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There have been so
many racing games released on the 64 recently,
some bad, others good and a few, brilliant. Speed
King falls into
the latter category, I'm glad to say, and is among
the best racing games this year. The graphics
are great and the track perspective excellent,
making the game realistic and thrilling to play.
The sound too, is good with a strange, but very
effective, title screen tune and the roar of the
engine during the game adds to the atmosphere
already generated. As racing games go, this is
a superb and tough one, second only to Pitstop
II. If Speed
King had a two-player
game to go with its multitude of fabulous options,
then I would most definitely consider it to be
the race game out of those currently available.
Nevertheless this is one game that shouldn't be
overlooked at any cost.
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Welcome
to Game of the Week! Each week there will be a
new featured game on this page. The game may be good,
average or diabolically bad, it really doesn't matter!
Just look at the pics, read the text and enjoy the nostalgia!
:-) Game of the Week! is open to contributions so if you
would like to contribute
a game article for this page you're more than welcome
to! Every article we receive will be considered! |
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Speed
King
1985 Digital
Integration
Programmed
by Mervyn J. Estcourt
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Most
text of the present article comes from the review published
in the sixth issue of the British C64 magazine ZZAP!64
(October 1985). |
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SPEED
KING
Digital
Integration, £9.95 cass, £12.95, joystick or keys
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Speed King is a 3D race game, not difficult to
guess from it's title I suppose. What you might not
guess is that it's a motorbike racing game (yah
boo sucks, smarty-boots).
It
has its origins in the classic Spectrum racing game
Full Throttle (and can, in fact, be considered
as a conversion of that game by author Mervyn Estcourt,
who wrote Full Throttle for Micromega) and it
contains similar features, tracks, and racing scenario
with a few additional touches.
When
you load the game, you are presented with a wealth of
options; for a start, track selection: there are ten
tracks to race on, ranging from classic English ones
like Donnington, Silverstone and Brands
Hatch to the ones in more exotic locations like
Paul Richard. On choosing a track, you are given
a brilliant preview option. This allows you to view
the track which you'd like to try at high speed and
the computer zooms round it so you can take note of
corners, straights etc. If you still don't feel like
having a proper race then you can opt to practise. This
allows you to zoom round the track on your own to get
the 'feel' of the bike and get to know the track a little
better.
Once
you're happy with a track then you can set the difficulty
level from the three provided. It's advisable to start
on 'novice' -- that's hard enough! Select the number
of laps and you can begin.
The
bike itself is a pretty powerful one with six gears,
great acceleration, and it handles perfectly (as long
as you ride it properly)! Using the gears is dead easy
-- pull the joystick down to shift up a gear, or forward
when you want to shift down (when taking corners, for
example).
When
you start the race you'll find yourself at the back
of a pack of twenty bikes. It's your job to work your
way to the front and then stay there, no mean feat.
The other riders are not idiots and they try to take
the fastest way round the bends and cut you up of you
try and overtake. You can crash into them of course,
which sends you spinning from your bike. If you're too
slow to remount then you soon find the bikers whom you've
overtaken whizzing back past you. Most annoying!!
When
you're racing there is quite a lot of on-screen information
at the top. Your speed is shown, along with the gear
you're in and your current position in the race. The
lap times are also shown, along with the current record
time, so you can gauge how well you're doing.
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There are two racing games
in this month's reviews, both quite different from each
other. This one is more of the 'classic' view-from-behind
3D sort, which arguably Pole
Position
started. There are loads of really nice options,
the practice and
view ones being particularly good. Racing itself is
great, if not a little difficult, and the bike has a
wonderful 'feel' as you hoof it round the track at breakneck
speeds. The graphics are excellent and the way the track
scrolls about is very good. Sound is excellent too,
with a rather odd, but nice tune on the title screen.
There are many race games on the market, but this, with
its options and general play, has surely got to be one
of the better ones.
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Speed King
has several features that add realism; for a start the
actual speeds you can achieve. The bike's top is 250mph,
reaching it though, is another matter. Even on a long
straight it's highly difficult to get within 20mph of
the top speed, especially
when you know there's a sharp corner at the bottom of
it! When you start off, stop, or restart from
a crash, your
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rider
puts his leg
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down to stabilize the bike, a nice touch that
adds further to the realism. Full
Throttle
on the Spectrum didn't let you go off the track
or crash into other bikers (you just got slowed
down), so Speed
King
offers that extra element of thrill. In its graphic
presentation it doesn't let you down either. The
track view is like that on Pole
Position,
scrolling from left to right as you zoom from
one side of the track to another or go round a
sharp bend. The 3D is very realistic, as are the
riders when you approach them from behind and
try to overtake them. One for the collection without
doubt.
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Presentation
95%
Loads of excellent options.
Graphics
88%
Very effective 3D as you belt along.
Sound
85%
Weird tune, but realistic bike
sound.
Hookability
94%
The urge to win is tremendous (as
he crashes for the Nth time).
Lastability
89%
And
winning on all ten tracks will take a long time.
Value
For Money 87%
Superb motorbike racing game.
Overall
88%
Definitely in the top three all
time race games!
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Htmlized
by Dimitris
Kiminas (1 May 2003)
Other
"Games of the Week!"
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