Stunts / 4D Racing (A Diary of Videogames)

DRTnOOber

New Zealand476 Posts

June 08 2012 00:44 GMT

Stunts

Game: Stunts (also known as 4D Racing).
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1990
Stephen's Rating: 8/10

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Stunts is a 3D racing car game developed by Distinctive Software.

Basic Plot

As far as I remember there was no plot. The player could race in a pseudo campaign against the clock or against up to six NPC opponents (who had different strengths and weaknesses).

Gameplay

This game panned out in a very early 3D engine. The player's view was either at the dashboard of the car, or alternatively above the car looking down at it.

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Some jumps and the famous "loop".

There were multiple cars to choose from and you could customise their colour before a race. Additionally there were multiple computer opponents to take on and test your skills.

In keeping with the name "Stunts" the races were not standard, as there were loops, jumps, spirals, bridges, and other obstacles which the player had to avoid while racing.

The real selling point of the game though was the in-built track editor. If you wanted to you could build an entire track with loop after loop after loop, or a huge long straight followed by a giant jump and crash straight into the side of a building. I spent hours on the track editor making some of the most elaborate tracks in the history of mankind.

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The track editor.

Furthermore, there was a glitch in the game which gave me endless enjoyment. If you went around a loop and purposely came off the side of it so that you were back on the loop, you could go around in circles and build up speed. You could then launch yourself into the air at warp speed and fly long distances. When you hit the ground you would normally slow down a lot (not being on the track) but the game would glitch out and you could "glide" along the grass at hundreds of miles an hour.

One other cool feature was the ability to watch back any race as a replay. This was a lot of fun in combination with testing out your own tracks.

Positives

The track editor. A brilliant touch to the game. It would have only been a standard car racing game with a few obstacles without it.

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You could watch a replay of each race.

Negatives

Apart from creating your own tracks the actual normal "racing" part of the game wasn't very memorable.

Memorable Moments

Gliding along the grass at a million miles an hour. Creating elaborate maps with bridges which went over rivers, and jumps which would send you across vast distances.