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Power Drive Rally

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Power Drive Rally
Developer(s)Rage Software
Publisher(s)Time Warner Interactive
Programmer(s)Peter Johnson
Artist(s)Phillip Nixon
Composer(s)Gordon Hall
Platform(s)Atari Jaguar
Release
  • NA: October 9, 1995
  • EU: October 1995
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Power Drive Rally is a 1995 racing video game developed by Rage Software and published by Time Warner Interactive for the Atari Jaguar. It is a conversion of the 1994 racing game Power Drive, which was released on multiple platforms. Revolving around rallying, the game features six real vehicles and circuits based on eight locations around the world. The players participate in various racing events and earn money by qualifying or winning to continue the rally season and repair damage to the car.

Power Drive Rally was programmed by Peter Johnson, who wrote several titles for Ocean Software, being his first and only work on the Jaguar. Johnson and artist Phillip Nixon joined Rage and were offered the opportunity to port the SNES version of Power Drive to the Jaguar. Production started in February 1994, with Johnson and Nixon initially working from home before moving to Rage's Newcastle studio. The team took advantage of the Jaguar's hardware to produce detailed environments and a wider gameplay view.

Power Drive Rally garnered average reception from critics; praise was given to the graphics, variety of tracks, diverse weather conditions, and multiple vehicles, but others expressed mixed opinions regarding the controls and gameplay. Some reviewers also criticized the audio quality, short duration, and inability to play with two people simultaneously. Retrospective commentary for the title has been generally favorable.

Gameplay

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A red Fiat Cinquecento (player) racing against a blue Cinquecento (CPU) during a storm in England
See also: Power Drive (1994 video game) § Gameplay

Like Power Drive (1994), Power Drive Rally is a racing game played from a top-down perspective similar to Super Sprint and Micro Machines.[1][2][3][4][5] The player participates in a season of rallying on multiple tracks spread across eight locations around the world: England, Finland, Italy, Arizona, France, Sweden, Kenya and Corsica.[4][5][6][7] The player starts with $28,000 and chooses one of two vehicles: a Fiat Cinquecento or a Mini Cooper S.[7][8][9] Each track has different weather conditions that affect the handling and response of the vehicle during the race.[2][5][7][9]

There are various types of racing events in the season ranging from a single qualifying race, rallycross, special stages, and skill tests.[2][8] Rallycross events are races against a computer-controlled opponent.[6][7][9] Special stage events involves the player racing against the clock.[6][9] Skill tests require the player to test their driving skills on a series of obstacles and the timer is penalized if any traffic cones are knocked over.[2][4][8] During gameplay, the player's co-navigator announces incoming turns and hazards.[2][5][7] Damage to any component will impair handling and performance of the vehicle on the track.[6][9]

The player earns money by qualifying or winning to continue the season and repair damage to the car.[2][5][6][7] There are also items to collect placed at predetermined points on the tracks, including money, a stopwatch that freezes time for five seconds, and nitrous to give the player a speed boost.[9] As the game progresses, the player can purchase a higher class vehicle with the money saved, such as a Renault Clio, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Escort RS Cosworth or Toyota Celica GT-Four.[2][6][7][8] There are six vehicles in total, each divided into three groups.[6][9] Failing to qualify for the next racing event results in paying a re-entry fee to try again and the game is over after running out of funds, though the player can resume their progress via a save function.[2][9] In addition, the game also has a practice mode with four tracks and a multiplayer mode.[5][6][9]

Development

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Power Drive Rally for the Atari Jaguar is a conversion of the 1994 racing game Power Drive, which was released on multiple platforms including the SNES and PC.[2][10] The game was created by Rage Software, which also developed Power Drive.[8][11] It was programmed by Peter Johnson, who wrote several titles for Ocean Software such as the Amiga version of RoboCop (1989), being his first and only work on the Jaguar.[12][13][14] Artist Phillip Nixon, a former Tynesoft and Flair Software staff member, was responsible for the artwork and maps.[13][14][15] The music was composed by Gordon Hall, who later scored the soundtrack for Millennium Soldier: Expendable and worked as sound designer at Venom Games.[14][15][16] Johnson and Nixon joined Rage and were offered the opportunity to port the SNES version of Power Drive to the Jaguar.[13][14]

Production began in February 1994, with Johnson and Nixon initially working from home before moving to Rage's Newcastle studio.[13][14][17] Nixon created all of the landscapes, pre-rended vehicles, and user interface from scratch, while reusing and updating some of the original SNES artwork to take advantage of the Jaguar's color palette and produce detailed scenery.[12][13][18] The team also took advantage of the Jaguar's higher screen resolution capabilities to reduce objects for a wider gameplay view.[12][13] The Jaguar's Blitter processor is used to drive up to six graphics layers, as well as tracking collision and vehicle damage detection during gameplay.[12] The game runs up to 50 frames per second, as the plan from the start was for it to run smoothly.[12] Johnson praised the Jaguar's hardware for its processing power, but stated that he would not rely too much on the Blitter processor if he were to remake Power Drive Rally.[12] Nixon remembers it as one of his favorite games, but said that it would improve some of the environment assets he considered "rubbish" in retrospect.[13]

