Developed by Graftgold and published by Virgin Mastertronic in 1990 Follow me on Twitter:
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Foreword: I don't think the game has an ending as I played well over 100 races and the game just loops. For brevity, I cut the video once I'd beaten all tracks in both directions and added the game over screen at the end. Super Off Road is another game I remember fondly from my Amiga years that I've long been meaning to check out. With it's great graphics, itsy-bitsy trucks and detailed dirt arenas, this always remained one of my favourite games to fire up on my A500 back in the day. The game is a conversion of Leland Corporation's arcade racer (of the same name, unsurprisingly). Graftgold were responsible for the Amiga version and it's probably one of the closest in terms of replicating the look and feel of the arcade version. The objective of the game is to compete in a series of races against three other drivers. Up to three cars can be controlled by human players (red, blue and yellow trucks), whilst the CPU always plays as the titular Ivan Stewart (silver truck). Any human driver that places lower on the podium than a CPU driver will need to use up a credit to continue - lose all credits and that player is eliminated from the race; this makes a single player game particularly difficult because you simply have to finish first if you want to continue the game. The game features 8 different tracks, each of which can be driven around both clockwise and anticlockwise for a total of 16 different races. The tournament is organised such that you'll continually cycle through each track before unlocking a new race in the rotation; once unlocked you'll have to race around all of the tracks again in the opposite direction before the next becomes available. In addition to winning each race, you should keep your eyes peeled for the bonus cash and nitro collectables that spawn periodically whilst racing. The value of the bonuses increase with each one that appears and it's sometimes possible to earn as much money through pick-ups as is it is through actual winnings. Between races, you'll have the opportunity to spend your earnings in the Ironman Speed Shop. You can upgrade various parts of your car, including new tyres for handling, improved engines and higher top speeds, as well as replenishing your stock of nitros. If your struggling for cash then you can use up one of your remaining credits for an extra $100,000, but this means you'll have one less chance of continuing should you lose a race - use with caution! Having spent some time with the game, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I find that there's something endlessly endearing about the tiny trucks as they bounce their way around the game's various dirt arenas; Graftgold have done a superb job in recreating the look and feel of the arcade machine and you can almost feel the grit between your teeth whilst playing. On the other hand, the game has some weird bugs and questionable mechanics that can become really frustrating. The CPU-controlled drivers can be extremely difficult opponents at times, rarely making mistakes and trying to catch them up (let alone overtake) proves to be a massive challenge. However, in later levels, they appear to suffer from a sporadic on-set of narcolepsy and fail to do anything at all, simply sitting on the starting line and refusing to move; ramming them has been known to wake them from their slumber, but I'd recommend leaving well alone and make the most of your good fortune when the opportunity presents itself! The title screen mentions something about earning a "Free Race" if you manage to beat all the cars, but I don't think this mechanic exists (or applies) here. The other issue I have is the way controls have a tendency to reverse or get swapped around when colliding with a wall. Normally, you push up on the joystick to accelerate and left/right to steer, but colliding with barriers sometimes causes left/right to accelerate instead. Ultimately, it's disappointing that the game ends up being quite so frustrating to play, especially when considering just how polished the rest of the game actually is. It's definitely one to check out, but I'd recommend having a stress ball on hand for when things start getting tough... #retrogaming
