[{"TitleName":"The Duel: Test Drive II","Publisher":"Accolade Inc","Author":"Alan Jardine","YearOfRelease":"1989","ZxDbId":"0005203","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 73, Feb 1990","Price":"£1.7","ReleaseDate":"1990-01-25","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":52,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nFeatures Editor: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Mark Caswell\r\nEditorial Assistant: Viv Vickress\r\nPhotography: Michael Parkinson\r\nContributors: Nick Roberts\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProduction Supervisor: Matthew Uffindell\r\nReprographics: Robert Millichamp, Tim Morris, Rob (the Rev) Hamilton, Jenny Reddard\r\nDesign: David Western, Mark Kendrick, Melvin Fisher\r\nSystems Operator: Ian Chubb\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Neil Dyson\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executives: Caroline Blake, Christian Testa\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nGroup Promotions Executive: Richard Eddy\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\n[redacted].\r\n\r\nDesigned and typeset on Apple Macintosh II computers using Quark Express and Adobe Illustrator '88, output at MBI [redacted] with systems support from Digital Reprographics [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop the Viv Vickress a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. We regret that readers' postal enquiries cannot always be answered. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. Colour photographic material should be 35mm transparencies wherever possible. The views expressed in CRASH are not necessarily those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCopyright CRASH Ltd 1990 A Newsfield Publication. ISSN 0954-8661. Cover Design by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Accolade/Random Access\r\n£9.99 cass, £16.99 disk\r\n\r\nIt's cars, cars and more cars this winter - and some makes seem especially popular. A lot has been heard recently about the two cars in The Duel, as they also star in US Gold's Turbo Outrun, and here's some more: The Ferrari F-40 and Porsche 959 are the two fastest production cars in the world, though the 140 has a slightly higher top speed and a taster 040 mph, so there.\r\n\r\nOne or two players can participate in this race of a lifetime, though if a friend isn't readily available the computer takes over. Once you've chosen a car it's time to make up your mind on the difficulty level: this ranges from easy (automatic gearbox) to hard (which only Nicko 'boy racer' Roberts would try).\r\n\r\nIf in one player mode you can try to outrun the computes controlled car, or beat the clock. But whatever you do, drive like a loony, but watch it: some of the twists and bends in the road look as it they were designed by one. The other thing apart from the sheer drops you must beware are the cops. Some give chase and try to overtake (a ticket is the result of this), while others just seem to sit at the side of the road and expect you to stop. Highly likely! Complete a given stretch of road and you must pull up at the gas station whilst the computer informs you of the race statistics (your average speed, time, who won the lap etc). Then it's time to burn more rubber until the race is won - or lost!\r\n\r\nI quite enjoyed playing the original, so The Duel-Test Drive II on the Speccy was eagerly awaited. Was the wait worth it? Well, yes and no. Yes because graphically The Duel is rather good. No because the computer controlled driver is well nigh impossible to get past. It may be my lack of driving skills, but I continually crashed into him. Maybe I'm being miserable, but The Duel - Test Drive II can be summed up in the immortal words of a TV ad: it's good, but not that good.\r\n\r\nMARK 71%","ReviewerComments":["More car racing games (groan), but wait a minute, this is really quite good. It's sort of like Hard Drivin' without the hard bit The graphics are of course in shaded 3-D which works well for most of the time - it's just on things like tunnels you get a bit disorientated. One second you're happily driving down the road at 200mph and the next you're plunged into darkness hardly seeing the tunnel entrance. Perhaps that's what it's like to drive at 200mph, but I can't say I've ever gone that fast! The lack of colour variation in the view out of the car has been made up for in the dashboard underneath. Each level is a different monochrome. There are plenty of surprises in store on the roads including high cliffs to fall off, sharp bends to skid around and lunatic drivers coming down the wrong side of the road... wait a minute, it's supposed to be in America isn't it... AARRGGHH! Test Drive II is worth taking a look at, but you could soon get bored of driving up and down the same roads.