Developed by Magnetic Fields and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1991. Follow me on Twitter: / al82_retro Add me on Google+: Following the success of Lotus Turbo Challenge and the original Super Cars, Magnetic Fields (Shaun Southern & Andrew Morris), developed and released this follow-up to the their original top-down racing game in 1991. Conceptually, very little has changed between this and the original game. The game is divided into three increasingly difficult leagues, each of which consists of seven races, giving a total of twenty-one unique tracks. Of course, this wouldn't be Super Cars if you weren't allowed in engage in plenty of down-right unsportsmanlike behaviour. Each car in the competition is bristling with weaponry, including missiles, land-mines and armour-plating. From the moment that the klaxon sounds the start of the race, there will be plenty of high-explosive ordnance let loose that will test your driving reflexes to the limit. Being hit by missiles, explosives (or crashing) will cause your car to explode, which will incur a time penalty whilst the game resets your car on the track. Each time your car is destroyed, the damage meter in the bottom right of the screen will decrease; if the bar runs out then your car is wrecked and the race is forfeit. Prize winnings must be used to repair any damage inflicted, although this can only be done after each race at the computerised trading screen. The trader allows you to repair damaged components and to purchase car upgrades, such as faster engines, armour plating and to restock your weapons. In my opinion, armour and engine upgrades should be purchased first, since these will help you stay alive and to improve your finishing position; missiles can be useful, but if you're car simply hasn't got enough grunt then you'll always end up at the bottom of the pile. Between each race, there is a chance that you will encounter a "communication screen" where you could be facing a large fine from the police, or could be the beneficiary in your deceased uncle's will. The player is asked a series of questions and must pick the correct answer to continue the conversation, either to maximise the amount of money on offer, or to minimise the severity of the fine, depending on the situation. Although these are one of the game's most iconic features and the responses to the questions can be genuinely amusing, there are many questions where the correct answer isn't obvious and you have to rely on guess-work. Perhaps one of the most important things that a racing game must get right is the controls and car handling. Unfortunately, the controls are the game's single biggest problem. The vehicle's turning circle is quite large and many of the tracks are narrow with many sharp bends, which means that you spend an much of the game thumping into crash barriers and walls with a resound "THUNK"! Tracks that incorporate jumps are particularly hellish, because you have to enter the jump at precisely the correct angle and speed to ensure you reach the other side; get it wrong and you'll plummet to the ground and explode, costing you precious seconds whilst you're position is reset. The annoying controls tarnish what is, in all other respects, an accomplished a fun top-down racing game. Another annoyance is the screen scroll, which moves at a slower speed than your car does. This means that, as your car travels further to the left or right, the amount of track visible to you decreases. If a car in front of you decides to drop a mine or fire missiles, there's simply no way of seeing them before they smack into your car. I don't mind being punished as a result of my own ineptitude, but dying as a result of game mechanics/technicalities is hugely frustrating. Visually, the game is above average, with some nice attention to detail in some of the animations. The sprites for the cars change then driving along slopes/inclines, showing different angles of the car and conveying a nice sense of perspective. A top-down racer is never going to look exceptionally pretty due to the angle from which the action is viewed. Once again, Barry Leitch created some brilliant music for the game. It's probably not quite as iconic as the Lotus 2 music, but Super Cars II still features some great tunes; the guitar-based "revving" sound at the start of the in-game music track sound great back then and sounds even better when played on modern sound equipment. Sound effects are decent, if not outstanding - the engine and tyre-squeal sound have been lifted straight from other Magnetic Fields games; while it makes sense to reuse assets, it does feel a little bit like a lazy copy and paste. Whilst I would still include Super Cars II in my list of iconic Amiga games, it has a few too many rough edges to be considered truly great. #retrogaming
