Turbo Cup

STORY / GAMEPLAY
This is a racing game so no story here! Your main car is a fast Porsche 944 Turbo and the first stage of the game is a practice lap in which the faster you go the better your position will be on the main race starting grid. This lap may also help you to familiarize with the car's control, the track, the specific spots for overtaking the opponents as well as any particularly "odd" bends. But, the most innovative detail (for the 1988 standards that is) in Turbo Cup, is the presence of a full five gears function. You can shift the Porsche's gears by using a second joystick as a gear-stick (on the "professional" mode). When in professional, the fire-button acts as a clutch and the joystick can be used as an actual car's gear-stick! Other than using this special feature, you may just choose to play the game using a single-button joystick as well. Each time you race you have to compete with 22 similar (but differently colored) 944s! Fortunately, you have the advantage of a slightly faster car and you must use your extra horsepower very carefully to avoid slamming into the other racers or crash on the side-way objects (road sign-posts, ads-posts etc). Note that (as in most racing games), the opponents will always try to cut you off by constantly changing lanes. The game is decent, with a few unique features in the gameplay and graphics sectors, but there are only four tracks available with a slightly different styling! So, after playing for some minutes, the game looks pretty repetitive.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The visuals are good but rather limited. All the tracks share the same background details that might get a bit boring. On the other hand, the cars are wonderfully designed and attention has been paid to details like the 3D perspective and reflections from the rear windscreen. The Porsche itself looks like a digitized model and this can be seen clearly enough when your car crashes or spins. There are also a few other nice details on the car models like the animated exhaust pipe and the braking lights. Soundwise, the game is good and offers a nice intro tune at the title screen while plus some sampled Porsche engine and other sound effects (like crashes, wheel spins etc) during gameplay (you can even listen to the gears' clutch!)