\r\nNick Roberts\r\n79%"],"OverallSummary":"Fun to drive for a while, but fuel for long term playability may be lacking.","Page":"44","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Nick Roberts","Score":"79","ScoreSuffix":"%"},{"Name":"Mark Caswell","Score":"71","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Presentation","Score":"71%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"79%","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"60%","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"75%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictivity","Score":"71%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"76%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 48, Dec 1989","Price":"£2.2","ReleaseDate":"1989-11-16","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Catherine Peters\r\nDeputy Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nStaff Writer: David Wilson\r\nDesigner: Martin Sharrocks\r\nTechnical Consultant: Jonathan Davies\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Rich Pelley, Phil South\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Lynda Elliott\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Caroline Day\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Chris Skinner\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Baker\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nNewstrade Circulation Manager: Stephen Ward\r\nSubscription Manager: June Smith\r\nPublisher: Teresa Maughan\r\nGroup Publishing Director: Richard Howell\r\nGroup Creative Director: Tony Spalding\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Point Five [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinted By: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1989 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"Accolade\r\n£9.99 cass/£16.99 disk\r\nReviewer: Matt Bielby\r\n\r\nRacing games, eh? (As our Jack would start a review.) What'd we do without em? Well, we'd buy a lot fewer games this Christmas, that's for sure. Yup, from Chase HQ to Power Drift to Continental Circus, everyone's gone car bloomin' crazy!\r\n\r\nThere are some more serious driving simulations bouncing about too. The jury's still out on Hard Drivin', but here comes The Duel, Accolade's follow up to the mega-successful PC/16 bit driverama Test Drive. In fact, it's quite heart warming to see a respectable, simulation-based outfit like Accolade dipping its toes into the Speccy market this late in the day. So it's a real shame I can't bring myself to write anything very nice about the results. Because, to be honest, Test Drive II smacks a bit of old tosh.\r\n\r\nOh sure, the blurb promises something a bit special. Race head to head in the fastest production cars ever built! Wow! A choice between a Ferrari F40 and a Porsche 959! Road hazards like 'oncoming traffic, rocks, loose gravel, pot holes and oil slicks.' Hot diggerty-dog! Can't wait, right?\r\n\r\nBut oh dear, oh dear.\r\n\r\nWell, let's kick off with the graphics. They're just so lifeless! Take the courses. (No. please, take them!) in general they're some of the most flat and featureless routes I've ever seen, be they desert, cliff paths or grasslands, with the very minimum of roadside features (outside of the odd cactus). And the cars are no better. The dark blue dashboards are modelled on the cars in question but, in fact, both look far more like the plasticy job from a Nissan Sunny or something. And what are the roads populated with? Not trucks or Beetles or Corvettes or anything else vaguely interesting, but more blooming three box saloons! Even when you're racing the other supercar the graphic used is just that of another Nissan. In short, you'll have to use your imagination a bit here!\r\n\r\nThankfully, the control system is considerably better. You're given a wide range of skill options from easy to really hard, the first four of which use an automatic gearbox, with the more difficult ones on manual. Actually, there's not much point in playing it on auto at all (too little to do) but on manual things warm up a bit. In fact, they warm up a trifle too much - fail to change up in time and your engine explodes! Yikes! But - and it's a very big 'but' - even at the simplest level your motor is damn near uncontrollable. To even stay on the road (staying in lane is pretty impossible) takes a million tiny corrections. So it's totally unlike 'real life'.