Super Off Road
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | The Leland Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Games |
| Platform(s) | Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System |
| Release date | 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | N/A |
| Media | Compact Cassette, Floppy disk, Cartridge |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Joystick |
Super Off Road, also known as Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road, is an arcade video game released in 1989 by The Leland Corporation. Virgin Games produced several home versions in 1990. In 1991, an NES version was later released by Leland's Tradewest subsidiary followed by versions for most major home formats, including Super NES, Amiga and MS-DOS.
In the game, up to 3 players (4 in the NES version through use of either the NES Satellite or NES Four Score) compete against each other or the computer in racing around several top-view indoor off-road truck tracks of increasing difficulty. Good results earn the player points to continue in the championship and money with which to upgrade their truck or buy more nitro boosters. The goal is to reach the end of the season with the most money earned. Continues are available but whereas players can get extra money in the arcade version, in the home versions, the player's money is reset to 0. This is one of the first games where the player could upgrade his or her vehicle by earning points or money (although in Atari Games' Sprint series, one could upgrade their racer using wrenches), a system that is used in most arcade-style racing games today.
The track pack was an add-on board for arcade units that contains eight brand-new tracks: Shortcut, Cutoff Pass, Pig Bog, Rio Trio, Leapin' Lizards, Redoubt About, Boulder Hill and Volcano Valley. It also gave the brand new ability to choose between either the normal truck or the dune buggy; both vehicles had different characteristics accordingly and added a new element to the game.
The Super NES version was notable for prominently featuring the Toyota brand; the name and logo were displayed on various tracks, and pre-race music was inspired by the "I love what you do for me Toyota" jingle that was used by the company's marketing campaign at the time of the game's release. This version also lacked any licensing or reference to Ivan Stewart, replacing him instead with the late Mickey Thompson in the gray truck.
This game was not developed or published by Williams, Midway, or Atari Games. Nonetheless, both this game and its "Track Pack" upgrade can be found in Midway Arcade Treasures 3. However, this version does not have the "Ironman" Ivan Stewart license, and as such is known simply as "Super Off Road", with the white, computer controlled car being "driven" by "'Lightning' Kevin Lydy" (in the original arcade version, the white car is "driven" by Ivan Stewart). While Kevin Lydy is a real person, he is not an off road racer. He is a video game developer.
[edit] The Baja
A sequel was created called Super Off Road: the Baja. It was released for Super Nintendo and is based on the Baja 1000 race. The format was changed to a 1st person camera instead of an overhead camera.
[edit] External links
 |
This racing game-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
