1st November 1988
Turbo Esprit
Mike Richardson (who later created the amazing Thanatos) brought us this unusual driving game in May 1986.
You are a secret agent equipped with a very fast and extremely sleek Lotus Turbo Esprit. You are not out for a relaxing Sunday afternoon drive however, nor are you competing in some sort of race. No, you have been assigned the dangerous task of smashing an evil drugs ring.
An armoured car tours the city streets, awaiting the arrival of four delivery cars to collect the drugs. You must carefully follow the armoured car till it makes contact with a delivery car which you must then either arrest, by ramming it, or destroy by using your machine guns. Care must always be taken not to alert the armoured car to your presence or it will leave the city immediately. Get too successful, however, and the smugglers will send a hit car to get you.
The 3-D view of the action is rather strange, as just above the dashboard you can see your own black car on the road ahead. But the scrolling cityscape provides an atmospheric environment for some intriguing, innovative action. High speed chases are common but care must always be taken not to knock down any innocent pedestrians, run out of fuel or cross intersections when the lights are on stop!
Turbo Esprit contains many intricacies which cannot be adequately explained in such a small space, but suffice to say it is no ordinary driving game. A genuinely great arcade/adventure simulation.
Screenshots
