Power Drive
Platform: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: Europe
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Gamepad
Genre: Racing
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1994
Developer: U.S. Gold
Publisher: Rage Software
Players: 1 to 8
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"Before Sega Rally, there was Power Drive."

Rage Software are not immediately associated with first-rate interactive entertainment; in fact, most of their stuff I've played on various platforms was pretty bland and uninspired. But amidst all these mediocre games lies an early, 1994-vintage gem that is as bright as it is obscure: Power Drive. Driving is already a direly underrepresented genre on the SNES, but when one of the very few decent games on the system is this rare and at the same time this good, it needs and deserves all the attention it can get - albeit a good ten years after its release. In case you're not in the mood for reading, here's the potted version of the review below: this isometric-perspective racer has great, fully customisable controls, 6 real-life cars and an 8-player party mode. Good luck finding it!

No, really, if people knew about it, Power Drive would surely be fetching the same sums as Final Fight and Castlevania V. It took me a good few months to track it down after I learned that it was released for the SNES (I played it on the PC when it first came out) but when I finally did, I got it for pennies because no-one else was interested. As there is no info on the game whatsoever on the web, the gamers are simply unaware that they're missing on a great rally/rally cross hybrid with six real-life cars that look the part and control like a dream, especially the four-wheel drive ones. The game may in places lack the polish that separates a major release from a minor one, but there being so much tangible enthusiasm and passion behind this well-coded effort, the home-brew feel (particularly to the interface) makes the experience of the game that bit more authentic.

Once in the game, the graphics improve dramatically. Some may sneer at the car sprites, which, apart from the Mini and the Cinquecento, are not instantly identifiable with the vehicles they're supposed to represent, but with full sprite rotation and tilt, and screen scrolling that is smooth as silk in every direction, diagonals included, this is a minor gripe. Occasionally, there is a bit of flicker when the guide arrows and another sprite, either the opponent car or the headlights - each beam is animated separately, which gives a beautiful and realistic effect - overlap, but again, this never gets in the way of the gameplay and is therefore hardly something that could actually be held against the game. The backgrounds, i.e. the tracks and the scenery, take into account general landscape characteristics of each country and are executed with obvious taste and attention to detail, further contributing to the overall visual excellence of the game.

The sound department, too, fits the feel of the game. The music is pure early 90's, and its gritty samples and simple but catchy melodies are reminiscent of the Amiga tracker-scene. It's mixed in somewhat too loud during the race - I prefer to race without any music at all, but as the game only has global on/off switches, I leave it on - so that the already weak engine noise and other incidental sounds tend to get drowned in it. It's by no means a catastrophe, mind you; there isn't a manual transmission option anyway (eliminating the need to pay attention to the sound of the engine), so it really boils down to personal preference.

Another minor complaint is that each sub-menu is associated with a different tune, meaning that every time you need to change a setting, a new song will play and with most of them, you'll only ever hear ten seconds of it - a shame, really, as they're mostly excellent. A song chosen at random playing through without interruption would seem to me a better idea, but again, this is more of a remark than a salient complaint.

Power Drive's game mechanics are simple - though they do allow advanced driving manoeuvres - but with the stages being quite demanding and the guide arrows often imprecise, every bit of concentration (and some memorisation) is needed in order to progress and attain the coveted Power Drive World Champion title. Easy to pick up but difficult to master, the game can be fiendishly challenging, especially if you are racing against a computer-controlled opponent on a hazardous course but if you make that (near-)perfect run, you will emerge victorious.

AI is very advanced for a game of this age: not only is there no catch up, computer-controlled drivers also make mistakes, especially under pressure - a feature that's absent even from numerous current-generation racing games, including the so-called Real Driving Simulator. Damage that the cars take by colliding with the scenery and each other cannot be seen but it can certainly be felt as the performance degrades quite dramatically, especially after head-on crashes at high speed. Subsequent repairs can eat dangerously into your budget and may even prevent you from upgrading to a better class of cars - which, in turn, cost even more to maintain. Particularly in the final stages of the game, precision driving and judicious use of power-ups (speaking of which, a "toolbox" power-up would've been a really nice feature) are thus crucial to winning.

For me, one of the most important qualities in a game is that, while hard, it's clearly possible to beat; only this way can you be sure that by spending hours on honing a skill, you're not wasting time but rather inching towards perfection. Power Drive is a fair game most of the time with no glaring technical imperfections to get in the way or distract the player from the intense on-screen action. There is an annoying bug in the password code that charges you the initial stage entry fee twice, however, and while I'm OK with the .5-second penalty incurred by hitting traffic cones often found on tricky corners and in skill tests, the fact that you get repeatedly penalised for hitting the same cone means that the game is essentially over if one gets caught in front of the car, which is frustrating. Still, the pros by far outweigh the cons and the Power Drive development team can only be congratulated on a great game that deserved much more recognition than it got both from the press and the gaming public. 

I suggest you help make this wrong right by seeking out a copy of the game and giving it a go.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/review/R105053.html
