of course, none of that matters as soon as you hit the track. Once you get used to the controls (powersliding on sand and bouncing along inclines), it's easy to drop into a Zen like state that boils down to three objectives: Drive. Drive faster than the other guys. Win.
The graphics are awesome, especially considering they held up pretty well after six years. (I didn't play it until 2004!) Rolling hills, desert sunsets, sweet vehicle design. The levels look organic and have a "go anywhere" feel to them, even though you're on a track.
The Bad
No matter how much personality the drivers have, it disappears once you begin the race. "Twisted Metal" made use of its wacky characters, they had bizarre special weapons, voice clips, etc. In Powerslide, doesn't matter how insane your driver is, on the track he's a little green dune buggy. (Or red muscle-car dunebuggy. Or purple whatevermajigger.)
Powerslide *screams* for weapons. I mean, I know this isn't that kind of game, but even the developers realized how much it needed a little vehicular combat: Half the game's cheats allow you to do things like launch bombs, jump, and suck up enemy cars in a whirlwind.
The Bottom Line
Powerslide is the perfect little post-apocalyptic dunebuggy racing game. Featuring impressive graphics, a really bouncy physics engine, and mindlessly fun gameplay, this is a good addition to anyone's dollar store collection. (Hey, no offense to developer Ratbag, it's just where I got mine!)
