Ignition (video game)
| Ignition | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Unique Development Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Virgin Interactive |
| Platform(s) | DOS/Windows PC |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Distribution | CD |
Ignition, known as Bleifuss Fun in Germany and Fun Tracks in France, is a PC game released in 1997 by Virgin Interactive. It features miniature cars, much like Death Rally. Also there are different vehicles like school bus, police car or truck. Ignition became very famous across the many countries because of its innovative arcade game play, video system and good approach to a computer game society. Particularly in Russia, the game claimed as one of the most exciting games during the rise of the legend games like Fallout, Counter-Strike, Starcraft and Diablo; also because of the flourishing pirate CDs on the markets Ignition became very popular.
Game features
There are three different versions of Ignition available:
All versions were packaged together, although a download was required from the (now defunct) company website to address Voodoo 2 incompatibilities with the original 3dfx release. MS-DOS and Windows versions can be run in 320x240, 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions, while the 3dfx version is locked to 640x480 (can be increased with Glide wrappers such as nGlide). The game features skid marks, smoke, sparks and fire effects. Ignition supports Audio CD playback during the game. Ignition can be controlled using keyboard, joypad, pedals or joystick. Also multiplayer using split screen (two players on one machine) or LAN in the Windows version is supported. The game is multilingual: English, Spanish, Italian and Swedish is supported.
Gameplay
You can race through 7 tracks with 11 different unique vehicles of your choice. Compete in a "Championship", "Single Race", "Time Trial" and "Pursue Mode". After Ignition was released many computer enthusiasts started to create additional tracks and types of vehicles to broad the content of the game.
Game modes
- In the "Championship" mode, the player is to race on 5 to 7 tracks, three laps each and to earn most points. The player advances to the next track if he comes at least 3rd. If after racing all tracks player earns most points, he advances to the next difficulty level. The levels are: Novice (5 tracks), Amateur (6 tracks), Pro (7 tracks) and Mirror (7 tracks mirrored).
- "Single Race" is just simple race, three laps with 5 opponents.
- In "Time Trial" player is to beat the high scores: lap time and track time. In this mode when you race once on a track, the way you raced is recorded to "ghost", with which you will race to beat the highscore. "Ghost" is made so it does not spoil your race. You can share "ghosts" with your friends.
- In "Pursue Mode" every lap the last car to finish a lap is eliminated until a winner is found.
In every mode, on every track there are dynamic obstacles that can crash your vehicle and make you lose time to beat your opponents.
Also in every race best times for lap and track are saved for each track.
Every mode can be played in multiplayer.
Vehicles
The vehicles include:
- Coop (Mini Cooper)
- Evac (green emergency jeep)
- Enforcer (LAPD police car)
- Redneck (loosely based on a Ford Mustang 68 coupe)
- School bus
- Bug (Volkswagen Beetle)
- Smoke (a Truck head)
- Banana (yellow Porsche)
- Monster (Monster Truck)
- Vegas ('71 Dodge Demon)
- Ignition
The last four cars in the list become available as soon as corresponding difficulty level is completed. Each car has four characteristics (acceleration, turbo, speed and grip) which vary from car to car. "Evac" has the lowest "stats", while "Ignition"—the car unlocked at the end of the game—has the highest.
Tracks
- Moose Jaw Falls (Moose Jaw,
Canada) - Gold Rush (
USA) - Snake Island (
Jamaica) - Lost Ruins (
Costa Rica) - Yodel Peaks (
Norway) - Cape Thor (
Iceland) - Tokyo Bullet (Tokyo,
Japan)
The last two tracks become unlocked on the completion of Amateur and Pro difficulty levels accordingly.
Music
All music made by Christian Björklund.
Windows 7 Compatibility
The 3dfx version of Ignition works in both Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit versions without the need for compatibility mode settings as long as a Glide wrapper like nGlide is installed on the computer. The latest 3dfx patch is also required. The MS-DOS version works with DOSBox.