The PROWLER Reviews:Atari Karts
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Game Title: Atari Karts
Publisher: Atari Corporation
Developer: Miracle Designs
Format: Cartridge
System: Atari Jaguar 64
# Players: One and Two Player Options
Review By: Larry Tipton
Atari Karts, a new racing game from the folks at Atari is, in a word, WILD!
The game features a weird cast of kart drivers, a crow, skeleton, sea
creature, bear, space alien, and several others forms of "life." Make no
mistake about it, this is a REAL arcade racing game. Each kart racer has its
own special strength and weakness -- What this really means is that each kart
has different handling characteristics.
There are a total of 10 worlds, each world having several different tracks.
There are dirt, asphalt, sand, cobblestone, snow and other types of tracks.
One really cool feature of this game is the ability to play the tracks flat
or with slight hills. The hill option makes a great game even better. Some
of the tracks are fast, others require precision control do to the constant
twists and turns.
Atari Karts includes four levels of play. Beginner, Warrior, Miracle and
Jaguar Aces. Initially, Beginner is the only level you have access too.
Each level has 3 circuits. A circuit is composed of 6 tracks. In order to
advance to the next level you must place first overall in each of the three
circuits in that level. The names of the circuits are Borregas, Carlton and
Tempest. You can race them in any order. Once you have successfully placed
first in each of the circuits you get to race on a track from an all new
world called the Miracle Race. This new world will be featured in the next
level. This is equivalent to and end boss. You race against one CPU
controlled player. If you beat the end boss character, that character is
added to the available kart personalities at your disposal. There are 4 boss
characters:
Haratari - Beginner Level
Pum King - Warrior Level
Fire Bug - Miracle Level
Miracle Man - Jaguar Aces Level
Each have progressively better racing specifications.
In order to advance you must earn race points. Only the top four seeds earn
points. If you place less than 4th, you must race again. You also lose a
car. You begin with 3.
This game is a great one player game. The two player option makes this a
must buy. Go head to head against a friend. But it's not just the two of
you. You have to compete against the rest of the Atari Kart racers. The
framerate is lightning fast in two player mode too!
Atari Kart's graphics are outstanding. There are at least 3 levels of
background scrolling. The frame rate is FAST. The tracks are detailed. Dirt
looks like dirt, asphalt looks like asphalt. The Karts scale in and out
nicely, they are also animated quite well.
The music is very good. It fits nicely with the game. The sound effects are
also good. It's too bad that you can't hear the engine sounds of the CPU
controlled cars.
The game control is outstanding. I highly recommend the Pro-Controller for
this game. The left/right buttons are used to make sharp turns. I played
the game with the regular controller too. It too is very responsive.
What's an arcade style race game these days without bonuses and hazards?
Well, Atari Karts has 'em!
Bonuses include:
Rabbit - Long speed burst
Speed Arrow - Slingshot burst of speed
Wheel - No friction
Steer - No skids
Heart - Extra car
Ramp - Jump over terrain that may slow you down
Hazards:
Turtle - Slow down
Red Arrows - Reverses you pad controls (I hate this one!)
Green - Reverses your opponent's controls (two player only)
There are other hazards like trees, snowmen, snowmobiles, barrels, oil
slicks, water, craters, ice, moguls, gongs, life guard towers, and other
obstacles scattered across the tracks.
The game starts off pretty easy, especially for a video racing game veteran
like me. The Warrior level is a bit more challenging. I'm currently
playing the Miracle level. This one is a lot tougher. The CPU Kart drivers
are more aggressive. There are also more obstacles. The autosave feature
built into the game is a nice touch. There are no passwords to remember.
OK, Game Rating on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest obtainable score:
Game Graphics 9
Control 9
Sound F/X 8
Music 8
Fun Factor 10
Replay Value 9
Overall Score 90
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PROWLER The Atari Console Disk Magazine February 27, 1996
Copyright (c) 1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 01