\r\n\r\nThese are, however, but petty crimes compared to the two main holes in the thing. For a start there is no real impression of speed - not even a little bit! Unless you've got your eyes pinned to the speedometer, it's near impossible to tell how fast you're meant to be going. The clock will climb from about 15 to 105 mph in seconds and suddenly you'll be going too fast to take a corner - though it sure doesn't 'feel' like it. Again, totally unlike the experience of driving a real car, where you only need to check out the speedo occasionally.\r\n\r\nAnd then there's the collision detection. It's hopeless. You'll crash into a cactus when it looks like it's, ooh, a good 20 feet away. Apparently the computer judges whether you'd hit it or not within the next frame of animation or something and freezes you there, which leaves the offending object sitting there smugly, miles from your bonnet. How frustrating.\r\n\r\nAnd that's it really. I keep going back to the game, thinking it can't be that bad. Maybe I've just been unfair. Maybe, once you get into it after you've got used to all the frustrating peculiarities and learned just how far from the other cars you need to be, it all comes to life and becomes playable. After all, the 16 bit Test Drive took a bit of getting used to. But I doubt it. If you're buying a racing game this Christmas there must be at least seven better ways to spend your cash.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Dull to look at and dull to play, with no real impression of speed, frustrating collision detection and a half-baked feel.","Page":"101","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Matt Bielby","Score":"52","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Even when you manage to do something right you get little reward for it. Here comes a petrol station. I've got to park between two lines painted across the road. Oops! I've gone too fast and overshot - the car immediately runs out of petrol and the game ends. If I stop correctly, wallop, the screen goes blank and I appear on the second course."},{"Text":"I've crashed but there's nothing near me! I nearly came over all indignant for a second, but then realised Test Drive II has an additional feature - the invisible car! Silly me. And I thought it must be because the collision detection is crap."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Life Expectancy","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Instant Appeal","Score":"50%","Text":""},{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"55%","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictiveness","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"52%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 59, Nov 1990","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1990-10-11","Editor":"Matt Bielby","TotalPages":100,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Sal Meddings\r\nProduction Editor: Andy Ide\r\nDesign Assistant: Andy Ounsted\r\nContributors: Robin Alway, Marcus Berkmann, Jonathan Davies, Cathy Fryett, Mike Gerrard, Kati Hamza, Duncan MacDonald, Jon North, Rich Pelley, David Wilson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertising Executive: Simon Moss\r\nPublisher: Greg Ingham\r\nAssistant Publisher: Jane Richardson\r\nManaging Director: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Director: Ian Seager\r\nProduction Coordinator: Melissa Parkinson\r\nSubscriptions: Computer Posting [redacted]\r\nMail Order: The Old Barn [redacted]\r\nPrinters: Riverside Press [redacted]\r\nDistributors: SM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nYour Sinclair is published by Future Publishing Ltd [redacted]\r\n\r\n©Future Publishing 1990. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written permission."