Off Road Challenge
Reviewed by Ross
This game is quite a bit like Cruisin' USA with monster trucks, a few
powerups and less tracks. For those of you who want a cool, fake racing
game stick with Cruisin' World but this game is in the pits.
Graphics 40 out of 100
These graphics are some of the worst on Nintendo 64 (not the worst).
There's lots of pop-up sometimes slowdown and very cheesy effects.
Some of the effects like the dirt and trees are fairly cool but nothing to
brag about. In quite a few places there is quite low detail and hitting
into an airplane that suddenly had no sense of direction that completely
breaks into pieces is not what I would call very innovative. If you want a
game with great graphics this is definitely not your type of game.
Music and Sound 50 out of 100
Some of the sound effects are ok but for the most part they suck. The
engine noises can sometimes become fairly annoying and many other
sound effects aren't all that great. As for the voices, they downright
stink. The extra squeaky voice of the woman sounds like a talking barbie.
There are really no cool music tracks to help. My advice to you when playing
this game is to press the mute button.
Game Challenge 80 out of 100
I must admit this game can be quite hard unless you've really mastered
it. It's also fairly long especially without a memory pack. The A.I. really
doesn't do anything much to stop you from winning, it's just that they can
be pretty fast. For all of those out there who like fairly tough racing games
it might be worth a rental, but don't expect no San Francisco Rush.
Game Play-Fun 80 out of 100
Believe it or not after all I've said about the other stuff it can be still
quite fun for the first few times you play it, but because of lack of tracks
it becomes boring quickly. Multiplayer is kind of boring too, being able to
only race against one human opponent. I guess its worth a rental.
Rumble Pak 20 out of 100
This is more hindrance than fun. The rumble pack really messed me up in
this game. When I used a rumble pack, long after into another race it was
still rumbling. This happened more than once. You may want to try it at
the beginning but most likely you'll realize it can become quite annoying.
Frustration
This game can become quite frustrating in the one player mode for a novice.
But after a time you've mastered the game it may be more fun.
Replayability 25 out of 100
This game lacks replayability badly. With only 6 tracks and 3 secret ones
that look almost exactly the same it can really get boring quickly. There
are only 4 trucks each of which can be turned into a monster truck. There
are only three different kinds of power ups which can be collected during
the race. One little thing that helps is the ability to upgrade your vehicle
after accumulating a certain amount of money after placing a high enough
position or collecting some during the race. But after you beat this game
you may very rarely feel like playing it again.
Game Value 10 out of 100
This game is hardly worth actually buying but a rental for a weekend would
be quite fun.
Overall 60 out of 100
Many of you might be saying that I am totally against this game but trust
me and check out most other major websites or magazines and see for
yourself I'm not the only one. It's definitely not the best racing game on the
system but it isn't the worst either. If you want a cool racing game get Rush 2,
if it's a monster truck game you are looking for get another system.