Lights blur. The crowd whizzes past. Your helmet rattles against the roll bar and the competition switches into overdrive. Tears stream from your eyes and the race moves into extreme speed. Tears of sweat. The same stuff that's seeping off your palms and onto the steering wheel. Get a grip. You're sliding into a turn at 200 miles per hour and centrifugal force will only carry you so far.
This is velocity-driven, pedal-to-the-metal arcade racing.
Strapped into a personally chosen made-for-the-Autobahn racing machine, you'll scream to redefine fast in this winding 3D ride of pure fun.
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512 recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
In these modern days racing games basically must have incredible graphics, nice damage modeling, and a hefty amount of content. And while I admit I do like some of the new racing games such as GRID and Burnout, sometimes I just want to play an old fashioned arcade racer. The ones you were rushing to the checkpoint and get a time extension right before the clock hits "00".... full review Screamer delivers this arcade racer perfectly, and anyone who wants a quick pick up and play racer or a blast from the past in arcade racers, consider giving Screamer a shot.
Let's get one thing out of the way: If you look for realism, look somewhere else. And I don't mean just the graphics, but also any kind of physics. You won't find them here.... full review
Screamer was the PC's response to Ridge Racer and it manages to capture much of the charm early RR titles had.
The graphics:
The graphics were beautiful at the time and among the best you could get for PC. And the bright and lively style still works to a certain extend. The environments, while not overly detailed still provide a solid experience and the car models work beautifully. Neat little effects like the reflecting windows of your car or video sequences playing on screens beside the track provide a little liveliness that many other racers from that era lack. The downside is that this game cannot make use of any kind of 3D acceleration and in order to pull off the impressive amount of detail for the environments and cars, the viewing distance had to be limited. In other words: you get the dreaded pop-up effect quite often. Also, anything beyond 640x400 is totally out of the question.
However, these limitations are purely visual: The tracks have been designed in a way that doesn't punish you for the game's shortcomings.
If you have played this or similar games during that era and are able to look back with fond memories, then you will enjoy the graphics, otherwise the resolution and limited amount of detail might be a dealbreaker.
Sound
The game includes a very nice MIDI and CDAudio (enhanced versions of the MIDI sounds) soundtrack. It's really hard to describe, but sufficient to say that it has a bit of an 80s sound to it. Instead of trying to describe it, I'll just tell you to look for it on YouTube.
Besides that there's the usual arcade commentator and quite frankly, he can and will get on your nerves... but can you imagine an arcade racer without it?
The Gameplay
Race around a track. Do it as fast as possible. Simple, right? Well, no. Not in Screamer. In the absence of any kind of physics, you don't just have to steer to get around corners, you have to break and slide through them. Time your breaking perfectly and you'll slide through the corners beautifully. Time it a little bit wrong and you'll smash into the nearest wall. Likewise, crashing into one of your opponents will usually result in the one who's on the front racing away as if nothing had happened, while the one at the back comes almost to a complete stop. In other words: don't collide with them.
It all comes down to timing your moves perfectly and the game can be pretty unforgiving, however after the initial irritation, you'll come to love it. It simply captures the simple arcade style perfectly.
The Conclusion
is very, very difficult. Basically, if you like modern racing games like DIRT or Burnout, then this won't do you any good. However, if you grew grew up with Arcade machines like Ridge Racer or Cruisin* World you'll be reminded of all the good times you had playing them. My view is the later one and that's why I'll give it a 4/5.
A great arcade game and maybe the best Screamer
(by
zuhutay)
Back in the years when Screamer was released, its most serious rival was Need for Speed 1. When you launched the latter, you could tell by the intro and menu that it looked much more beautiful, an impression which confirmed in-game. It sounded better as well with fantastic engine sounds.... full review
Screamer seemed like a typical console game in the derogatory sense of the word. Its unsophisticated guitar soundtrack instantly set the tone. Screamer did not even have the rights to use the true names of the easily recognizable exotic cars it featured.
But as regards car handling and the driving experience in general, the difference was enormous and I found Screamer incredibly more fun to play. It is a highly addicting fast-paced arcade-oriented racer. To go on with the comparison, NFS1 felt like a good-looking and realistic yet rapidly boring simulator.
At the time, Screamer offered an excellent sensation of speed which made it both exciting and exhausting. What I reproach Screamer is the same as NFS4, too much powerslide to negotiate the turns.
Tracks are varied and will let you drive the cars to their limits. It is fun how many clichés you can see surrounding the tracks: jumbo jet, cableway... which is typical of arcade games.
The game is quite hard to finish, and I suggest using a cheat to unlock the awesome bonus car.
Gamerkought)
hansschmucker)
zuhutay)