},"MainText":"THE DUEL - TEST DRIVE II\r\nAccolade Inc\r\n\r\nAccolade seem quite keen on driving games, don't they? Which is a bit of a shame, as they're nearly always crap. At least, on the Spectrum they are. On things like the PC they're a lot better, and that's where Test Drive first cropped up. The Spectrum conversion is a cut-down version and, predictably, it's rubbish. The graphics are hopeless, for a start. They're all sorts of horrible colours, and there are only about two different things to see. And they give no impression of 'speed' at all (but a superb impression of 'slowness'). You're supposed to be driving either a Porsche or a Ferrari, you see, but the graphics make it seem more like a Number 29 bus. The idea is that you're meant to be racing against another chap, who's controlled by the computer, and at the same time being chased by a police car. Er, what else is crap about it? Oh yes, the collision detection, it's useless! if another car so much as appears on the screen you crash into it. In other words, it's chronic. And with so many others to see, let's waste no more time on it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"78","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jonathan Davies","Score":"48","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Drivin' along in my automobile (dum dee dum), sat right in front of my steering wheel."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDY 'STREETHAWK' OUNSTED\r\n\r\nFew people would have guessed that YS had its own resident driving expert. We certainly didn't until our Design Asst told us so.\r\n\r\n\"So, you've got a motorbike, have you, Andy?\"\r\n\"Yeah, I've got a bike. And call me 'Streethawk'. All my friends do.\"\r\n\"Right. So, Andy...\"\r\n\"Streethawk.\"\r\n\"Er, Streethawk, what sort is it exactly?\"\r\n\"It's a Yamaha or something, I think. It's well hard. It shifts.\"\r\n\"Does it really?\"\r\n\"Yeah. It'll burn off anything.\"\r\n\"Terrific. Could we have a look at it, do you think?\"\r\n\"Er, no. I didn't bring it in today.\"\r\n\"Oh? Why not?\"\r\n\"It, um, wouldn't start. I had to get the bus instead.\""},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-BEHIND ONES\r\n\r\nThese are the most common by 'miles' (yuk yuk), being those games where you see your car on the screen in front of you from a position behind and slightly above it, and with the road coming towards you in 3D. They all started in the arcades with stuff like Pole Position and moved onto the Speccy via Chequered Flag and later things like OutRun. And, of course, there was the classic Road Racer on the front of the May '87 YS. They're generally good fun, but can be a bit samey and tend to be just a case of pressing Left and Right at suitable moments. And an element of violence tends to creep in - you often get a gun or something mounted on your car to bag other vehicles with.\r\n\r\n(Roadblasters - um, looking at it from behind. And slightly above. (Simple really))"},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-ON-TOP ONES\r\n\r\nKicking off, these are the ones where you get a bird's-eye view of the course and see your car as a little blob hammering round the track (which may scroll if it doesn't all fit onto the screen at once). The basic idea takes its cue from a vintage coin-op called Super Sprint, and you can sometimes get anything up to 29 players on the screen at one time (giving them the edge where competitiveness is concerned). They do tend to lose out graphically though, as there isn't much scope for scrolling 3D roads etc.\r\n\r\n(Championship Sprint - yes, but is it ass much fun as a Scalextric set?)"},{"Text":"LOOKING-AT-IT-FROM-THE-SIDE ONES\r\n\r\nWe're heading into dicey territory here, as we could start wobbling on about scrolling shoot-'em-ups if we're not careful. They do generally scroll however, but they're a bit weird as you don't actually have to worry about steering. All you really have to do is get the speed right when going over ramps and maybe launch the odd missile now and again. Motorbikes, rather than cars, tend to feature prominently in this sort of game, which seems reasonable enough as they look a bit thin when viewed from the rear. One thing we've got to be careful of here is bicycles - they seem to crop up in these rather a lot and, as we already know, they don't count."},{"Text":"OH NO, IT'S EVERY SINGLE DRIVING GAME EVER\r\n\r\n3D Stock Car Championship - Silverbird\r\n4x4 Off-Road Racing - Epyx\r\nAmerican Turbo King - Mastertronic\r\nAPB - Tengen (Domark)\r\nBattlecars - Summit\r\nBeach Buggy Simulator - Silverbird\r\nBuggy Blast - Firebird\r\nBuggy Boy - Elite\r\nChampionship Sprint - Activision\r\nChase HQ - Ocean\r\nContinental Circus - Virgin\r\nCrazy Cars - Titus\r\nCrazy Cars II - Titus\r\nCycles, The - Accolade\r\nDeathchase - Micromega\r\nDuel - Test Drive II, The - Accolade\r\nDukes Of Hazard - Elite\r\nEddie Kidd Jump Challenge - Martech\r\nEnduro - Activision\r\nEnduro Racer - Activision\r\nFire And Forget - Titus\r\nFormula One Simulator - Mastertronic\r\nFull Throttle - Micromega\r\nFuture