Stunts

The Good
I think that everyone has the right to have his own opinion. However, blasting a game like is something I can't let happen. I've had so much fun with this game!

The object of the game is simple: pick from one of 11 totally different cars and try not to mock it up while driving through classic stunts such as loops and corkscrews. You can race against the clock or a computer-controlled character.

The cars are really heterogenous and range from a F1 to a 4x4. Some of them are slower, but can be handled more effectively on dirt or snow. Personnally, I liked the Audi Quattro as it was the most polyvalent car. Compared to TD3, you have a choice of a lot of more cars.

Tired of racing the same tracks? I guess you could eventually be; just build your own! This is a feature that is really cool: you can create totally wild tracks, which gives a lot of more value to the game. Many websites on the internet still feature some tracks that you can download and try. Before Doom came out, I didn't enjoy designing game levels as much as I did with Stunts.

Now let's evaluate the game considering it was released in 1990. First of all, it was fast and it was totally playable on a 286. Even if the 3D engine didn't feature the texture mapping and all the gizmos we're now used to, it gave a good representation of the environment. Unfortunately, you couldn't see far ahead. As for the sound, the FM effects were good enough. As a matter of fact, Stunts squeaked much better sound out of my AdLib than other racing games. Of course, the engine sound changed depending on your car.

The Bad
No head-to-head modem play. Stunt Driver by Spectrum Holobyte did have this option and it would have been really fun if it was in that game.

The Bottom Line
Distinctive software must have had it with the Test Drive series. Accolade went on its own and released Test Drive III the same year Stunts was released. While TD3 was technologically better, Stunts deserves a mention as a game which let you actually enjoy playing it all the time, no matter if you're good or bad. Win a race against a nasty opponent and you'll be glad; crash your car like hell and you'll also laugh your heart out.

No matter what, I consider Stunts as one of the best games I've ever played. It took quite some time for me to get bored of it. I guess the track builder helped a lot. Stunts is half a simulator, half an action game, so don't play it too seriously.