Demolition Racer

The Good
Although the graphics aren't great, the damage done to the cars looks great - your hood will pop up or fall off, your fenders and trunk will be smashed up, your engine can catch fire and cause a lot of smoke which makes it hard for you to see, your roof can cave in, and glass can shatter. You can see your car's damage both on your car itself and on a mini-car at the bottom of the screen. Next to the mini-car is a bar that shows your car's "hit points." As your car is damaged, it gets more difficult to control. You can, however, find boxes that repair your car, or that damage your car. All of these make for nice effects, even with less than great graphics.

There is a decent replay feature that allows you to watch yourself race around the track from multiple angles. This is nice to allow you to see that spectacular hit you made on someone from a different angle than when you did it while racing.

To top it all off, there is rain, snow, and fog that can impair your driving and cause some nice effects.

For replayability, the game is very good. The number of tracks, cars and racing styles give you a lot to choose from. Also, the tracks often have multiple ways to go which may end up being shortcuts, or may slow you down considerably.

The sound is really good and supports EAX sound cards. You can hear the tires of your car and other cars squealing around you and if you hood is popped up, you can hear it as it bounces up and down. The sounds of running into others is fairly realistic and well done. There is also some music that you can have playing which is decent, although I normally leave that off.

The Bad
The real downside to the game is that whatever car you choose to race with, everyone else uses the same car. The cars all have different colors, but their stats (acceleration, speed, handling and armor) will all be the same as yours. Although this can make for a race that's based completely on your driving ability (crashing into cars, and finishing the race quickly), it makes the game a bit less interesting.

As mentioned above, the graphics are also not all that exciting even though the effects are great.

The Bottom Line
If you like demolition derbies, this is the game for you! Race on a track, or in the arena and see how much damage you can do! And that suicide style where you try to be the first car destroyed is really unique. Definitely worth getting for the low price.