(This is the 25th game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)
It's milestone time. Stunts is a 3D racing game developed by Distinctive Software and initially released on October 5th, 1990 for IBM PC compatibles. It's also the 25th game I've beaten for this challenge and the 1st racing game.
It's by the same devs as for The Duel: Test Drive II, which is a very similar game to Stunts, but the big difference is that Stunts focuses on, well, stunts during its courses. I had some fun during my short time with this game, and I can confidently say that for better or worse, Stunts is a game ahead of its time.
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STORYTELLING
No surprise that there is no actual story here. But there are 6 characters in total that you can choose as your opponents for a race. I gotta give the game credit here, they could have have phoned it in here but the devs actually did much more than necessary. Characters have clever names and strengths and weaknesses to go with it. For example, there is Joe Stallin, who is slow on straightaways. Next to that, there even is a little bio on each of them that often explains their weaknesses. With Stallin, there is speculation that he "rear-ended another car on a straightaway" and has therefore developed a restraint. Pretty neat stuff, and they all perform differently during races based on their strengths, weaknesses and the track you choose, not to mention the car you choose to give them. Ahead of its time.
GAMEPLAY
Before a race, you pick an opponent (one of the characters or the clock), your own car and the track. Then the race begins. You gotta beat your opponent (you can see the opponent's car as well) and you gotta try to survive. Because once you crash, it's game over.
You can use mouse, keyboard or a joystick for controls. I used my mouse, which was pretty simple to use. You click the right mouse button to accelerate and just move it to turn. The control of your vehicle seems pretty fair. Drive too fast and you'll lose control. Pretty straightforward. And yet, I've crashed more often than I can admit, and that's mainly due to how tracks are designed.
There are tons of stunt pieces on each track, and not only did I find myself flying out of a loop, but I often was driving too fast into a jump while I couldn't keep my car straight, so I'd fly off to the side.
It never really feels unfair, but it also shows its age at the end of the day. Turning feels stiff, the motion is not really smooth. This is to be expected, but it's hard to hide that one is spoiled by racing games of today, or even of the late 90s.
That's a complaint that will pretty much make or break this game for you. Do you need a fresher experience? Then look a few years ahead. Do you enjoy old school racing games? Then you should have already given this game a try. Because here comes the best part.
You can build your own tracks! Yes, seriously. Did I mention that this game is ahead of its time? You can change road surfaces, you can add road pieces like ramps and crossroads and you can add a bunch of stunt pieces to your hearts content. You can do some pretty wild stuff and I can only imagine how hilarious it must have been to build tracks for yourself or especially friend back in the day.
And finally, the game actually saves your replays! That's right, you can actually re-watch your performance. I don't know if this stuff is a first for racing video games or not, but it's definitely pretty advanced stuff either way.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Cars sound pretty good for a 1990s racing game I'd say, though I don't really have any comparison as of now. The sound's a bit weird on curves, but otherwise it doesn't sound too bad. There isn't much music here but what is there is... alright.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
I like the design of the cars and there is some detail to the scenery during races. The world is drawn with 3D polygon graphics and it translates speed pretty well.
ATMOSPHERE
Not necessarily the game's strength. I would have liked a bit more of an aggressive atmosphere for a game focusing on risky stunts. As it stands, this is a pretty basic racing game's atmosphere.
CONTENT
There is no career mode or online play, and almost no car customization. Naturally, there is only so much you can expect from a 1990 racing game, so none of this is a big deal. What you do have are about half a dozen pre-made tracks, an ability to make some of your own, and races that can be tweaked by choosing opponents with different abilities, not to mention all those test drives you can make to familiarize yourself with tracks, where you can take multiple routes and have a bunch of obstacles to overcome. It's a good racing game for the time.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
Really impressed with how the game managed to add variety to races by adding unique strengths/weaknesses to opponents. I know I mention it a lot but it really is impressive and it's funny to see opponents crash when the track is unfavorable to them.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
A replay system, opponents with strengths and weaknesses and a damn track builder are all in this game, which is pretty impressive.
REPLAYABILITY
Lots of replayability thanks to multiple different opponents, multiple tracks, multiple cars and the ability to create your own tracks.
PLAYABILITY
The game works well at all times.
OVERALL
The theme of this review was "ahead of its time", because the game had some really fun ideas, and plenty were executed well, but with more technical leeway, the features could have really been fleshed out. As it stands, this is a game that shows its age but is pretty fun anyway.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
Couldn't find anything.
