At long last the eagerly awaited
conversions of Atari classics are
beginning to appear in the shops
under the name of Atarisoft. Of
the BBC Micro conversions, Pole
Position must be one of the best
known.
Up until now motor racing
games of this type have involved
racing along a straight road
weaving left and right to avoid
the traffic. The only attempt at
relieving the boredom being a
change in the background colour.
Atarisoft's Pole Position
scores very strongly over these
earlier versions by the inclusion
of that missing ingredient, bends.
The game consists of two sections - a qualifying lap and the race itself. As the game begins an airship and banner cross the skyline announcing the start of the qualifying lap. The controls are simple - left, right, spacebar to toggle between high and low gears, and Return to brake.
There is no accelerator - speed increases gradually in each gear.
The trick to achieving a high score is therefore to drive as
smoothly as possible, no screeching around the bends, and the
brake pedal is definitely taboo. If you are to qualify for the
main event then you must finish in the first eight on this practice lap.
Having put in a good time in practice you find yourself on the
starting grid. Depending on your time the number of cars starting
in front of you will vary.
The airship announces the start of the big race, and the
starting lights appear. Red ... red . .. red . .. green, and you are
away, the air heavy with exhaust fumes and burnt rubber, as you
scream down the first straight leaving the opposition trailing
behind in your wake (OK. so we all get carried away sometimes).
There is just one thing that puzzles me about the game. If I
begin the race in pole position then why am I being hassled by a
couple of reckless drivers by the time I reach the first bend?
This minor discrepancy aside. I found Pole Position graphically superior to the original
Atari version. The game has been written to such a high standard that it is infuriatingiy
addictive.