Bike Simulator - Hi-Tec\r\nJuggernaut - CRL\r\nGrand Prix Circuit - Accolade\r\nGrand Prix Master - Dinamic\r\nGrand Prix Simulator - CodeMasters\r\nHard Drivin' - Tengen (Domark)\r\nHot Rod - Activision\r\nInternational Speedway - Silverbird\r\nItalian Super Car-  CodeMasters\r\nIvan 'Ironman' Stewart - Virgin\r\nKnight Driver - Hewson\r\nKnight Rider - Ocean\r\nLast Duel - US Gold\r\nLED Storm - US Gold\r\nMaze Death - PSS\r\nMotorbike Madness - Mastertronic\r\nMotor Massacre - Gremlin\r\nNigel Mansell's Grand Prix - Martech\r\nOutRun - US Gold\r\nOverlander - Elite\r\nPass Your Driving Test - Audiogenic\r\nPole Position - Atarisoft\r\nPower Drift - Activision\r\nRally Cross Simulator - CodeMasters\r\nRally Driver - Alternative\r\nRally Simulator - Zeppelin\r\nRoad Blasters - US Gold\r\nRoad Racer - Ocean/YS\r\nScalextric - Virgin\r\nSpeed King II - Mastertronic\r\nSpy Hunter - US Gold\r\nStreet Hawk - Ocean\r\nStunt Bike Simulator - Silverbird\r\nStunt Car Racer - Microstyle\r\nSuper Cycle - US Gold\r\nSuper Hang-On - Electric Dreams\r\nSuper Scramble Simulator - Gremlin\r\nSuper Stock Car - Mastertronic\r\nTaxi! - Digital Integration\r\nTechno Cop - Gremlin\r\nTranz Am - Ultimate\r\nTT Racer - Digital Integration\r\nTurbo Bike - Alternative\r\nTurbo OutRun - US Gold\r\nTwin Turbo V8 - CodeMasters\r\nWEC Le Mans - Ocean\r\nWheelie - Microsphere"},{"Text":"OTHERS\r\n\r\nWith a theme as wide ranging as 'driving' we're bound to come across one or two miscreants that don't really fit into any of the previous categories (the scamps). Well, I have anyway. First of all there are ones like Hard Drivin' and Stunt Car Racer where you get a 3D view out of the window. Then there are the vertically-scrolling ones such as LED Storm which are really a cross between looking-at-it-from-behind ones and looking-at-it-from-the-top ones. And there are boring 'management' ones like Grand Prix. Best forgotten, those.\r\n\r\n(Erm... an 'other'.)"},{"Text":"TEN SIGNS THAT HE'S A CRAP DRIVER\r\n\r\n1. He drives round with his foglamps on all the time.\r\n\r\n2. He wheelspins every time he pulls away.\r\n\r\n3. He drives 3mm from the car in front, and as far to the right as possible ready to overtake.\r\n\r\n4. He's always first off at the lights.\r\n\r\n5. He's got an Escort 1600 Sport with all the usual accessories.\r\n\r\n6. He always parks on double-yellow lines.\r\n\r\n7. His car's heavily battle-damaged.\r\n\r\n8. He makes frequent use of his three-tone horn.\r\n\r\n9. He keeps revving up the engine at traffic lights for no apparent reason.\r\n\r\n10. One of his brake lights doesn't work."},{"Text":"TEN SIGNS THAT SHE'S A CRAP DRIVER\r\n\r\n1. She's driving a Mini.\r\n\r\n2. She's got a Garfield stuck to her back window.\r\n\r\n3. Simon Bates is blaring out and the Our Tune 'theme music' has just started up.\r\n\r\n4. There's another girl with exactly the same style haircut sitting next to her in the passenger seat.\r\n\r\n5. She's driving a Porsche."},{"Text":"THE FIRST EVER DRIVING GAME\r\n\r\nDespite a sore knee and a terrible fear of the dark, I crouched down in the murkiest corner of the YS shed to browse through our collection of cardboard-boxed archives. And did I come up with anything? Well, not really. I did find out that the Van Houten Chocolate in the YS drinks machine is actually the remains of a consignment of rations from during the war (no-one wanted to drink it then either) and I also came across some rather compromising photos of Andy when he was four years old, but nothing really very interesting in the driving games department. I was hoping to turn up some really ropey-looking Basic game from about 1982, but the best I could come up with was Chequered Flag, a Sinclair game that came out a year later. It's quite good actually - a bit like Polo Position without any other cars to race against.\r\n\r\nWe'll give it a thorough going-over later, but in the meantime perhaps you'd like to think back and see if you can come up with anything better if you find anything older than Chequered Flag, do write in and tell us as we'd be jolly interested to know."},{"Text":"TOP FIVE GEARS\r\n\r\n1. Third\r\n2. First\r\n3. Fourth\r\n4. Second\r\n5. Fifth (where available)"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Drive","Score":"38%","Text":""},{"Header":"Visibility","Score":"40%","Text":""},{"Header":"Road Holding","Score":"52%","Text":""},{"Header":"FOATLF","Score":"48%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"48%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]