WEC Le Man

STORY / GAMEPLAY
In this game, you race through a tough and exhausting race, the WEC Le Mans championship! Each race is split into four laps (two during daytime and two after sunset) divided also into three checkpoints. Due to the limitations of the CPC hardware, all cars have the same design and don't correspond to actual models. The Le Mans 24-hour race is the most famous endurance test for both man and machine. Thankfully, you don't have to race around the circuit for 24 hours(!) You only have to complete all four laps. Your super car has only two gears (Low and Hi) but it's fast! And you really need to be fast to reach each of the checkpoints before the time runs out. As you progress, you'll encounter more cars and you'll need to be more careful or you will easily crash rather spectacularly with your car flying in the air. In general it is hard to beat the game's races as the opposing drivers stay most of the time in the middle of the racing track or slide towards your side crashing you and making you lose valuable time. OK, the game is a quite good coin-op conversion and it is quite fun to play!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
It is one of the very few examples that a game released for the C64 has bad graphics compared to the other 8bit home computer conversions. The visuals are not what a C64 can offer. The tracks are confusing, some background details are missing (details that exist on the CPC and ZX versions) and the scrolling, although faster, is awkward. The scrolling is performed with color cycling and it follows the same lines as all the other racing games of its time (two-color stripes scroll down the screen and get wider at the bottom). As you accelerate, the stripes scroll faster but when at high speeds, they move backwards which makes the screen look static rather than moving! There are just a few trees and road signs on the sides of the track and the only other things you see are the opposing racers that stay most of the time in the middle of your way or slide towards your car, making a crash very imminent! Sound-wise, the C64 version is OK, offering a nice intro tune and a few nice sound effects during your races.