First Look Amiga #1

International Truck Racing by Zeppelin Games (1992) - Amiga

I was actually looking at a different Amiga game when I happened to see this one - an overhead racer featuring trucks? I've seldom been one to pass up an overhead racer so I promptly sought this out to see if it was any good. Strangely, despite trailer-less trucks on the title screen (just like real life truck racing), the examples in the game are all towing sizeable trailers behind them. This unsurprisingly makes the racing a bit trickier as each vehicle is rather large. On top of that, your own 'rig' (though not any of the other five racers, it seems) has a damage-meter as well as finite fuel which means regular visits to the pits are required. You do get to choose which truck you want to use but there doesn't seem to be any difference between them performance-wise, so I guess it's just a case of picking your favourite colour (sadly there isn't a green one) and putting your foot (or indeed finger) down.

There are quite a few races too, set in various European countries, and the circuits aren't bad - nicely designed and some have the odd Super Sprint-style shortcut. Races go on for a bit too long though, which isn't helped by slow, sluggish vehicles in the race, and it's easy to pull out in front of the pack and stay there for the whole race which makes the going somewhat lonely. If you miss the pits and run out of fuel or run up your damage too much, however, your race is over. Despite this, you can still continue on to the next race so, unless I missed something, it shouldn't take too long to see the whole game and there isn't too much to return for. The graphics are basic and repetitive and there is no in-game music so it's not really an audio-visual treat either. It might've made for a passable budget game but it's rather dull and uninspiring for a full-price release. Not a bad idea, it's just executed a bit weirdly... 2/5

Gameplay Video: This was about the only video I could find that didn't have some bunghole blabbering away over the top of it. Sadly it must be his/her first time playing the game as, when they eventually start it (over two minutes in), they aren't doing very well. It's a pretty slow game but it's not this slow! Or it doesn't have to be, I guess I should say...