Giveaway of the Day - Top Fuel Drag Racing

Today’s drag racing game, given to us by Hand Made Games is a 44.1Mb download expanding to 119Mb when installed. The majority of this is due to the meshes and textures folders, which account for 105.9Mb of the overall game and which go to make up the graphics of the game.. The game tried to install to last weeks game giveaway on one of my computers and to C:\Games on another, so do check the installation path before you allow the game to install onto your computer.

There is no desktop or Start menu shortcuts installed, so you need to make a not of where you install the game so that you can create the shortcuts. The game file is easy to spot when you open up the games installed folder. It’s a chequered flag. Desktop shortcuts are simple to create; but if you want a start menu shortcut and aren’t too sure how to create one, check out the short tutorial which can be found in the Game discussion forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2594

The game works okay on XP, but I kept getting a black screen when trying to play it via Vista (even when playing it with admin rights). I’ve just got Win 7 but not installed it yet, so I’ll be able to say whether it works on all three of the last Windows O.S’s.

The Game:

The opening menu screen allows access to a simple options menu where you can toggle on or off anisotropic filtering and motion blur, plus the usual Music and sound slider ajusters. There’s a simple help menu that tells you how to play the game and gives you some simple tips for success:

• Wait for the Green Light

• Accelerate by dragging button

• Switch Gears with the up and down arrow keys

• Accelerating too quickly may lead to crashes

• Earn money to improve your drag racer

• You can select new pain jobs for your racer every fifth race.

On starting the game you have to create a game account. The name you choose is limited to 7 characters. The next page takes you to the race list which shows 20 different races; all but the first are locked. Once a race is unlocked you can replay it when you want. To unlock the next race you must win the race. As you earn cash through winning races you can upgrade various parts of your drag racer for example the chassis, engine, wheels, wings and fuel tank can be upgraded as well as select from four un-lockable pain jobs. You can turn the image of the drag racer to get a better look at it by clicking on the red forwards or backwards arrows. You start the game with a basic drag racer and no money, so the next page can be skipped .

To accelerate the Drag racer you have to click and hold then drag the red button with a yellow exterior to the bottom right of the screen. If you try to drag the button before the green light you will be disqualified. The controls are very sensitive and it will take some practice, but I think its quite a decent drag racing game. (My 9 year old daughter won her first race after only 3 or 4 tries). Once you start to accelerate you’ll need to use the gears. There is a r.p.m. gauge that’s very useful for deciding when to change gear (usually just as it goes into the red). You will need to watch fuel consumption as well; otherwise you may find yourself piped to the post. Winning the first race bags you $750 but not enough to upgrade any of your dragster parts. The second race will enable you to upgrade one item; each upgrade costs $1000 for the first upgrade for each item. The second upgrade will cost you more ($1500) and I presume the third upgrade for each item will be even more expensive, but I’ve not got that far yet.

When you’ve won a race do not click on the restart button otherwise you’ll lose you win. You must click on the End button Nice one Hand Made Games. I’ve been after a decent drag racing game for quite some time. You seem to have hit the spot.

You can set up multiple accounts.

Conclusion:

It’s pretty basic graphically, but I’ve had a lot of fun playing the game so far. It’ll be quite challenging for those not familiar with racing games. The combination of Mouse and keyboard controls may put some off. However you will need to use the gear changes to win any race.

7 out of 10 from me. The fun factor far outweighs the slightly tacky graphics. My children really loved this game so I reckon it’ll make a great family game. The only annoyance is the help window pops up at the beginning of the first race. There’s no way to turn it off

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Useful Info

Alternatives:

You can find loads of racing games in the Wheeled Games

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2574#post-20418

and the free games synopsis

I highly recommend games like Trackmania (the free version), or the online post apocalyptic Darkwind. You’ll also find several reasonable racing games over at Gametop (www.gametop.com), that are usually sold as commercial quality games 9though I wouldn’t buy most of them)

Music:

You’ll find 5 MP3 which can be exchanged for music you like if you find the default music annoying. You may have to change the names of the MP3’s you use. You’ll find the files by finding where you installed the game to and opening up the data and music folders respectively.

What a game – a nice substitute to NFS’ Drift races. I just love it like anything.