MegaRace 1+2

Megarace was one of the reasons i kept my 3DO for such a long time, it was one of the few FMV games which actually was worth playing. The games are presented as a futuristic TV show(similar to 'The Running Man') in which the contestant (named 'The Enforcer') must battle on a variety of courses against speedgangs. In the 1st game there are also (pointless but humourous)prizes to be won and bonus tracks where you can win extra points (both games use an overall high score table). The 1st game requires you to destroy you opponents within a ceartain number of laps by either racing past them (using the turbo's on the course), ramming them or shooting them, although you only have a limited amount of gun energy depending which car you choose. The 2nd game uses championships and you must come 3rd or better to progress and win overall to pass to the next track. The second game also allows you buy upgrades such as mine layers, shields and better weopons and new cars when you have earned enough money, whereas the 1st is limited to your vehicle and any pickups you gain from the track. As well as enrgy powerup and turbo's there are bad pickup which are shown as a darker colour which can reduce you energy and damage your vehicle. The 1st game is a simple arcade racer with FMV backgrounds and sprites for the vehicles. The second is much improved visually and has 3d cars and i think 3d tracks. The backgrounds may still be FMV. not sure. The handling in the 1st is very simple but the 2nd is much more realistic especially when cornering, learn to slam round those corners correctly and it will really give you a real advantage Of course, without Lance Boyle's eccentric videos commentaries these games wouldn't be half as fun. Some will like him and some will hate him, i guess it depends on your sense of humour, i personally like him. His dim and deliberately dopey assistant in megarace 2 adds even more to the humourous cutscenes. Overall a fun set of games and a bargain at this price.

When Megarace was out, it looked astonishing and breathtaking, with its colourful prerendered 3D worlds and video clips fit into a VGA screen. Its graphics were ahead of its time. It's a game with an atmosphere, not hard at all, it's just plain fun. A nice way to brighten up an evening. I never liked the Lance Boyle character, but strangely enough, I suppose that without him, it wouldn't be Megarace. Megarace 2 is more of a real game, it's much harder, more cars, more weapons, ability to drive reverse, and full 3D vehicles. It's SVGA, too, and the worlds are much more detailed and realistic. I never had a chance to finish it, but maybe I should give it a second chance now.

Do you like racing? Do you like the 3DO? Do you like crusty, low-res FMV? Do you like people who sort of look like Colin Mochrie? Megarace. :3

Play Megarace 2 mainly for the atmosphere and the video scenes with Lance Boyle and eye candy girl. Racetracks look great, and really draw you in to the worlds and themes. A couple of things that will really crimp on your fun; 1) the AI racers are immune to track physics. They don't skid, or crash into the barriers; they're programmed to drive in a way where all they do is swerve left to right like a granny is behind the wheel with a brick on the gas pedal. So, to this end, you don't really a feel that each of the AI racers are their own personality, which leads to... 2) In fact, the race centres around you so much that it feels like the Truman Show; if you screw up, all but of the racers will screw up too; if you lead the pack, they'll all be on your tail and you'll only win by a hair's breadth. TLDR; fun, atmospheric, if not ocassionally frustrating gameplay.