SODA Off-Road Racing

The Good
SODA Off Road Racing is a lot of fun, plain and simple. The driving model is one of the best I have ever experienced, and the game can be quite challenging. However, once you master the ability to steer your truck or buggy around a difficult, sloppy corner, the feeling of accomplishment is amazing. The tracks range from quite easy and mundane to difficult but realistic to twisted and quite out-of-this-world. An easy to use track editor allows you to create your own race courses. The computer AI is quite good, but can be beat with practice.

The Bad
Upon release, Sierra did SODA a disservice by releasing it with support for 3D cards with Rendition chipsets only. In my opinion, this was largely due to the fact that Sierra was producing its own Rendition video card at the time. However, as Rendition cards were only a small fraction of the 3D cards on the market at the time, most users got to see unaccelerated graphics that were quite ugly. Additional support for other cards was patched into the game later, but the game had already developed a reputation as having poor graphics. The sound in the game was also underwhelming to say the least.

The Bottom Line
Give SODA Off Road Racing a chance if you're a racing fan. The driving model makes for just plain good racing. If you're not a racing fan, you'll be disappointed by the dated graphics and sound.