Test Drive (video game)
From Free net encyclopedia
Test Drive is the name of one of the longest running and most popular racing game franchises ever. Originally published by Accolade, which was bought by Infogrames, the first title saw the light of day in 1987 and has since been followed by a constant stream of sequels. The Test Drive games are now published by Atari.
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Overview
In Test Drive, the player typically gets into some hot wheels and must race to the finish line while avoiding traffic and the police.
The games
Test Drive
Test Drive (1987)
Image:ST Test Drive.png Test Drive was a car game released in 1987 by Accolade, it is the original that created the sub-genre of racing hot cars while outrunning the police, a concept successfully copied by newer franchises such as Need for Speed. In fact, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit features an ode to Test Drive: one of the tracks consists of roads along the side of a mountain. Test Drive was released in 1987 for DOS, the Atari ST and Commodore 64. The game was the first real racing game for DOS. In 1988 it was released for the Apple II and Amiga.
In this first version of the game, the player is given the choice of a variety of different sports cars such as Ferrari Testarossa, Lotus Turbo Esprit, Porsche 911 Turbo, Lamborghini Countach and Chevrolet Corvette. The player then must race up a narrow mountain highway, avoiding the oncoming traffic, police and the guardrail-free cliff. If the player successfully makes it to the top within the time limit, they are given the (virtual) car for free to keep. The game's graphic was considered as impressive for the standards of the day. Atari ST and Amiga versions of the first Test Drive have the most advanced graphics.
Test Drive II: The Duel
The sequel to Test Drive and probably the most popular in the franchise. This time around the player doesn't just run away from the police and try to reach the finish line as fast as possible, they must also beat an opponent to the finish line. While the first Test Drive got only one type of scenery - brown rocky cliff - this second Test Drive contains many different sceneries.
The cars featured was Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959. The Musclecars addon added 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray, 1968 Shelby GT500 Cobra, 1967 Pontiac GTO, 1969 COPO 9560 ZL-1 Camaro and a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. The Supercars addon added 1988 Lotus Turbo Esprit, Ferrari Testarossa, Porsche 911 RUF, 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000S and a 1989 Corvette ZR1.
Due to its popularity, there were a host of add-on disks released for Test Drive II:
- Test Drive II: The Duel Add-on Scenery Disk: California Challenge
- Test Drive II: The Duel Add-on Scenery Disk: European Challenge
- Test Drive II: The Duel Add-on Car Disk: The Supercars
- Test Drive II: The Duel Add-on Car Disk: The Musclecars
- Test Drive II: The Duel: The Collection
Test Drive III: The Passion
The first game in the series to use 256-colour VGA graphics, TD3 is unique because it features large maps where the player can choose to drive off the road or take alternate routes. This game was only released for IBM PC. Conversions were not made. However, due to the game's difficulty, it can be considered to be rather fun, but quite hectic to play. The amount of graphical detail (hens crossing streets and lighthouses giving rotating light in the night) was considered as impressive when the game was released. TD3 also allowed the player to choose between multiple radio stations. This idea was later featured in such games as Grand Theft Auto III, 11 years later. However, the radio stations in TD3 were simply looping pieces of instrumental music, not near as realistic as GTA3.
TD3's timing is dependent upon the speed of the PC it is running on. The game runs too fast on anything faster than a 386 or perhaps a very low-end 486.
Only one add-on disk was released:
- Test Drive III: The Passion Add-on Disk #1: Road & Car
Test Drive 4
The re-launch of the franchise came seven years later with Test Drive 4. TD4 was the first Windows game in the series. Unlike TD3, TD4 returned to linear, closed tracks where the player was no longer free to drive off the road.
Test Drive 5
Hot on the heels of the success of Test Drive 4 came Test Drive 5. It was very similar to its predecessor but much more polished. It had a wider selection of cars and sold over 1 million units, it got low ratings though.
Test Drive 6
A speedy release to capitalize on the Test Drive name. Includes a few songs from popular bands. Many licensed cars are also featured in this game. Such of these are Dodge, Ford and many others. Tracks are featured from all over the world and are unlockable through tournaments. Of all the games in the series, this one received bad reviews from critics due to lack-luster graphics, overly-reused soundtrack that loop during gameplay, sluggish and choppy framerate, unresponsive controls and unrealistic gameplay, despite the fact that the game leans more towards being arcade than simulation.
Test Drive: Le Mans
This game focuses on the 24 Heures du Mans, the famous 24-hour race in the French city of Le Mans, which is arguably one of the world's most beloved sporting events. For over 70 years, daredevil car jockeys have congregated in Le Mans to find out who the real iron man of racing is. The game was considered the best in the series so far, with colorful and detailed graphics, smooth framerate, tight controls, good sound and audio, and enjoyable gameplay.
Test Drive (2002)
This release kicked off the Test Drive series' life on next-generation consoles. It differed from its predecessors in that featured a storyline.
Test Drive: Eve of Destruction
The latest installment, Eve of Destruction is remniscent of the old Destruction Derby games.
Test Drive Off-Road
A spin-off from the original franchise. Four installments have been released thus far:
- Test Drive Off-Road
- Test Drive Off-Road 2
- Test Drive Off-Road 3
- Test Drive Wide Open
Demolition Racer
Other spin-off from the Test Drive franchise. Based on the Test Drive 5 engine, it is a destruction race with fantasy named-cars and wild in-game musics. It is for PC and Sega Dreamcast also.
Test Drive Unlimited
Confirmed for Xbox 360 and Playstation 2, the new Test Drive will have more than 150 licensed cars, including classic and modern cars, along with motorcycles. The action will take place on the fully-modeled Hawaiian island Oahu. Atari have confirmed that the gameplay will will based around an MMO style; each server will have hundreds of players, free to create street races, buy cars from each other, or just roam at will around the island.