Release

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The game was first shown at the 1994 Summer Consumer Electronics Show under the name Rage Rally, planning for release in May 1995.[17][18][19][20] Early previews prior to launch touted multiplayer support with the JagLink peripheral.[21][22] The game made appearances at other tradeshows such as the 1995 Winter CES, the 1995 ECTS Spring event and E3 1995 under its final title, Power Drive Rally.[23][24][25] It was later scheduled for an August 1995 release date and shown during an event hosted by Atari Corporation dubbed "Fun 'n' Games Day".[1][26][27] The game was published by Time Warner Interactive in North America on October 9, 1995, followed by a European release the same month.[28][29]

Reception

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Power Drive Rally received average reception from critics.[a] GameFan's three reviewers praised the game for having some of the best graphical artwork on the Atari Jaguar. They also celebrated its variable weather and surface conditions, controls, and gameplay, but faulted the audio department.[45] GamePro's Lawrence Neves called it a bad Micro Machines rip-off. He found the game's tracks visually well defined, but criticized its controls and soundscapes.[46] Game Players' Patrick Baggatta highlighted the game's audiovisual presentation, numerous courses, varied weather conditions, and multiple vehicles, but felt the action was slow.[30] Next Generation found the skill test events to be fun and noted the polished graphics as well as the variety of tracks, weather conditions, and cars.[32]

VideoGames' Geoff Higgins criticized the co-driver for being annoying and found the skill testing tracks difficult. However, he said the game's smooth visuals and the car's ease of manipulation made it fun.[37] VideoGames named it "Best Jaguar/Jaguar CD Game" of 1995, over Cannon Fodder and Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods.[38] CD Consoles' David Msika found the game very fun, citing the diversity of tracks and weather conditions, but felt that its simple graphics did not take advantage of the Jaguar's capabilities. He also disapproved of the audio department and inability to play with two people simultaneously.[8] Joypad's Nini Nourdine praised the game's visuals, voiceovers of the co-driver, and gameplay, but saw its short duration as a shortcoming.[6]

Player One's Christophe Delpierre praised the game's visual quality and playability, but found the music forgettable and criticized the inability to play with other players simultaneously instead of in turns.[33] An editor for the German publication ST-Computer noted the game's attention to detail in the graphics and convincing driving characteristics of the vehicles, but criticized its poor audio quality.[7] GamesMaster's Les Ellis considered it a disappointing racing game for Jaguar and criticized the weary engine noise, unimaginative tracks and gameplay. He also felt that the visuals were not a major improvement over the Sega Mega Drive and SNES iterations.[31] Atari World's Iain Laskey highlighted the game's numerous tracks and realistic driving dynamics but noted its difficulty in later levels.[2]

Marc Abramson of the French ST Magazine lauded the game's colorful graphical presentation but lamented that the multiplayer mode consisted of taking turns.[35] Ultimate Future Games compared the game to Micro Machines and found it addictive but felt it was slow at times.[36] Video Games' Jan Schweinitz said its design and gameplay were outdated, while ST Format's Stuart Campbell found the game dull and shallow.[3][34] Atari Gaming Headquarters' Keita Iida wrote that "While Power Drive Rally is straightforward gameplay without the pizzaz that comes in Playstation or Saturn games, it's fun nonetheless and a must buy if all you own is a Jaguar".[4]

Retrospective coverage

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Retrospective commentary for Power Drive Rally has been favorable.[47][48][49][50][51] The Atari Times' Gregory D. George found the game to be fun but noted that the controls can occasionally seem backwards.[49] Brett Daly of Jaguar Front Page News (a part of the GameSpy network) considered it a substantial improvement over the Mega Drive version, praising its colorful and detailed graphics, sound department, and controls.[48] Author Andy Slaven called it one of the most entertaining games on the Jaguar.[50] Retro Gamer regarded it as one of the best top-down racers of its era, while PCMag said they enjoyed the game due to being well-designed.[47][51]

