Max Power Racing

Release Date: December 10, 1998

Jeremy Clarkson would call it “A throbbing Apollo rocket or a game harnessed to the chassis of a shopping trolley". We prefer to call it, Max Power Racing...

There's something about driving family saloons and hatchbacks stupidly fast around precipitous clifftops that beats caning it down a test track in a Ferrari any day of the week. Well, very nearly. It's that feeling of almost reality — that it could really happen - and of genuine danger what with your Renault Clio or Peugeot 206 having no super carbon brakes, twin-turbo acceleration or roll-cage to look after you. Max Power Racing manages to tap into this vein of gung-ho boy racery as effectively as its fore-runner Total Drivin’ but not without racking up some severe cosmetic damage along the way.

MAX POWER RACING MANAGES TO TAP INTO THIS VEIN OF GUNG-HO BOY RACERY AS EFFECTIVELY AS ITS FORE-RUNNER TOTAL OEM".

Featuring 25 cars, 20 tuning options, 30 tracks and a split-screen mode, no one can accuse Max Power of lacking ambition. It’s obvious that a lot of time has been spent on the tracks as, apart from the usual fast straights and slidy corners, they also boast Eutechnyx's trademark lethal gorges and water hazards. Tumble from a mountain road or stray from the safety of a ford in later sections and your car will sink faster than James Cameron’s street cred and your race will Be over. This air of realism is carried through to the damage you sustain from prangs and disagreements with roadside obstacles (many of which are destructible) as back windows shatter and body panels buckle. Although a lot of tracks have enjoyable sections to them none stand out as works of genius like Colin McRae Rallys Greece Stage 2 or Ridge Racer Revolutions Intermediate Course.

25 CARS, 20 TUNING OPTIONS, 30 TRACKS AND A SPLIT-SCREEN MODE, NO ONE CAN ACCUSE MAX POWER OF LACKING AMBITION.

It's as if the good corners, fun hazards and impressive backdrops have been eeked out across 30 okay circuits instead of being concentrated into five or ten tracks to die for.

If the courses are mediocre the cars are a real letdown. Many appear unfinished, blocky and badly drawn, even failing to excite with all the flash camera angles of the replay to make them look good. While expecting Gran Turismo build quality is, perhaps, unrealistic sexy driving machines are essential to draw in unsuspecting novices for an automotive thrashing but Max's cars are far too dowdy. If you can bring yourself to pick the pink Max Powermobile or Clio Williams you'll find they're lively and handle well, sliding nicely through chicanes and sailing sideways through the toughest corners. Better still, the grip and performance of each car can be adjusted - letting you fine-tune your motor to the local conditions using the Test Track option.

Yet even here Max Power Racing manages to fluff the change of pace as, despite handling well at high speed, at low velocity the cars steer like shopping trolleys. Hit the wall of a bridge end-on and, frustrating you can't just nudge your car back on track with accelerate. Thirty seconds of careful reversing and applying full lock will only end one way: you rolling into oblivion and bouncing the joypad off the TV in disgust. Crash-wise too it seems like little has been learned from the automotive gymnastics of V-Rally get an unlucky collision and you tumble all over the shop, often sliding on two wheels with no chance to get decent traction and re-join the circuit, and of course then, when you really need it, the Car Replace option isn't available.

IF THE COURSES ARE MEDIOCRE THE CARS ARE A REAL LET-DOWN. MANY APPEARING UNFINISHED, BLOCKY AND BADLY DRAWN.

Max Power Racing gets so many important things right that you want it to work. That it doesn't is down to a mountain of small but significant flaws (the lack of a best lap and split times in Time Trial is one ofanumber of amazing oversights) that wouldn't matter by themselves but that, combined, cripple an otherwise competent speed merchant.