Sprint 8 is the third game in the Sprint series. Its most prominent new feature was the ability to play with eight simultaneous players.
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Played as part of Atari 50.
First one of these games that is actually kinda great?? I'm a little taken aback both by how the first game I really like here is, fucking, "Sprint 8" of all things, paired with the extremely mediocre 4/10 average here, but compared to everything else in this lineup so far, this feels, like, really good to control. Switching from high gear to low gear to round corners, trying to cut them as close as possible, and when failing, collision with the environment bringing you to a dead stop, it's an incredible sense of momentum especially for 1977.
Of course, this is using what I imagine are revamped controls (I don't have a steering wheel after all), but given that basically anyone logging this now is probably playing it through a collection like this it's not a huge deal. And also, of course I'm playing singleplayer, from other reviews it seems like the collision system with other opponents is kinda bad, but you can still play this as just a high-score style game and have a lot of fun.
Legitimately maybe the only racing game I have played so far that actually feels like real go-kart racing. And it looks like this. High fucking octane.
First one of these games that is actually kinda great?? I'm a little taken aback both by how the first game I really like here is, fucking, "Sprint 8" of all things, paired with the extremely mediocre 4/10 average here, but compared to everything else in this lineup so far, this feels, like, really good to control. Switching from high gear to low gear to round corners, trying to cut them as close as possible, and when failing, collision with the environment bringing you to a dead stop, it's an incredible sense of momentum especially for 1977.
Of course, this is using what I imagine are revamped controls (I don't have a steering wheel after all), but given that basically anyone logging this now is probably playing it through a collection like this it's not a huge deal. And also, of course I'm playing singleplayer, from other reviews it seems like the collision system with other opponents is kinda bad, but you can still play this as just a high-score style game and have a lot of fun.
Legitimately maybe the only racing game I have played so far that actually feels like real go-kart racing. And it looks like this. High fucking octane.
Cool that they managed to get eight players on a single machine back in the late 70s. Otherwise, it's primitive by today's standards.
Like others, I gave this a whirl as part of the Atari 50 collection. I played each track. What stood out, particularly in combination with playing Pong and Breakout just before, is how impressive the sense of momentum is given the limitations at work. Cars do kind of slip around the track and there are accompanying, well-timed tire squeals. It already feels like Super Off-Road, which is wild considering there's a 12-year distance and an entire industry built in the intervening time.
(Atari 50)
Pretty cool little early top down racer. It's easy to see the lineage from this to something like Super Off-Road. Simple but fun (and impressive for eight player gameplay in '77)
Pretty cool little early top down racer. It's easy to see the lineage from this to something like Super Off-Road. Simple but fun (and impressive for eight player gameplay in '77)
(Atari 50)
I don't like the controls for this, but being 8 player and having 4 tracks feels pretty impressive for the era.
I don't like the controls for this, but being 8 player and having 4 tracks feels pretty impressive for the era.
A racing game where you can play with 8 people? In 1977?! That's pretty fucking wild, but if only the controls weren't so jank. Then I would properly be able to enjoy it. Aside from that though, it is just an average racing game, where you go around the track over and over again. It's impressive for 1977, but nothing more.
Game #164
Game #164