Game of the Day 2/20/2016: Power Drive Rally

[celerystalker]

Atari Jaguar conversations usually either revolvebaround bashing the heck out of the whole thing or defending it behind a shield comprised of Tempest 2000, Wolfenstein, Doom, and AVP. Nothing against any of those, as they (especially Tempest) probably are the most appealing reasons to own a Jaguar outside of the homebrew scene people love. However, there are more truly good and/or interesting commercially released games to play, and Power Drive Rally is definitely one of them.

Power Drive Rally is a top-down racer in a style most people would equate with RC Pro Am, but it looks closer to something on Neo Geo like Neo Drift Out, Overtop, or Thrash Rally. It employs big, beautifully detailed sprites along with some really nice weather and lighting effects, and has a nice arcade aesthetic with blinking arrows and a voice over telling you what's coming up Sega Rally-style. It also has a very good pace and control, so you'll find yourself taking tight turns and drifting with relative ease while plowing through snow at night with your headlights showing the way.

There are also training stages you must pass, which challenge you to perform skills like reversing through areas, dodging cones, and hitting jumps in a tense time limit to go along with your regular rally races. Your car takes some wear, so you must make enough money to keep it in good repair and pay the entry fee for the next event, and you can eventuallt purchase a better car, which is the structure for the campaign mode.

Unfortunately, there is a dearth of other things to do in this game, as the two player mode is only alternating, which is a shame. Still, the csmpaign is a good one, and there is a battery save for your progress. It looks great and plays great, and it's in a style that doesn't really exist outside of outlying Micro Machine games and indie stuff like Rush Rush Rally Racing. I wouldn't buy a Jaguar just to play it, but if you already have one, it may just be the best racer on the system with that big Neo Geo-like feel. Also, it really looks tremendous in S-video. If you have a Jaguar, seriously, it benefits way more from S-video than any other old console I have ever seen.

Played this one? Avoiding Jaguar stuff right now because it makes you think of the Coleco Chameleon?

[Leo_A]

Super Burnout gives me a feeling that reminds me of a lot of Sega's Super Scaler racers and is the pinnacle of the genre on this system in my opinion (Not that there's much competition). But this one is a good one too and remains a part of my small Jaguar collection.

It's a sequel to a Genesis game called Power Drive, with similar graphics and gameplay. So there's at least one more out there.

[JeremiahJT]

One of my favorite Jaguar games. I restart this every two or three years. This is the best racing game on the system in my opinion. Super Burnout would probably win in a poll between the two, but I prefer Power Drive Rally. I believe this is the only Jaguar game with two different boxes.

[MachineGex]

One of the best games on the Jag. If you like top-down racers, then this is one game you should track down.

[Steve W]

I bought this one back in the day, and never really liked it. I think I was done with the top-down perspective racer by that point. I think the only top-down racer I ever really liked was Auto Racing on the Intellivision.

If I fire up my Jag it'll be for games like I-War, Missile Command 3D, Zero 5, or Hover Strike. Maybe Alien vs. Predator if I have enough time.