Driving Miss Daisy crazy. Review

Driving Miss Daisy crazy.

I hate being late. Whenever I get a little behind schedule, the first thing I

do is drive faster. Of course, doing so puts me, others, and my precious car at

risk. What would happen if I had an accident? Am I safe, scooting along the freeway

in my little tin box at excessive speeds?

Well, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we have crash simulators

available to the general public for home use. The latest comes in the form of

Demolition Racer: No Exit for the Dreamcast. Frankly, I’m not as concerned

with crashing as I was before I ‘ran the simulator’ (or ‘played the game,’ whichever

you prefer.) There are no real repercussions other than dents in your car and

the act of crashing becomes rather exhilarating.

While the Playstation version turned out to be a horrible game, Demolition

Racer for the Dreamcast is just the opposite. I’m not exactly sure if it’s

the Dreamcast’s better graphics (I would hope that I’m not that shallow) or

the new game modes that make this version more fun. All I know is that Demolition

Racer: No Exit is a solid, entertaining game.

The premise is simple: drive really fast and crash into your opponents for

the maximum amount of points, which are tallied by the severity of the damage

you do to other cars. Also, the higher you finish in the rankings, the more

your ‘points multiplier’ will be. Just remember that reckless driving alone

won’t cut it, and fast driving alone also falls a little short of victory. Nope,

to win this race you need to drive recklessly fast!

As you climb the leader board and emerge victorious in the various leagues,

more tracks and cars are unlocked, as well as a variety of mini-games. It’s

not easy, though, since the competition gets pretty stiff. Initially, you’ll

pass rounds with a performance of third or better, but later in the game, only

first will do.

In addition, Demolition Racer: No Exit comes packed with a bunch of

mini-games. Two of the best are "DR Football," a silly little game

where you push a crate around a football field, and "Big Car Hunter,"

which surprisingly supports the DC light gun. This game puts you in the middle

of an arena with cars barreling in your direction at high speeds.Your goal?

Shoot ’em! It’s about the strangest mode I’ve ever seen in a racer, but it’s

actually pretty fun.

There are a bunch of other odd mini-games, like “Tossers,” where you use a

catapult to lob cars at one another. Plenty of gameplay variety, to say the

least.

Graphically,

DR: NE is up to par with most DC stuff out currently out on the market.

Though the textures are bland, the tracks look good and the game runs smoothly.

The damage modeling is done nicely, with car parts flying off left and right.

Fortunately, Infogrames revamped the control for the Dreamcast release. Cars

handle just fine – until you do so much damage to your car that it can barely

turn. Sliding around corners and into your opponents is a breeze. Thanks in

part to the design of the DC controller (the analog front trigger buttons are

perfect for gas and brake), the controls overall feel very fluid.

Although there are no pit stops, there are power-ups (and downs) scattered

across the tracks. You can grab a shield, a repair, and even add (or subtract)

points from your score. You’ve also gotta watch out for the TNT crates; these

things are everywhere, and usually in unavoidable spots. The brainiac who placed

them on the track must be related to the McVeigh family, because there’s enough

to take out half of Oklahoma City, not to mention total your little car. It’s

kind of frustrating having to constantly avoid these crates when your main objective

is to smash into other cars.

While the game offers good dose of initial fun, it gets old rather quickly.

Smashing into things gets redundant, and aside from unlocking new tracks and

cars, there isn’t much to do in terms of depth. Frankly, you won’t be in front

of this game for hours at a sitting.

Having played the disappointing PSX version, I went into this review with

reservations. However, Demolition Racer: No Exit turns out much better,

with sharp graphics, solid gameplay, and some of the most creative mini-games

to sprout from a driving game. If you like sheer pointless destruction and your

dad won’t give you his car keys, then DR: NE is the next best thing.