Original Release: Accolade, 1987, PC/Amiga/Atari ST/Commodore 64
Other Releases: Apple II (1988), PC-98 (1989)
Accolade added a pinch of realism and a behind-the-wheel perspective to OutRun, founding the first semi-realistic racing series for computers
Test Drive (PC, Accolade, 1987)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: MS-DOS Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Test Drive was among the first batch of games I had for my first computer as a kid, and it was pretty well-regarded at the time, but I never liked it and hardly ever played it back then. You drive along a seemingly interminable boring mountain cliff, the controls seemed unresponsive, there’s nothing but the monotonous PC speaker sound of the engine, and it was always kind of a mystery as to how to handle the cops when they randomly appear in your rearview.
One thing that tripped me up as a little tyke was that I didn’t understand the concept of gear shifting, handled with A-Z or 7-9 if you have a numeric pad handy. Other than that it’s just accelerate, brake and steer left/right with the arrows; simple stuff, but this is firmly in the “read the manual” era of PC games and none of this is mentioned in-game.
I find I do have some more tolerance for it 30 years later, it’s a little more enjoyable … but I stress a “little.” The main thing that I think made it popular at the time is the generous buffer of collision detection, which helps to smooth the experience of a pretty primitive sprite scaling system. It’s also just a tad more complex than the comparable console and arcade racers of the time, allowing it to cop a little “sim” cred during a time when that still wasn’t much of a thing yet. But in DOSBox emulation this is tough to get running with EGA graphics (even though it’s an option), so I went back to classic four-color CGA and the ol’ mountain pass was just as drab and monotonous as I remembered from my youth.
For those who are totally new to the proceedings, Test Drive starts you out with a choice of five spendy sports cars that were the stuff of posters bought at 80s Scholastic Book Fairs: a Lambo, a Corvette, a Ferrari, a Lotus Esprit and a Porsche 911. The goal is to make it between gas station checkpoints in an alloted amount of time, with better times giving you a higher score. There isn’t really much purpose other than “score attack” and playing it for the pleasure of driving, as there isn’t really an ending or anything like that (or anything but the one stock course). Anyway, you’ll have to dodge both oncoming and in-lane traffic, remember to shift to avoid overheating the engine, and keep your ears on for the beeps of the radar detector that indicate Smokey Bear is in the area. Crashes, stalls and police tickets don’t end the game, but they do take a hefty cut out of your time and score.
Test Drive is a decent enough racer by mid-late 80s expectations, it differentiated itself by giving you a few more variables than usual to keep track of but did a pretty good job of balancing to keep things from feeling overwhelming. And the control still feels decent enough, though I think that’s more owed to the generous collision detection than it being particularly precise. It ended up being a good early turismo-type racer for the masses. However, despite being very much on the simple side for a “sim,” it’s still probably a bit too fussy for those who prefer basic console-style racing games.
If you do want to give it a crack look to the Amiga or Atari ST versions for improved graphics.
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