Acclaim REVOLT

Description: It sounds like a great idea: take the common childhood activity of playing with radio-controlled cars, and make a video game out of it. Yes, the oddly titled Re-Volt is an RC car racing simulation. Buying a video game rather than the real thing elimi.... Read More

Description: It sounds like a great idea: take the common childhood activity of playing with radio-controlled cars, and make a video game out of it. Yes, the oddly titled Re-Volt is an RC car racing simulation. Buying a video game rather than the real thing eliminates the hassles of worn-out batteries, broken antennas, and damaged furniture, and Re-Volt adds the excitement of racing cars around diverse locales such as empty toy stores, gardens, and the deck of a ship. To spice things up, the Re-Volt creators planted various power-ups around the tracks so the cars can have weapons, such as guided bottle rockets, water balloons, and oil slicks. Yes, it does sound like fun. So why isn't it? After the novelty wears off, it all comes down to gameplay. The creators have reproduced the physics of driving cheap RC cars very accurately. Too accurately, in fact. All of the things that are annoying about RC cars in real life are also annoying in this game: the lack of variable steering, the way your car stops dead when it just brushes against a wall, the wide turning radius, and the slow speeds all combine for a singularly frustrating experience. Most racing simulation games succeed when they reproduce the thrill of racing a real car. Unfortunately for Acclaim, reproducing the thrill of racing a 4-inch-high plastic toy running on AA batteries just isn't as much fun as it should be. --Eric Fredrickson Pros: Fun race track settings Indestructible cars Up to 4 players can play No batteries required! Cons: Mercilessly accurate physics Can't save after each race, only after each championship circuit (3-4 races) Built-in track editor is very limited and difficult to use Minimize