Notes

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  1. ^ Attributed to multiple references: Game Informer,[39] Fusion,[40] Atari Inside,[41] MAN!AC,[42] Fun Generation,[43] and ReVival.[44]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Department: Previews — Power Drive Rally". Videogame Advisor. Vol. 1, no. 3. Cyberactive Publications. July 1995. p. 35.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Laskey, Iain (January 1996). "Jaguar - Jagrag: Power Drive Rally". Atari World. No. 9. Neal O'Nions. pp. 20–21. (Transcription Archived 2016-04-03 at the Wayback Machine).
  3. ^ a b c Schweinitz, Jan (January 1996). "Reviews: Minis a go-go - Power Drive Rally". Video Games [de] (in German). No. 50. Magna Media. p. 46.
  4. ^ a b c d e Iida, Keita (2001). "AGH Jaguar Review: POWER DRIVE RALLY". Atari Gaming Headquarters. Archived from the original on 2001-03-03. Retrieved 2018-12-20.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Scholeri III, Joseph (1998). "Power Drive Rally - Overview". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nourdine, Nini (December 1995). "Test: Power Drive Rally". Joypad [fr] (in French). No. 48. Hachette Disney Presse. pp. 86–87.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Froehlich, R. (December 1995). "Software - Jaguar: Power Drive Rally". ST-Computer [de] (in German). No. 111. Heim-Verlag, Maxon Computer. p. 62. (Transcription by Computer-Magazin-Archiv. Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Msika, David (December 1995). "Critiques: Power Drive Rally — Un jeu pour les fous de glisse". CD Consoles (in French). No. 12. Pressimage. pp. 94–96. Archived from the original on 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Power Drive Rally (Game Manual) (North American ed.). Time Warner Interactive. 1995.
  10. ^ Lee, Onn (April 1995). "Software News: Ooo:..Jaguar Soft..:ooO". Games Amusement Pleasure. No. 4. Onn Lee. p. 11.
  11. ^ Bevan, Mike (January 31, 2013). "From the Archives: Special FX". Retro Gamer. No. 112. Imagine Publishing. pp. 36–41.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Bates, Darren (March 28, 1995). "Cuppa with the Dooz: Shift Into Power Drive (Interview with Power Drive's Rage Software)". Atari Explorer Online. Vol. 4, no. 4. Subspace Publishers. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2024-01-21. (Transcription by The Atari Jaguar Game by Game Podcast. Archived 2023-07-14 at the Wayback Machine).
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Wallett, Adrian (July 27, 2018). "Phil Nixon (Rage) – Interview". Arcade Attack. Archived from the original on 2018-07-27. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  14. ^ a b c d e Lightbody, Ian (April 12, 2011). "An interview with Peter Johnson". Codetapper's Amiga Site. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  15. ^ a b Rage Software (October 9, 1995). Power Drive Rally (Atari Jaguar). Time Warner Interactive. Level/area: Staff roll.
  16. ^ "Gordon Hall". mirsoft.info. October 7, 2002. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  17. ^ a b "CVG Preview (Work In Progress): Power Drive Rally". Computer and Video Games. No. 161. EMAP. April 1995. pp. 12–13.
  18. ^ a b "Games Watch: Rage Rally". Games World. No. 7. Paragon Publishing. January 1995. pp. 80–81.
  19. ^ Charchian, Paul (July 1, 1994). "SPECIAL SCES UPDATE for the Atari Jaguar!! - STR Show Report! (LIVE FROM CES)". Silicon Times Report. No. 1027. STR Electronic Publishing Inc. (Transcription by AtariArchives.org. Archived 2004-11-10 at the Wayback Machine).
  20. ^ Scamps, Olivier; David (July 1994). "Dossier CES - Jaguar: Living On The Edge". Player One [fr] (in French). No. 44. Média Système Édition [fr]. p. 56.
  21. ^ "News: En Voiture Simone!". Consoles + [fr] (in French). No. 42. EM-Images SA. April 1995. p. 60.
  22. ^ "Avant-Première: Power Drive Rallye". CD Consoles (in French). No. 8. Pressimage. June 1995. p. 95.
  23. ^ Halverson, Dave (March 1995). "WCES Special: Winter CES '95 - Atari; Jaguar Preview: Power Drive Rally — World rally racing comes to the Jaguar". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 3. DieHard Gamers Club. pp. 96–97, 109.
  24. ^ Martín, Fernando; del Carpio, José Luis (May 1995). "Reportaje: ECTS Spring 95". Superjuegos [es] (in Spanish). No. 37. Grupo Zeta. pp. 44–49.
  25. ^ "E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! - Jaguar". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 7. DieHard Gamers Club. July 1995. p. 35.
