Racing Gameplay A Real Smash Hit
Newcastle Herald
Monday September 7, 1998
BOYS and their toys.
My dad once told me you are never too old to play with cars, but he was a car freak and, well, I wasn't.
But Mindscape has created a solution to this problem.
The solution is called Circuit Breakers.
Remember the Matchbox cars we boys threw around sandpits as kids?
Well now you can throw those Stirling Moss's and Corvette's around a computerised Matchbox heaven.
And, like the little pieces of steel and plastic, none of the cars is better or faster than the other so it makes racing dead square.
To add a little bit of interest to races, developers have placed power-ups around the tracks that allow competitors to grab an advantage over other drivers.
Some of these power-ups are quite funny.
They can have your car size reduce by half or have it doubled.
When it is halved you can scoot through smaller quick cuts in the track and if you get your car doubled you can just drive over the other cars and crush them.
There are four different tracks when you start the World Series tournament, wich is the main one-player mode.
After every victory you have, a new track is opened up. There are eight in all.
Circuit Breakers' best feature, however, is the multi-player mode.
If you have a Multi-Tap, four players can join in and all hell breaks loose.
Even with just two it is hilarious fun.
Many of the course sections are elevated high above sea level and without protective barriers to stop you going over the edge.
Graphics are smart, nothing special, but it is the fun gameplay that is the winner here.
Lots of fun for a few mates, but you may become bored with it if you like playing alone.
© 1998 Newcastle Herald