Micro Machines (MD, 1993)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-6.5 Control-8 Challenge-8*
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-9/7.5* Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
*SP
+
Very good multiplayer (2-player vs, make your opponents reach the back edge of the screen to gain points - gain enough points and you win; in single player it's a tournament of standard races against 3 CPU opponents where you have to come first or second to proceed)
Good variety in stages and vehicles ("four by four"/jeep?, boats, front spiked cars/"warriors", sports cars/turbo wheels/formula one, monster trucks, tanks which can shoot, choppers; decent variety of obstacles and gimmicks - glue and jelly slow you down, bubble walls/bumper walls, jumps over rivers via ramps, moguls/humps, oil spills, tunnels, upper paths (low obstacles you can get onto from certain angles or via ramps) and bridges, teleporter holes on the pool table)
Easy to get into and fairly addictive
Basic bonus races that can be accessed during challenge/career mode in SP (race against the clock in a mini monstertruck - some issues, see below)
The game automatically puts you on track if you go way off track (can still race backwards if you want)
Manually choose your char and your opponents (11 different chars, from best to worst starting with Spider - their skill level is represented by a word above their head)
Toy vehicles theme (you race on makeshift race tracks often created indoors, for example on a kitchen table)
Minor shortcuts here and there
Animated character portraits - Strider NES & Fray MSX
Hard and very hard mode can be unlocked via codes
+/-
There's also a 1 vs 1 single player mode - not as fun
No time trial or super league modes
Some vehicle types are repeated before you get to use the choppers and then again before you get to use the tanks
No rubberband AI?
NES ver.:
Rubber banding
Some vehicles are slower while others are faster (the boats start out faster, F1 cars are slower but still too fast, the spiked cars are slower, the monster truck/rufftrux is slower)
Takes longer to become challenging
-
No continues (3 lives though you can gain more by finishing bonus races - there is a code for infinite lives though)
Some trial & error (learning the courses, no course map and the speed+centered camera makes it hard to react to many hazards and curves, the spiked cars only explode when two of you collide with each other and certain objects at the same time? - there's no health bar or damage received from the spikes themselves it seems)
Sometimes uneven difficulty during challenge/career mode
No music during races and the menu tracks are fairly basic
No "no. of laps" option or difficulty options - there are codes for hard and very hard mode though
Controls take some getting used to (A is reverse as well as break - there is no break and it even seems better not to let go at times)
No destructible obstacles to shoot in the tank courses
Challenge mode is a bit too drawn out (takes 1h+ to complete) - no save feature
The chopper courses are somewhat bland
Lame ending (just a picture of your torso in a huge trophy which isn't even properly aligned to your sprite)
The solo monster truck races (bonus races for 1-ups) kinda suck (overly narrow paths and easy to get stuck on obstacles)
NES ver.:
The solo monster truck races suck more as it's easier to get stuck on the plants
No head to head mode in single player
Uglier portraits and character animations
No separate button for shooting as the tank
No cheat codes meaning no hard mode, no turbo mode, no "better handling" mode, no practice mode/level select, no exploding opponents mode
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-9/7.5* Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
*SP
+
Very good multiplayer (2-player vs, make your opponents reach the back edge of the screen to gain points - gain enough points and you win; in single player it's a tournament of standard races against 3 CPU opponents where you have to come first or second to proceed)
Good variety in stages and vehicles ("four by four"/jeep?, boats, front spiked cars/"warriors", sports cars/turbo wheels/formula one, monster trucks, tanks which can shoot, choppers; decent variety of obstacles and gimmicks - glue and jelly slow you down, bubble walls/bumper walls, jumps over rivers via ramps, moguls/humps, oil spills, tunnels, upper paths (low obstacles you can get onto from certain angles or via ramps) and bridges, teleporter holes on the pool table)
Easy to get into and fairly addictive
Basic bonus races that can be accessed during challenge/career mode in SP (race against the clock in a mini monstertruck - some issues, see below)
The game automatically puts you on track if you go way off track (can still race backwards if you want)
Manually choose your char and your opponents (11 different chars, from best to worst starting with Spider - their skill level is represented by a word above their head)
Toy vehicles theme (you race on makeshift race tracks often created indoors, for example on a kitchen table)
Minor shortcuts here and there
Animated character portraits - Strider NES & Fray MSX
Hard and very hard mode can be unlocked via codes
+/-
There's also a 1 vs 1 single player mode - not as fun
No time trial or super league modes
Some vehicle types are repeated before you get to use the choppers and then again before you get to use the tanks
No rubberband AI?
NES ver.:
Rubber banding
Some vehicles are slower while others are faster (the boats start out faster, F1 cars are slower but still too fast, the spiked cars are slower, the monster truck/rufftrux is slower)
Takes longer to become challenging
-
No continues (3 lives though you can gain more by finishing bonus races - there is a code for infinite lives though)
Some trial & error (learning the courses, no course map and the speed+centered camera makes it hard to react to many hazards and curves, the spiked cars only explode when two of you collide with each other and certain objects at the same time? - there's no health bar or damage received from the spikes themselves it seems)
Sometimes uneven difficulty during challenge/career mode
No music during races and the menu tracks are fairly basic
No "no. of laps" option or difficulty options - there are codes for hard and very hard mode though
Controls take some getting used to (A is reverse as well as break - there is no break and it even seems better not to let go at times)
No destructible obstacles to shoot in the tank courses
Challenge mode is a bit too drawn out (takes 1h+ to complete) - no save feature
The chopper courses are somewhat bland
Lame ending (just a picture of your torso in a huge trophy which isn't even properly aligned to your sprite)
The solo monster truck races (bonus races for 1-ups) kinda suck (overly narrow paths and easy to get stuck on obstacles)
NES ver.:
The solo monster truck races suck more as it's easier to get stuck on the plants
No head to head mode in single player
Uglier portraits and character animations
No separate button for shooting as the tank
No cheat codes meaning no hard mode, no turbo mode, no "better handling" mode, no practice mode/level select, no exploding opponents mode