Power Drive Rally

[Atariboy]

Have wanted to make a comment about this for years and decided to after playing it again yesterday. What were they thinking with their water effects in this game? It instead gives the impression that you're on a floating island far up in the sky.

 

The effect is very reminiscent of one that Nintendo uses when crossing a bridge or two on top of Death Mountain, revealing Hyrule far below you in Link to the Past. Probably one reason why PDR's water fails so badly for me.

[Isgoed]

I always thought that the water effect in PDR is very cool.

What you see is the reflection of the sky, which looks great and realistic imo.

 

The only thing that doesn't seem right is that your car isn't reflected in the water.

[+LS650]

I agree - I thought the water effect looked good as well.

[Willard]

The water effect kind of stuck out to me too, always thought it looked more like a mirror. Never really considered it to be that big of an issue but I think they could have done better.

 

the sound and those skill tests annoyed me quite a bit though... enough to bump the game off my list of "must-have" jaguar games.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Willard

[kgenthe]

Funny you mention "mirror" because that is what I thought when I first saw it as well. I thought the transparency effects were far cooler than the water effects.

 

The skill tests aren't so bad, just don't hit a cone and you should be fine. Hitting a cone takes a HUGE amount of time off the clock.

 

The game is good, but a far cry from great.

[+Sauron]

One of the better (and most polished) Jaguar games, even with the insane difficulty.

[Lost Dragon]

Thread Bump as i stumbled across 'The Rev' Stuart Campbell's review of this for STF, back in the day...

 

'A slow moving, stop-start game involving nothing more exciting than a few laps of a series of featureless courses.....it's slow, it's shallow, it's dull' Scored 57%.

 

Now i'd previousily not seen any ST Format Jaguar reviews, just gone under impression likes of Edge, Gamesmaster, Ultimate Future Games etc had 'turned' on the Jaguar, so this was a bit of an eye opner and adds another angle to overall view of UK Press and the Jaguar.

 

Only other review i saw was Skyhammer which pulled in a respectable 85%.

[Willard]

my other comment on this thread seems to have been made a lot longer ago than it really was

 

 

Thread Bump as i stumbled across 'The Rev' Stuart Campbell's review of this for STF, back in the day...

 

'A slow moving, stop-start game involving nothing more exciting than a few laps of a series of featureless courses.....it's slow, it's shallow, it's dull' Scored 57%.

 

Now i'd previousily not seen any ST Format Jaguar reviews, just gone under impression likes of Edge, Gamesmaster, Ultimate Future Games etc had 'turned' on the Jaguar, so this was a bit of an eye opner and adds another angle to overall view of UK Press and the Jaguar.

 

Only other review i saw was Skyhammer which pulled in a respectable 85%.

 

I would agree with their review. I sold my copy awhile back and have occasionally thought about buying it back, then keep remembering it really isn't all that great. I guess wanting to make a good library out of the Jaguar has me giving Jaguar games a little more leeway sometimes (especially when they kind of nice looking and polished like PDR), but I try to not to let myself do that

 

85% is kind of high for skyhammer! especially when it was released unless they got a preview copy. It seems reviewers cut the last batch of telegames / songbird releases a ton of slack (probably knowing the review makes no difference and it was as much coverage as review for the last few Jaguar fans). I always thought of it as a game with a lot of potential that was on the right path (which is rare for Jaguar games), but due to the unfinished state it is really only for Jaguar fans who can overlook the crippling glitches and slowdown.

[+save2600]

Agree with the floating island sentiment. What really kills the game for me besides its stiff gameplay though, is the large oversized car and zoomed in perspective. Would like to see more of the track as you drive. Have since sold my copy and downgraded it as a "must have" since it really pretty much is just another mediocre racer. Besides, can always play it on the Amiga, for which the style of the game seems better suited, but the steering mechanics of that version make it damn near unplayable.

[Lost Dragon]

@Willard:UK Press and reviews (let alone news) has often been a bloody nightmare, likes of Raze just assuming an ST version of an Amiga game would be the same, but with usual comprimised sound and graphics, when in reality coding had'nt even started on an ST version, makes me wonder with STF.Already enquired about a certain quote made in there by someone for ST Gamer Vol 2 this morning, answer was an eye opener :-).I'd have to assume they had their hands on a preview version and having seen the state of the Jaguar market, thought this is pretty much the only chance to do a review, it'll fill a page or 2, job done.

 

Simple fact it was something new on the Atari range to 'review' was probably enough to get it covered, landscape had been so barren for so long.

 

As for Power drive itself, not my sort of game (though i have interviewed 1 of it's coders :-) ) so interestingto hear everyones thoughts on it.

[Atlantis]

It seems not to be a "must have". I think Super burnout and World tour racing is just enough. Also, always hated car games where you pay to upgrade your car. Don't know why. But I'm no racing fan. If you are, get it.

[Austin]

PDR is a decent game but it doesn't really do anything for me. I spent an hour playing it last week and nothing was really grabbing me. Visually it's OK, musically it's.. eh, not that great. Gameplay-wise it's not bad, but like others have mentioned the zoomed-in view makes it tough to learn the track the first few times playing it. I am also not a fan of having to make it to the finish line within a time limit. It seems the later courses are designed to where you have to race them almost perfectly to get to the finish. I'd rather have had it be a traditional racing game with lots of opponents and the goal being to get in the top three or something like that.

[+save2600]

Needed to have more excitement to it, in the way that Micro Machines has. Also, Micro Machines has a much better view going on. Smaller cars, yes. But at least you can get a better driving feel. Much better sense of speed too.

