Turbo Esprit
Durell, 1986
Written by Chris Owen, HTML'd by Arnt Gulbrandsen.
Controls
Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor
Aim of the game
As a special agent armed with a specially-modified Lotus Turbo
Esprit, it's your job to smash an international ring of drug smugglers
about to make a huge delivery of drugs.
Game play
You have a choice of four cities of increasing complexity
in which to combat the smugglers. In each city, an armoured car is
supplying the drugs to the city centre and four delivery cars collect
the drugs from the armoured car as it tours the city. Your mission is
to stop the delivery cars, preferably after they've made their pick-ups
but before they escape to their safe-houses. Bonus points can be got if
you also stop the armoured car before it leaves the city.
The action is viewed in a behind-the-car perspective view which looks
rather odd with the dashboard in the foreground. The instruments on
the dashboard are fairly self-explanatory (speedometer, rev-counter,
fuel gauge and temperature gauge). Refuelling can be done simply by
pulling onto the pavement next to a petrol station. Although your car
is pretty tough, it can be destroyed by collisions with obstacles and
other cars, or by the smugglers' hit cars, which take pot shots at you.
The smugglers' cars are conveniently colour-coded. Hit cars are
magenta; delivery cars are blue; the armoured supply car is red.
Although you have a machine gun mounted in your car which you can use
against the smugglers, you get more points if you ram them into
submission. In any case, the armoured car is invulnerable to bullets.
You also have an electronic map which shows the position of your car
in relation to that of the smugglers' vehicles.
Comments
"A driving game with a fair bit of gameplay behind it".
Rating
88% (CRASH #28, May 1986)
Now
Another of those Spectrum classics. Still a fun game; running
down the pedestrians is one of the "alternative" sub-games...
Keys
Redefinable
Nettverksgruppa, 5/10-94, sinclair@nvg.ntnu.no