Hard Drivin'
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| Hard Drivin' | |
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| Developer(s) | Tengen, Sterling Silver Software, Domark |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Games |
| Distributor(s) | Electro Source |
| Designer(s) | Atari |
| Release date(s) | Arcade in 1988, Amiga in 1989, Amstrad CPC in 1989, Atari Lynx in 1991, Atari ST in 1989, Commodore 64 in 1989, PC in 1990, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1990/91, GameCube in 2004, Playstation 2 in 2004, Xbox in 2004, ZX Spectrum in 1990 |
| Genre(s) | Driving, Racing, Simulation |
| Mode(s) | 2 players |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari Lynx, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PC, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox, ZX Spectrum |
| Input | Steering wheel, Pedals |
| Arcade cabinet | Sit-down |
| Arcade display | Horizontal Raster, 504 x 384 |
Hard Drivin' is an arcade game that invite players to test drive a high-powered sports car on a stunt course. The game featured the first 3D polygon driving environment via a simulator cabinet that rendered with a non-dedicated PC architecture. The steering wheel was also the first in arcade gaming history to provide force feedback on car impact.
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[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay resembles a driving game, featuring a car similar in appearance to the Ferrari Testarossa. To separate it from other driving titles of that era, stunt loops and other road hazards were added. The game generally consist of 1 or 2 laps around the stunt track. In certain modes, you race against the computer controlled car, Phantom Photon. The game essentially challenges the players in a daredevil fashion and broke away from the norm racing games like Out Run or Pole Position. It can be also seen as a predecessor and possible inspiration for Stunts, a racing game with similar visuals, controls and tracks. It also featured a realistic manual transmission mode, in which the driver would have to properly operate the car as they would in real life.
[edit] Sequels
- Race Drivin' (1990)
- Hard Drivin' II - Drive Harder (1991, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga)
- Hard Drivin's Airborne (1993)
- Street Drivin' (1993)
[edit] Ports
In total, there were 15 official releases for the Arcade, counting 11 cockpit and 4 compact versions, including various British, German and Japanese versions. The Arcade version was also ported to the Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox Midway Arcade Treasures 2 collection in 2004.
[edit] Controversy
- There is no apparent Ferrari license shown in any version of the game.
- Despite claiming to be a real driving simulator, there were a lot of discrepancies between the game's software physics and the car physics on screen. However, the cockpit physics were considered very accurate at the time. The engine, transmission control, springs and cabinet physics were modeled by Doug Milliken who was listed as a test driver in the game credit. In the 1950s his father William Milliken of Milliken Research was considered one of the world's leading experts in car modeling.
[edit] Miscellanea
- Hard Drivin' was the first driving simulator to use 3-D polygon graphics.
- Prior to the release of Hard Drivin', Namco had acquired a controlling interest in Atari games by 1986. The sharing of R&D information would spawn many games of the same polygon engine years later. It can be credited that the success of the Hard drivin engine set the trend for the high quality simulation games in the early 90s.
- Upon purchasing the Amiga version, a questionnaire contest was held where the first five people to answer correctly via a postcard sent to London would receive a free model Ferrari F-40 model car by January 8, 1990. The model car is 1/18th the size of the actual car.
- Colliding with the arcade version's computerized cow at even the slowest speed would cause it to shoot straight up into the air and generate a loud "moo".
- A free, playable version of Hard Drivin' was displayed in the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1989.
- One of the buildings along the speed course, a small camouflage-painted building, if approached from behind (a non-trivial task, given the off-road time limit) has a sign above its normally-unseen door that says "The Hut"
