Hard Drivin' Zzap Review

Now we know why Domark never bothered releasing this in its own right: it's awful. The graphics are not only monochromatically Spectrumesque but far worse than the Spectrum versions! There's a near total lack of roadside scenery while, considering its simplicity, the road itself suffers from an incredibly slow, jerky update — it's almost like Freescape! The game plays just as badly as it looks with oversensitive steering, dodgy collision detection — the other cars have no sides! — and the general sluggishness making it unplayably tedious. Basically, this conversion just doesn't work at all, being totally devoid of the coin-op's driving realism. You'd have more fun pushing a Fiat Panda up a steep hill!

What happened to the subtle brown shades of the preview shots? But the Spectrumesque graphics are the least of the problem with C64 Hard Drivin', at least the Z80 version was playable. The C64 version moves incredibly slowly, but the worst problem is the sluggishness of the controls. As you go skidding off to the left of the road frantically pushing right eventually takes you back on the tarmac — and off to the other side. Needless to say, weaving across the road like Phil on a Friday night soon results in a fatal collision. Poor control also makes the loop-the-loop extremely difficult and completing a track virtually unimaginable.

It's no wonder Domark didn't release this on its own, but apparently a cartridge version is planned. Due to the memory accessing possibilities of cartridges this might mean faster 3-D but don't hold your breath.