Lotus 3: the Ultimate Challenge
Late comer to the sprite based racing genre, but fun, fun, fun!
Lotus III is one of the last games of the classic DOS era to still use forward scrolling sprites to create a racing game. However the amount of detail that the game included, the way it was produced, and also, the rather relaxed, fun, without a whole lot of challenge feel of it, made it great for short bursts of play, without necessarily making this a game you'd want to sink into when you want to get a true competition going. Nope, Lotus III is rather a simple game, sufficiently fast for a sprite based one, that is all about trying to stay on track (rarely ever touching the breaks!) and stopping when you see a gas stop in order to refill and be able to continue your journey. It was one of those games where you couldn't really go backwards, as many of these games were, but the cruising was fun. Plus, you could even play this one via the mouse, though it could be tricky, but the best way to play it was via the keyboard controls (with automatic gear shifting!). It had a screen full of tracks, and all of them looked great. But, more than anything, it was fun and relaxing, plus it featured the cool Lotus Elise, which everyone wanted to ride in at the time! A good alternative is Turbo Outrun, which is definitely a great game.
Fun game, horrible sound
When I heard of it, first I thought - "What a nice race game!" Then I turned it on and within seconds turned the speakers off. What welcomed me was an extremely annoying and high pitched computer generated sound that burst my ear drums. So, there's that. But when I started playing the game with the sound turned off, it came out as a pretty good game. The graphics are no Daytona USA, but it's not bad, either. I have definitely seen worse. And the gameplay's fairy decent, too. The whole game revolves around Lotus cars, so you'll be driving one. But only that one, unfortunately. You can invite a friend to play 1 on 1 if you don't want the standard championship game. Well, since it's a very small game that fits on a floppy disc, there is not much space for detail and complexity. But what is here is nicely done. But the sound.. Oh, god. If you cherish your ears, play the game in silent mode. In any case, this is a pretty solid racing game. Average, I would say.
Mediocre
Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge is a racing game released in 1992 by Gremlin Interactive. Largely, this game is mediocre, and the more I was playing it, the more I felt this way. The races imply many and various routes, with different weather conditions that have a role in affecting the car's performance, such as rain and snow. Every location (towns, deserts, highways, mountains, etc.) is studded with obstacles, now on the road, then on the sides. The graphics aren't very detailed, but they are colourful and nice. While I was driving, I felt like I was going to crash into something, because the front background develops as you proceed. This was confusing to me because I didn't know what to expect ahead of me, and I am sure you experienced this as well. Before racing, there is a feature that offers you the freedom to set the difficulty (easy, medium, hard, arcade or random), including the amount of obstacles, curbes, directions, the opponents level of difficulty, or the type of landscape. This game enables the possibility of running out of gas, so you will have to refuel after some time. If you like to follow the distance endlessly during races, Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge is the game for you.
