Racing Destruction Set
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Racing Destruction Set | |
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| Developer(s) | Rick Koenig |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts & Ariolasoft (Europe) |
| Designer(s) | Rick Koenig |
| Engine | NA |
| Release date(s) | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Two player |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family |
| Media | 5¼" disk |
| Input | joystick |
Racing Destruction Set is a car racing and motocross computer game written by Rick Koenig, with art by Connie Goldman and music by David Warhol and published in 1985 by Electronic Arts. It was developed for the Commodore 64 computer system. A version for the Atari 8-bit family of computers was also released.
Koenig, Goldman and Warhol had all worked for the Intellivision game design team at Mattel during the early 1980s, where Koenig had programmed the Intellivision Motocross game. When Intellivision Director of Game Development Don Daglow left Mattel and joined Electronic Arts as a Producer in late 1983 during the Video Game Crash of 1983, he reunited Koenig, Goldman and Warhol on Racing Destruction Set at EA.
Racing Destruction Set had several innovative features which created a classic and innovative computer game. First, the game allowed the player to create different race tracks using a variety of templates. The player could create ramps and elevation changes in the layout of the track as well. The builder also had the options to change the type of terrain—laying slippery ice stretches of track, normal track, or difficult sandy sections of track.
For a particular race, the player could change a variety of features. The player could alter the gravity to reflect gravity on different planets or the moon. The player had the option of changing which vehicle they wanted to race in and make customized changes to the tires, engine and other aspects of the vehicle.
The race was done in split-screen mode, with one player able to race in the top half of the screen and another player in the bottom. The races had an option for racing mode or destruction mode. In racing mode, a number of laps were chosen and the quickest to complete them was the winner. In destruction mode, each player had access to oil slicks and landmines which could be ejected from the back of the vehicles.
GameSpy.com awarded Racing Destruction Set a "Gotcha" award as one of the top games of its era.
