 Atari Karts by Miracle Designs and Atari
Description: A go-kart free for all! In Atari Karts you’ll race around the track with some of the craziest creatures around. Watch out for the objects lying around the road. Some are bonuses that will help you get ahead, but those hazards can be nasty. They’ll cause you to slow down or mess with your driving controls. Try to outdistance your competition and finish fourth or better to move on to the next course. Kids of all ages will love this game!
Overview: This game was widely compared to the popular game Mario Kart for the SNES. Boo hoo...you can sit and cry about the fact that this game doesn’t have a 2-player battle mode. This is NOT Mario Kart, it’s an entirely different game. Atari Karts focuses more on the racing aspect, and throws in beefed-up graphics and sounds. When I first started playing Atari Karts, I was impressed with the graphics and music. The graphics are nothing short of awesome, unless you’re going to complain about the fact that this game isn’t a polygon-fest. Atari Karts is sprite based. The action is at a smooth 60 frames per second. It may not be the fastest game you’ve ever witnessed, but it’ll be close the smoothest. The tracks are sweet. The texturing technique on the ground is great. Pixellation is minimal. In the background, you’ll be treated to some stunning parallax. If I count right, there are up to 4 layers, but most tracks stay at 3. This creates a feeling unlike any other Jag racer...The background scrolls around, giving you the feeling that you’re actually turning..unlike some other games I’ve played where you turn, and the wallpaper backdrop doesn’t budge. The characters animate in a lot of directions, and keep a nice clarity when up-close. Of course they don’t blur out like the N64, but they stay clear with little pixellization. Another awesome part about the graphics in this cart are the hills. I am amazed at how cool these hills look. Take for instance Hover Strike (CD or Cart)...when you get lower or higher on the terrain, it’s in jumps...flat, diagonal, and then flat. This game has incremental raising and lowering of the landscape. There are no jerky transitions, just smooth looking hills. They aren’t quite as big as the ones you’ll see in Super Burnout, but they look very nice indeed. A cool part about the hills on this game is that you can catch air off of the beasts!... Musically, this game has some tunes that are like no other Jag game. It’s a totally new style...it’s like a soft, techno, piano or something. They’ve got nice beats and each one has at least one climax point, and it adds to the excitement of the game. One thing I was really impressed with on this one was the technical aspect of the tunes. Unlike the repetitive and easy-to-play sounding B2K tunes, these have had a lot of work go into them...I’ll just say it’s definitely not your average video game music. Sound effects are about average fair. Most stuff has been addressed, but there is a need for extra stuff. Like a crash from your kart as you hit the ground after catching air off of a jump, would be very nice. Or a few voice samples for the characters or something... The control is done well, not perfect, but it’s definitely ample. If you’ve got the ProController, you’ll be able to get the tight turns by using your index finger buttons, but you can easily get by without them. Turning and stuff is realistic. If you’re traveling at high speeds, and crank it hard, you’re going to slide...in Atari Kart’s case, you should momentarily release the acceleration. This will take some getting used to, but that’s how it goes. The gripe with the control is the stickyness up against wall and other obstructions. Sometimes you’ll get stuck, and it’s not funny, especially in a tight race. Overall, this game is great. Bring a friend over and challenge him to some split screen action, or just battle it out in the one player mode. It’s a good showcase game...no polygons or anything like that, but it’s got great smoothness and speed, and the tunes and fun-factor are definitely in there.
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