Burning Road
by Playmates Interactive Entertainment

I have to say that when I first rented this, it was because Tobal and   
Destruction Derby 2 wasn't in.  So my expectations weren't all that high   
for this game. But I played this all weekend and have to say it's a lot   
of fun!

Basically this is a racing game with the choice of three on/off road cars   
and a monster truck.  Each with different combination of top speed,   
acceleration, and handling.  There are three tracks, with different   
weather sections and very distinct personalities. And the kicker is that   
part of the strategy is running your opponents off the road into walls   
and viaducts.  Of course, that can happen to you to. If you crash, it   
takes a few seconds recover and your car remains damaged for the rest of   
the race (although other than a slightly crumpled hood, I never could   
tell any difference in the performance of the vehicle. There are cones,   
trash cans and other items in the roadway to further hamper your speed.

You race against 7 other vehicles (one big let down is that there are   
several of the same cars/trucks for each type, so if you're driving the   
monster truck, another monster truck exactly like yours is driving as   
well.).  One thing that is really cool (and hard) is that you never just   
blow the other cars off the road (except maybe for the first track), you   
might be in the lead but if you hit a corner a little funny, you might   
get passed by three or four cars and be in 5th place again.

This game is pretty hard!  I played for hours and only scored a first   
place a few times.  The drivers will usually not put you into the wall,   
but when you try to wreck them, you gotta be careful of you'll trash   
yourself in the process. The game carries a nice balance of racing and   
wrecking (you'll get a few golden opportunities to put someone into a   
wall, but if you try it too much, it will hurt your performance).  You   
have timed checkpoints that you have to meet (much like Ridge Racer), but   
the timing is hard.  Running as fast as possible and only wrecking once   
will usually cause you to run out of time on the hardest track.

To sum it up, if you like racing games definitely give this a try.  A few   
flaws, but no more problems than a lot of other games in the same genre.   
 A good cross between Ridge Racer and Descruction Derby.

Here the ratings:

Overall - A really good game.  As with so many racers, shelf-life with   
only three tracks is a problem, so maybe this is a rental.
But definitely worth at least once.  Good graphics and sound boosted with   
some intense first person racing and is actually challenging (unlike RR2   
and some others).  Linkable!   -  85%

Graphics - Has two first person perspectives and three aerial views.   
 Driving first-person is sometimes incredibly realistic (you can view the   
game with your front hood and a fuzzy dice or eight ball or other object   
hanging from your rear-view mirror that sways and bounces with your turns   
and jumps.  Graphics aren't as sharp as some, but the action is fast and   
there's no lag.  - 85%

Sound - Has two different tracks, a rocking guitar track and a "classic"   
track that kinda sucked.  The music wasn't great, but wasn't bad.  It   
blended into the background, which is what it's supposed to do in the   
first place.  People that don't like techno (RR music) might find this   
more to their taste.  Voiceovers that announce "You...You suck! You came   
in last" and the like at the end of races are pretty cool.  Sound effects   
were good, but not outstanding.  -   75%

Playability - Simple (accelerator and a brake), but does drive   
differently than many racers.  You have to learn to master
"power slides" like Ridge Racer, but you have to make a much more severe   
turn.  Sliding and so forth is harder than most
racing games. It took several hours of playing to even start to race   
well. On screen displays include a traffic monitor that basically acts   
like a radar screen of nearby cars, both in front of and behind your car.   
 Plus the usual tach, times, position, etc. -   85%

Shelf-Life - Again, only three tracks that I could find (I wasn't able to   
complete a "championship" of all three tracks, so maybe there's a bonus   
track) so that's a factor.  But consistently fun and challenging (even   
the beginner track still beat me many times after continued playing) -   
80%

Problems - The multiple cars on the same track was the biggest turn-off   
(it doesn't affect playing, just realism).  There is one car (the red   
one) that just didn't make sense.  It lacked handling, acceleration and   
speed behind the other cars.  So basically you have three to choose from   
(unless you like a car that sucks) which is a drag (no pun intended), but   
the cars have alot more "personality" than
some games.

Reviewed by ranger@thepoint.net