  26. ^ Tosado, Will; Zachlod, Aaron (July 1995). "The Jaguar Plan: Atari's Fun N' Games Media Day; Atari exploits it's low price point in new marketing plan". VideoGame Advisor. Vol. 1, no. 3. Cyberactive Publications. pp. 18–20.
  27. ^ "Atari Explodes With Fun N' Games". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 80. Larry Flynt Publications. September 1995. pp. 56–57.
  28. ^ "TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE'S 'POWER DRIVE RALLY(TM)' PERFORMS ON THE ATARI(R) JAGUAR(TM)". TheFreeLibrary.com. PR Newswire. October 9, 1995. Retrieved September 28, 2023. (Transcription by Silicon Times Report).
  29. ^ Abramson, Marc (December 1995). "Cahier Loisirs / Jaguar: enfin là". ST Magazine [fr] (in French). No. 100. Pressimage. pp. 51–54.
  30. ^ a b Baggatta, Patrick (October 1995). "Review: Power Drive Rally". Game Players. No. 76. Imagine Media. p. 66.
  31. ^ a b Ellis, Les (Christmas 1995). "Reviews: Power Drive Rally". GamesMaster. No. 37. Future Publishing. p. 53.
  32. ^ a b "Finals: Power Drive Rally". Next Generation. No. 10. Imagine Media. October 1995. p. 114.
  33. ^ a b Delpierre, Christophe (December 1995). "Tests: Power Drive Rally". Player One [fr] (in French). No. 59. Média Système Édition [fr]. p. 142.
  34. ^ a b Campbell, Stuart (April 1996). "Screenplay - Jaguar Game Review: Power Drive Rally". ST Format. No. 81. Future plc. p. 35. Archived from the original on 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  35. ^ a b Abramson, Marc (January 1996). "Cahier Loisirs / Jaguar: c'est Nöel!!!". ST Magazine [fr] (in French). No. 101. Pressimage. pp. 54–57.
  36. ^ a b "Ultimate review sector: Powerdrive Rally — In 64-bit shocker". Ultimate Future Games. No. 14. Future Publishing. January 1996. p. 81.
  37. ^ a b Higgins, Geoff (October 1995). "Power Reviews: Power Drive Rally - Straightfoward Gameplay Without All The Explosions And Gunplay". VideoGames. No. 81. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 85.
  38. ^ a b "Stellar Games: VideoGames Elects the Best Titles of 1995". VideoGames. No. 85. Larry Flynt Publications. February 1996. pp. 14–15.
  39. ^ McNamara, Andy; Petzoldt, Rick; Reiner, Andrew (September 1995). "Jaguar Reviews: Power Drive Rally". Game Informer. No. 29. Sunrise Publications. p. 30.
  40. ^ Hardin, John Wesley (October 1995). "Culture Shock: Hey! First Gear - Power Drive Rally plays with hot wheels". Fusion. No. 3. Decker Publications. p. 84.
  41. ^ Schmitz, M. (January 1996). "Software-Test (JAG): Powerdrive Rally". Atari Inside (in German). No. 8. falkemedia [de]. p. 65. (Transcription by Computer-Magazin-Archiv. Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine).
  42. ^ Gaksch, Martin (January 1996). "Spiele-Tests: Power Drive Rally". MAN!AC [de] (in German). No. 27. Cybermedia. p. 65. (Transcription Archived 2020-11-26 at the Wayback Machine).
  43. ^ Weidner, Martin; Girlich, Stephan (January–February 1996). "Spiele Tests: Power Drive Rally". Fun Generation (in German). No. 2. CyPress [de]. p. 99.
  44. ^ "Test: Power Drive Rally". ReVival (in French). No. 1. ABCD Dire. December 1997.
  45. ^ Halverson, Dave; Des Barres, Nicholas Dean; Rickards, Kelly (August 1995). "Viewpoint: Power Drive Rally; Jaguar's Domain: Power Drive Rally". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 8. DieHard Gamers Club. pp. 15, 58—59.
  46. ^ Neves, Lawrence (September 1995). "ProReview: Power Drive Rally". GamePro. No. 74. IDG. p. 66.
  47. ^ a b Hawken, Kieren (July 18, 2013). "Minority Report: Jaguar Special - Power Drive Rally". Retro Gamer. No. 118. Imagine Publishing. p. 44.
  48. ^ a b Daly, Brett (2001). "Jaguar Reviews: Power Drive Rally". Jaguar Front Page News. GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2002-06-15. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  49. ^ a b George, Gregory D. (December 2001). "Jaguar Reviews - Capsule Reviews: Guilty Pleasures Of Jagging — They look 16-bit, but they're still fun". 2001 Year End Issue. The Atari Times. pp. 8–24. Archived from the original on 2004-05-09. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  50. ^ a b Slaven, Andy; Barnes, Lucus (2002). "JAG - Atari Jaguar". Video Game Bible, 1985-2002. Vol. 1. Trafford Publishing. pp. 47–53. ISBN 9781553697312. Archived from the original on 2023-02-11. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  51. ^ a b Edwards, Benj (February 11, 2017). "7 Forgotten Atari Jaguar Classics". PCMag. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
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