ST Format


Hot Rubber

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Rob Mead
Publisher: Palace
Machine: Atari ST

 
Published in ST Format #45

Hot Rubber

Sound's a bit rude, doesn't it? Could this be the kind of film you take trips down to Soho to see? No. It's actually the latest budget motorcycle racing sim from those chaps at Titus.

Hot Rubber places you in control of one of four different motocycles, each with different specifications with a choice of automatic or manual gears. After you've selected your bike you can choose from twelve race circuits including Le Mans, Silverstone or Hockenheim. There are three racing options including a training run - where you bomb around the track on your own, a single race and a championship mode. The championship mode enables you to compete against five other ST-controlled opponents, or alternatively a combination of human and ST riders. Once you opt to start a race you can choose to do a qualifying lap which determines your place on the starting grid. Each race consists of four timed laps, so you can get the lap record as well.

Once you start off, hopefully with a half-decent bike, this is where the problems start. The joystick controls appear to be far too sensitive and you end up slewing about all over the track and crashing into barriers. This makes complenting a race tricky, even on the simplest circuit. However, after you've practised for about an hour or so, you start to get used to it, and you're soon bombing around the track like a hyperactive Barry Sheene. Unfortunately Hot Rubber doesn't come with a track editor, so once you've completed all the circuits or won the championship there's not really too much of an incentive to carry on playing - unless the idea of lopping a few thousandths of a second of your lap time appeals to you.

Hot Rubber

Graphically, Hot Rubber's backgrounds are actually pretty boring, and the crowd scenes consist of lots of pixels blinking on and off erratically. The bike sprites are reasonably well animated with some good detail, like the back wheel spinning pathetically when you fall off.

Verdict

A reasonable motorcycle sim Hot Rubber is spoiled by over-sensitive joystick controls. The two-player mode is good, but the absence of a track editor means the game lacks long-term appeal.

Highs

Plenty of thrills and spills in this motorcycle racing sim.

Lows

The control mechanism is over-sensitive and there's no track editor.

Rob Mead

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