Test Drive

The Good
Sure its old. Over 10 years old. And even if it doesnt live up to todays games, it was actually fun to play. GFX im not going to talk about because it was a long time ago. Not gonna talk about sound either, but playing the game was very fun. Swerving at the cliffs, avoiding the police, trying to get out of the of cars, and some times, just for fun, driving at normal speed was a very refreshing experience.

The Bad
GFX, Sound (come on, it was 15 years ago, give it a break)

The Bottom Line
It is a game that proves that crappy graphics and bad sound cant make it a good game.

My Rating (Solid 5 / 5 )

The Good
Test Drive was one of the first games to move the scope away from common sports/competition-themed arcade racing, introducing a street-driving simulation with a realistic background. The game features five sports cars, complete with accurate in-game dashboards and real-world specifications, presented in a nicely animated selection menu. While driving along the winding mountain road, the cars behave according to their specs, but realism doesn't end here: There is plenty of traffic on the road, requiring risky overtake maneuvers if you want to maintain decent speed. Police have set up radar traps and will chase after you if you don't care about speed limits. Evading police pursuit is one of the funniest aspects of the game.

The Bad
Unfortunately there is not much scenery to write home about. Each stage looks exactly the same, a rocky cliff on the right side of the road, and a deep chasm on the left. No houses, no trees, just a few traffic signs now and then. After a while you begin to wonder where all the traffic is supposed to come from, since this seems to be the most desolate road in the world! While the graphics and presentation are pretty and sound is adequate, the steering is somewhat difficult to control. The keyboard input routine doesn't seem to detect multiple keypresses at once and will crash the game if a keyboard language driver is loaded. Control via joystick is a bit better, but makes you drive like a drunk because the steering wheel is not self-centering.

The Bottom Line
Test Drive introduced a new style of racing game. Attention to detail and the possibility to drive five most famous cars of the era on a simulated public road promise a very interesting game, but the monotonous scenery makes you fall asleep at the wheel.

The Good
I was amazed when I started loading this game and heard it playing music while loading. This was nothing compared the game itself. Sure you couldn’t upgrade your car, but this was the 80’s. You could pick your favorite car and out run the police, or at least try to. This game set the racing sim benchmark for years to come.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
The first real racing sim.