[Atariboy]

I always thought that the water effect in PDR is very cool.

What you see is the reflection of the sky, which looks great and realistic imo.

 

The only thing that doesn't seem right is that your car isn't reflected in the water.

 

I never thought about that, but it makes sense that that's what they were after.

 

I don't think it worked out too well though.

[masematte]

For me its a really cool Game , and the Jag-Version is the best ( the only one with Voice )

Its one of the top ten Jaguar games

[82-T/A]

Has anyone played the PC version of Power Drive Rally? PDR is one of my favorite games on the Jaguar, but there's a whole section of the game that's missing from the Jaguar version. In the PC version, you have an entire road test / free play version that allows you to go through obstacle courses, go around cones, stuff like that. It's kind of a shame that they didn't include that part. I can only assume it was a size constraint?

 

Maybe Songbird Productions can whip up a CD version with the added features?

[Lost Dragon]

Having 'spoken to' an Ex-Rage coder (who did'nt work on Jaguar, but was there at the time of Jag Power Drive Rally) for Classic Console Magazine, i can tell you impression is they thought it was 'A nice little system'.

 

Which in itself is ....nice, but 'Nice Little Systems' sadly don't get the top level support or resources do they? Dreamcast often described in similar fashion, so likes of Konami gave 'token' support whilst platforms like the PS2 had the flagship titles like MGS 2.

 

Having had replies back from so many (UK) Software bods now and having a greater understanding of who had dev.kits, how Atari treated UK developers and way they in turned viewed Atari's handling of the Jag, i'm honestly surprised we saw 1/2 the games we did.

[Pete5125]

Reminded me of super off road or rc pro am. Was a game that was polished, plays great, only draw back was it idnt look 64 bit. It has aged the well,iwould put it in the top 20 jag games. For many me

[ilaskey]

I liked it at the time http://laskey.co.uk/atari-jaguar-power-drive-rally-review/

[Lost Dragon]

I've some fresh information on the game, but sadly due to the nonsense that broke out of the fresh info on Quake and then Magic Carpet when i took time to share it on here by myself, i've passed it on (along with a lot of other misc Jaguar info) to Willard, who can make far, far better use of the 'Raw Material' than i can or indeed have by posting it on here.

So, it will be shared i'm sure, just needs time and a far better pair of hands than mine.

I'm not entering into any 'talks' on here into what it is exactly or in what light the Jaguar is viewed as that'll just start everything off yet again.

[+madman]

Needed to have more excitement to it, in the way that Micro Machines has. Also, Micro Machines has a much better view going on. Smaller cars, yes. But at least you can get a better driving feel. Much better sense of speed too.

I agree, the SNES Micro Machines is a classic IMO, I haven't played the NES version(s) since BITD, so I can't comment. Over the top 2D racers have aged well, plenty of great titles on multiple platforms from that era that are still fun today. However, revisiting some 2D racers with a behind the wheel viewpoint can be painful.

[AtariORdead]

 

I've some fresh information on the game, but sadly due to the nonsense that broke out of the fresh info on Quake and then Magic Carpet when i took time to share it on here by myself, i've passed it on (along with a lot of other misc Jaguar info) to Willard, who can make far, far better use of the 'Raw Material' than i can or indeed have by posting it on here.

So, it will be shared i'm sure, just needs time and a far better pair of hands than mine.

I'm not entering into any 'talks' on here into what it is exactly or in what light the Jaguar is viewed as that'll just start everything off yet again.

 

So, why bother posting?

 

Seems pointless creating a post just to say you have some information, just to say you won't share that information and that you won't respond to anyone asking what it is.

[Lost Dragon]

So, other than you kinda missing the entire line which you quoted from my post where i made it clear ALL the information i've found and continue to find regarding Lost Jaguar games has been passed onto Willard so he can archive it and present it in a far more user-friendly manner than my multi-post/thread approach, i guess you also have'nt seen the recent thread i created promoting RVG's interview with Fred Gill which had some very interesting Jaguar info and questions i had put to him on my behalf thanks to Greyfox.So information is being shared...

 

I've no bones about not responding to people 'calling me out' as was done in the Magic Carpet thread, it's a massive waste of time, cue Mike Diskett being made aware of the response his email info had and him joining here and adding the credibility some seemed to think my posts lacked.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Lost Dragon

[Lost Dragon]

As for the response to the email John Romero gave me..on here alone it seemed to trigger another round of tit for tat posts between 2 posters with a degree of history it seems and did make me wonder if this was going to happen each time a new personal viewpoint from someone in the industry was passed on, regarding the Jaguar, why bother posting it up here, if it was just going to trigger that kind of reaction.

 

 

Considering ST Gamer, Unseen64, GTW, Classic Console Magazine, 3DO Forum, Sega Forum, G.O.G etc always get the interviews/findings i dig up, i'm not exactly the type to with hold information am i?.

 

So, the info, contained in a mini-interview will appear, i cannot say when as i have zero idea myself when they plan to use it, at this stage.As a contributor, i was'nt even aware of the delays to Classic Console Mag, let alone which of the many interviews he's sat on i've supplied he plans to use next, let alone release dates for other articles/publications.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Lost Dragon

[Atariboy]

So, why bother posting?

 

Seems pointless creating a post just to say you have some information, just to say you won't share that information and that you won't respond to anyone asking what it is.

 

He always seems to do that, for some reason.