Zzap


Continental Circus

Publisher: Mastertronic Plus
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #72

Continental Circus

Taito's racing coin-op impressed everyone with its stereoscopic 3D glasses, a feature obviously missing from the home versions. They do have all eight international tracks though, with you having to pass enough computer cars to reach the required qualifying rank. In addition, a series of checkpoints must each be reached within a time limit. The first collision with another car results in smoke emanating from the rear of your two-gear car. If the pits aren't visited pronto, it catches fire and eventually explodes - valuable time is spent waiting for a replacement.

The game received a fairly warm reception back in Issue 55 (74% C64, 73% Amiga) with Stu finding it "both attractive and fun to play". Phil was also hooked by the "pace and simplicity of the action" but found it a bit on the easy side. This is true especially of the Amiga version. And, despite a good speed effect on both versions, realism is lacking with no need to slow down at all for most corners. Nevertheless, the fast racing action is fun while it lasts and the lack of challenge isn't so off-putting at the new budget price.