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by J.M.Vargas The second Psygnosis game released in the past few months with the word "ROLL" incorporated in the title (the beach ball puzzler "Roll Away" being the other one), ADT's "Rollcage" aspires to be an alternative to the likes of "WipeOut" and "F-Zero" but ends up as a wannabe for a simple reason: it frustrates the hell out of anyone who tries to take advantage of its unique gameplay attributes of driving on the ceilings, walls and other gravity-defying surfaces of the game's 20+ tracks in the six different vehicles that have (along with their cliched driver stereotypes) unique characteristics in grip/speed/strength and other features. A shame because the robust graphics on display here, combined with some dynamite sound effects and very cool licensed tunes by well-known alternative musicians, could have put "Rollcage" on the road to franchise contender instead of missed opportunity (although it doesn't sink to the level of other Psygnosis disaster stories like "Rascal", "Shadow Madness", "P.U.L.P", "ODT", etc.). GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C+ The good first: this game is amazingly fast and it won't permit the speed of
the proceedings to drop bellow 30 frames-per-second at anytime, regardless of
the amount of cars on-screen and the pyrotechnics on display. Since the engine
has no visible pop-up and the scenery for each of the tracks is well-designed
(canyons are properly brownish, cities are greyish all the way, etc.), you won't
have any trouble spotting the surfaces you want to drive your vehicle over/under
or the power-up icons that appear at certain fixed locations. Dual Shock support
is excellent (lotta shakin' going on around these tracks), there is a
slowdown-free Deathmatch mode for two players to compete in four different
tracks (vertical/horizontal split-screen), the Practice/Time Trial modes allow
you to race for the glory of being the fastest runner on four big wheels, and
the destruction quota for any surrounding structure you target or crash against
is quite high (buildings collapse and their rubble blocks the tracks you're
racing on... cool!) in a "Blade Runner" meets "Mario Kart" sort-of way. Where
"Rollcage" drops the ball big-time is in the design of the 20 single-player
tracks and the less-than-stellar analog control that will tempt you to go back
to the 'tap, tap' routine of the d-pad.
The average time for completing these tracks is about 30-40 seconds per lap (assuming you don't get caught in your own speed trap) and, even with the assumption that these machines are going at speeds of 300-400 kilometers per hour (something you don't have trouble believing), they feel awfully small for an engine that should have been given more muscle to flex its amazing speed. But the design of these tracks doesn't give too much ability to the player in controlling the angle of descent from some crazy huge jumps that will leave your vehicle facing in any direction other than forward, which results in severe frustration and missed opportunities to win the race; the designers tried to fix the problem by giving you a button that will 'steer' your car in the right direction, but it only works in the 'Easy' setting and won't be of any help in the crazy-as-hell 'Hard' difficulty setting (AI schemes are solid and will gang up on you to try to throw you off the road... do it to them before it is done to you, Road Warrior!). TRYING to get your Rollcage to stick to the walls and ceiling is a difficult learning process and, honestly, isn't worth the time investment IF ALL YOU CARE ABOUT is finishing the game in a high position; since the main selling point of the game is a small impediment to achieving success (or a skill in need of mastering, if you so prefer), "Rollcage" is in the peculiar position of being a one-trick pony that can't rely on that one trick for its long-term appeal, and the inability to adjust the number of laps per track (you're stuck at three) makes this a Psygnosis-branded "Mario Kart" clone for those that found "S.C.A.R.S." too graphically dull. No dice! Did I mention that analog control is a bit loose and sometimes will leave you
desperately trying to get back on the correct direction (with the help of a
Reverse button, only to switch for a split-second to a weird behind-the-vehicle
perspective that will leave you totally clueless? Maybe I'm just bitter because
the frustration level with my couple of days playing "Rollcage" left me with a
Dual Shock controller split in half (snapped right at the middle) after the
trillionth time my car ended up being hit from behind or fell on an inclined
angle from a huge jump; since it's only the second time I have broken a
controller in my entire life (remember "Rascal"? The UK folks who did that game,
Traveller's Tales, also did "Sonic R" for the Sega Saturn with a control feel
similar to the one in "Rascal"... voala, instant analog controller snapped in
half), I deduct half-a-grade from the 'Gameplay/Fun Factor' of "Rollcage" from
'B-' to 'C+' hoping to warn any prospective costumer of this game: beware of
Bill Bixby-like bursts of anger, because there won't be any Ferrigno around to
save your day (I swear I have no idea of what I'm talking about either! :-P).
