Crash


Enduro
By Activision
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #10

Enduro

Enduro is another Activision translation from a dedicated games cartridge to the Spectrum, the adaption here being done by James Software. Once more you are down on the grid, ready to race through all sorts of conditions against 200 other vehicles. The race starts in broad daylight, takes you through snow and ice, fog and rain towards the sunset, dusk and finally night.

Your car is red, the others are all black. At night time all you can see of them is their headlights until night really settles in, when only their red tail lights glimmer dimly and the road, too, is foreshortened. The overall perspective used is a rather high one, although the road does reach the vanishing point properly. The screen display is mostly green (road and landscape) with the road edges indicated by thin perspective lines. A blue sky is separated by hill details which do move about realistically. Sunset is well shown with the sky beginning to turn red. Ice and snow conditions are represented spy the predominant green turning white and the car controls in a somewhat sluggish manner to simulate driving conditions.

Below the playing area is a panel containing the day number, number of cars still to overtake and a timer. Running along the edge of the road will slow you down, although this is one of the few road racer games where your vehicle cannot actually run off the road. Also, rather like Full Throttle, hitting other vehicles doesn't result in an explosion, but just slows you down.

Enduro

There is only the one, seemingly endless track to play on, but there is an increase in difficulty as you go from day to day, with the cars bunching more together as you go along.

Comments

Control keys: 2/W accelerate/brake, O/P right
Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Protek, AGF (accelerate is fire button)
Keyboard play: very responsive, good positions
Use of colour: good
Graphics: not over detailed but fast and smooth with better than average 3D effect
Sound: good
Skill levels: 1 with progressive difficulty
Lives: 1

Comment 1

'3D car racing games seem to have a been a bit of a flop on the Spectrum, with not many people attempting to produce a good version. Activision, one of the big names in cartridge software for games-only machines, have realistically reproduced one of their better games; it cannot be said that this is the best 3D racing game on the market however. Enduro features a good representation of a day, sunset and night, with other road conditions such as snow and fog, both of which affect the performance of your car in different ways. Colour has been used well with only minor attribute problems. The road moves in a realistic 3D manner, as do the cars whizzing past you into the distance. The sound would be great if only it was more available. If you want a good, competitive racing car game and are willing to pay almost £8, then this is money well spent.'

Comment 2

'Activision's Enduro on the Spectrum is not too bad. It still contains features such as night and poor visibility driving. The game is fast, the graphics being okay not over detailed. I found it playable but not that addictive.'

Comment 3

'First impressions of this are those of being ripped - paying eight quid for a game which is little better than Speed Duel, and this feeling stayed with me all the while I was playing Enduro. You can say of the graphics that they serve their purpose but with no nice extras. The sound is quite good when the car accelerates. This isn't a bad game and it does get quite exciting at times, but I feel at £7.95 it's a bit of a rip off and isn't a patch on Full Throttle which is cheaper. All in all, not a bad game but a bit pricey for what it is.'

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