Format: Advance
Genre:
Developer: Infinite Dreams Inc.
Publisher: Jaleco

A surprising gem from Jaleco. This is a racing game that plays similar to a micro machines game combined with the off-road series. Another way to describe it would be like rock'n'roll racing. Top-Down, 4 cars, multiple laps with surprisingly good graphics on the levels themselves. There are mines and rockets in this game which is typical to this style of battle-racing game. The first thing you'll notice about this game is the music. True to the Jaleco style, the sound quality is A-Tier. The beats are rhythmic and the music quality holds for the entire game. Sadly there's no music menu to listen to the tracks. The action of this game is met only by it's quirky nature. Each "league" or "season" in the game is met by a sort of theme, whether it's caveman era or mafia era. The car choices you have for each season are dependent on the era but they're more or less all the same. One car handles good but is slow, one is balanced, and one goes fast but turns like a fat person aimed at a buffet line. There are a few modes in this game but Career mode is what you want to play if you want credits. There are 5 seasons in career mode with a number of tracks and reversed tracks in each season. Winning 1st gives +3 points, and placing 4th gives 0 points. By having the most points at the end of the season you get the trophy and advance. There's another reason to place first, money, cash, coinage, mulahh. The most prize money is given to first, but this game is fairly generous to second and third place as well. An interesting unique aspect to this game is it's betting system. Each race has a specific 'bet' condition where you can wager money in an effort to earn more cash. Stuff like "beat the best lap score" and "predict who is first and second" or "bet that racer ___ won't survive the next race". They each have their own odds and some payout better than others. Some bets are worth taking, some aren't. Luckily you can save-scum the hell out of the game which is great. Each season you lose all your money and get a new car so there's no reason to hold back on upgrades. Atypical to off-road you can upgrade your engine, tires, armor, buy rockets and mines, and repair your car's damage. What's interesting is that the rockets, mines, and damage values keep in between races. This is interesting because there are random-drops in this game on the tracks as well, 2 of them being a repair wrench(heals your car's damage) and rockets. This means the only thing you truly need to buy are mines and upgrades. Despite that, I wouldn't pass up splurging on repairs if you need them. The gameplay is a fast action based racer that doesn't disappoint. Besides the aforementioned drops, there are also money pickups and boost-power pickups. The booster power pickups allow you to use the boost ability which is shown by a small bar in the top left. Similar to F-Zero you have to get pickups to keep it charged and it hyper-boosts your speed temporarily. Great for short bursts to recover or fast escapes to get a lead. The levels themselves have very well designed tracks that often have cross-crossing paths or massive twists and turns. There are ice levels in this game, which as you can imagine, are skid hell. The one negative this game truly has is the final boss. If you fail the final boss, it ninja gaiden's you. Have to start season 5 all over again. You only get 3 shots at it too, on a track you've never seen before.

All in All, This great game deserves a solid 9.5 score for it's fun gameplay. The final boss is a turd.