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: A- Fourth-generation coding on display here by the folks at ADT (the team that developed "Rollcage" for Psygnosis), which includes a generous amount of decent FMV sequences for each of the six participants (the intro was kinda cheesy though, and nothing here is going to challenge the supremacy of Square or Namco), some cool menu/option screens that feature high-res layouts and sparks whenever an opiton is taken, and minimal loading times that last approx. 10 seconds. The design of the tracks is your typical variety of desert/woods/coast/highway, and it features a ton of repeating textures that are done in medium-resolution and have trackside objects (rocks, palm trees, buildings, power-ups) that vanish pretty quickly after being demolished by a missile; once you see that there is no pop-up and the game features smooth 30 fps speed with a plethora of light-sourced explosions, missiles and exploding obstacles crowding the TV set, you'll see that the sacrifices were worth the pain. Viewing angles? Your three typical one's that have already appeared on the likes of "Gran Turismo" and the "Need For Speed" series The only minor grivances are the profiles of the characters (too stiff and uninteresting a bunch for the player to identify with), the boring and sleep-inducing manual, the momentary 'blindness' of the camera when you try to put your vehicle back on track and the weird design of the Rollcage cars themselves with their Monster Truck-like wheels and Dune Buggy design; take away the sci-fi weapons from the equation (doable in the options menu) and "Rollcage" could serve as the basis for a beach vehicle racer, or an improved sequel to that "Thunder Truck" game Psygnosis released a couple of years back on PlayStation. MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: B+ Sound effects are top-notch all the way, with booming explosions and the roar of these little monstruosities coming through loud and clear on the TV speakers (or Dolby Surround System, if you can afford the bucks those things cost nowadays); pause the game and a cool digital 'knob' will let you adjust the volume of the music and the sfx, although you can't select what tune you wanna hear during the race. The music tunes by a bunch of well-know alternative artists (which I wrote on a sheet of paper before returning the game to Electronics Boutique, but that I can't find now... Grrrr!) are fitting to the style of the genre, and some of them are actually pretty good techno and funk beats that wouldn't be out of place at a raving party. If you purchase the 'Limited Edition' version of "Rollcage" (easily
recognizable by the huge letters under the title in the CD cover saying 'LIMITED
EDITION... duh!) you will get an extra CD containing all the songs featured in
the game, which would be a better deal IF THE TUNES IN THE ACTUAL GAME CD
weren't already Redbook audio ready to play on a CD machine. I guess those who
have stereo systems on their cars wouldn't want to mix their gaming CD's with
their regular trashy music CD's... hey, does anyone know if the soundtrack of
the hit film "10 Things I Hate About You" is any good? An enquiring "Alex Mack"
fan wants to know! :-)
OVERALL: B- Close call, but what "Rollcage" earns in eye-candy and musical pleasure gets severely damaged by its controls (more tightness needed), its tracks (too many jumps that lead to too many confusing spin-outs) and its tried-and-true "WipeOut"/"Mario Kart" gameplay mechanics; fans of light-sourced graphical effects and alternative music should definitely give "Rollcage" a test drive to see if its more up their alley than a fat Italian plumber yelling "Mama Mia!" as he gets nailed by a red turtle shell thrown by a butt-stomping green dinosaur. Same game, different target audiences, same price (around $40-45), but more pyrotechnics/fireworks on display than whenever John F. Kennedy Jr. nails another sweet young lady. Oh joy! To order Rollcage, click
on the button
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