Extropia’s Retro-Gaming: Stunt-car Racer

EXTROPIA’S RETRO-GAMING

“STUNT CAR RACER”

Stunt Car Racer was programmed by Geoff Crammond and published by Microstyle and released in 1989. I can well remember the first time I gave it a try. The game had me hooked when the car hit a ramp and was launched realistically into the sky. Never before had I been given such a persuasive impression of doing stunts in a car.

What made this game so able to depict the sensation of leaping over jumps was its choice of graphics. The courses were made out of filled vector graphics and this enabled the track to recede away from the player’s viewpoint as the car hit a ramp or the crest of a steep hill and took off.

Of course this was a racing game but I would argue that your main rival is not your opponent (you only race against one other car). No, the real challenge lies in successfully driving around a series of increasingly complex tracks. It’s not simply a case of driving as fast as you can, because the jumps and gaps have to be approached at the right speed to ensure you do not end up causing damage to your car.

I expect that, to a player familiar with games like ‘Wipeout’, ‘Trackmania’ and ‘Need For Speed’, Stunt Car Racer would seem a bit basic. But if you can excuse a 1989 game for not having all the bells and whistles of a modern title, the core gaming mechanic of Geoff Crammond’s game remains solid enough to make this an enjoyable and challenging experience.

Thanks to Microstyle for the images.