Smashing Drive
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| Smashing Drive | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Gaelco, Point of View |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date | NA February 20, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (13+) |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Smashing Drive is a video game of the racing genre released in 2002 by Namco / Point of View. The player would drive a high-tech taxicab through the city with many shortcuts that often go through or on top of buildings.
[edit] Description
The player races against time and another psychotic cab driver through New York City to get the cash. The game is divided into 4 difficulties, each of which contains 3 different levels (with the exception of "Dusk and Wired," which only contains one). If the player manages to beat the rival cab in all 3 levels of a difficulty, he would be taken to a bonus stage with the only available route being all of the Risky Routes. At the end of a stage, the players score would be based on the amount of time it took to reach the destination, the cab's condition, the rival being beaten, the number of Turbo powerups obtained, and the number of Risky Routes traversed. Unlike many racing games, the horn actually has a functional use of making (most) mobile vehicles move aside.
[edit] Difficulties ("shifts") and levels
- Early Bird Shift (Easy)
-
- Brooklyn
- Wall Street
- Little Italy
- Rush Hour Shift (Normal)
-
- Brooklyn Navy Yard
- Music City Hall
- West Central Park
- Night Owl Shift (Hard)
-
- Sea and Air Museum
- 5th Ave. to 34th St.
- Times Square
- Dusk & Wired Shift (Reward)
-
- Statue of Liberty
[edit] Power-Ups
- Cutter-Cuts through long vehicles such as limos and other tough stuff.
- Big-Foot(4x4)-Gives the cab big wheels that can allow the player to drive over other vehicles(excluding the rival cab).
- Turbo-Gives the cab some speed and can be useful to help the player beat the rival.
- Bonus-Gives the player extra money after beating the rival.
- Time-Gives the player extra time.
- Glider-Gives the player some wings to fly for a short amount of time depending on how big is the jump.
- Repair-Fixes the cab.
- Sonic-A super horn that literally blows the cars away.
- Crash-A very useful power-up that gives the car a shield that protects the player's cab as it crashes through other vehicles without damaging the cab.
- ?-A wild card power-up that gives a random power-up.
[edit] Ports
Smashing Drive was released as a port for Xbox and Gamecube in the same year as the original.
[edit] Differences Between Arcade and Console
- The cutscenes at the beginning and end of the stages that show fares getting into/leaving the cab have been removed in the console versions.
- The powerup "Wheels" has been renamed to "4x4"
- New "Survival Mode" allows the cab to actually be destroyed with too much damage, ending the level.
[edit] Cultural References
- King Kong will be seen three times in the third and final level of Night Owl: first terrorizing the streets of NYC; second on the Empire State Building only to be hit by the player; finally seen falling down on the street dead after getting run over.
[edit] Problems
The game is known to have a major glitch when playing Head to Head mode. Upon reaching the third level of the Early Bird difficulty, the players are faced with an unbeatable level. The Developers had mistakenly made the time limit 35 seconds instead of 45 seconds, rendering the game mode unbeatable, even for the most advanced players.