It's milestone time. Stunts is a 3D racing game developed by Distinctive Software and initially released on October 5th, 1990 for IBM PC compatibles. It's also the 25th game I've beaten for this challenge and the 1st racing game.
It's by the same devs as for The Duel: Test Drive II, which is a very similar game to Stunts, but the big difference is that Stunts focuses on, well, stunts during its courses. I had some fun during my short time with this game, and I can confidently say that for better or worse, Stunts is a game ahead of its time.
____________
STORYTELLING
No surprise that there is no actual story here. But there are 6 characters in total that you can choose as your opponents for a race. I gotta give the game credit here, they could have have phoned it in here but the devs actually did much more than necessary. Characters have clever names and strengths and weaknesses to go with it. For example, there is Joe Stallin, who is slow on straightaways. Next to that, there even is a little bio on each of them that often explains their weaknesses. With Stallin, there is speculation that he "rear-ended another car on a straightaway" and has therefore developed a restraint. Pretty neat stuff, and they all perform differently during races based on their strengths, weaknesses and the track you choose, not to mention the car you choose to give them. Ahead of its time.
GAMEPLAY
Before a race, you pick an opponent (one of the characters or the clock), your own car and the track. Then the race begins. You gotta beat your opponent (you can see the opponent's car as well) and you gotta try to survive. Because once you crash, it's game over.
You can use mouse, keyboard or a joystick for controls. I used my mouse, which was pretty simple to use. You click the right mouse button to accelerate and just move it to turn. The control of your vehicle seems pretty fair. Drive too fast and you'll lose control. Pretty straightforward. And yet, I've crashed more often than I can admit, and that's mainly due to how tracks are designed.
There are tons of stunt pieces on each track, and not only did I find myself flying out of a loop, but I often was driving too fast into a jump while I couldn't keep my car straight, so I'd fly off to the side.
It never really feels unfair, but it also shows its age at the end of the day. Turning feels stiff, the motion is not really smooth. This is to be expected, but it's hard to hide that one is spoiled by racing games of today, or even of the late 90s.
That's a complaint that will pretty much make or break this game for you. Do you need a fresher experience? Then look a few years ahead. Do you enjoy old school racing games? Then you should have already given this game a try. Because here comes the best part.
You can build your own tracks! Yes, seriously. Did I mention that this game is ahead of its time? You can change road surfaces, you can add road pieces like ramps and crossroads and you can add a bunch of stunt pieces to your hearts content. You can do some pretty wild stuff and I can only imagine how hilarious it must have been to build tracks for yourself or especially friend back in the day.
And finally, the game actually saves your replays! That's right, you can actually re-watch your performance. I don't know if this stuff is a first for racing video games or not, but it's definitely pretty advanced stuff either way.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Cars sound pretty good for a 1990s racing game I'd say, though I don't really have any comparison as of now. The sound's a bit weird on curves, but otherwise it doesn't sound too bad. There isn't much music here but what is there is... alright.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
I like the design of the cars and there is some detail to the scenery during races. The world is drawn with 3D polygon graphics and it translates speed pretty well.
ATMOSPHERE
Not necessarily the game's strength. I would have liked a bit more of an aggressive atmosphere for a game focusing on risky stunts. As it stands, this is a pretty basic racing game's atmosphere.
CONTENT
There is no career mode or online play, and almost no car customization. Naturally, there is only so much you can expect from a 1990 racing game, so none of this is a big deal. What you do have are about half a dozen pre-made tracks, an ability to make some of your own, and races that can be tweaked by choosing opponents with different abilities, not to mention all those test drives you can make to familiarize yourself with tracks, where you can take multiple routes and have a bunch of obstacles to overcome. It's a good racing game for the time.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
Really impressed with how the game managed to add variety to races by adding unique strengths/weaknesses to opponents. I know I mention it a lot but it really is impressive and it's funny to see opponents crash when the track is unfavorable to them.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
A replay system, opponents with strengths and weaknesses and a damn track builder are all in this game, which is pretty impressive.
REPLAYABILITY
Lots of replayability thanks to multiple different opponents, multiple tracks, multiple cars and the ability to create your own tracks.
PLAYABILITY
The game works well at all times.
OVERALL
The theme of this review was "ahead of its time", because the game had some really fun ideas, and plenty were executed well, but with more technical leeway, the features could have really been fleshed out. As it stands, this is a game that shows its age but is pretty fun anyway.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
Couldn't find anything.