Deathtrack
DeathTrack is a first-person, futuristic racing game developed for MS-DOS by Dynamix and published by Activision in 1989.
| Deathtrack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Dynamix |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Director(s) | Jeffrey Tunnell |
| Producer(s) | Steven Ackrich John A. S. Skeel |
| Designer(s) | Terry Ishida Dariusz Lukaszuk |
| Programmer(s) | Dariusz Lukaszuk |
| Composer(s) | Russell Lieblich |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Racing, vehicular combat |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
There are two ways to win a race: be the first to finish the race, or be the only one to finish the race. Based in a futuristic America, the player races on various tracks across the country for money, which can be spent on armor, weapons and other modifications to protect and use against the competition. There are ten tracks in ten cities.[2] The track for each city is unique, as is each opponent's 3D polygonal car.
The player chooses from one of three cars (either "The Hellcat" for high speed, "The Crusher" for high firepower or "The Pitbull" for heavy armor) and begins racing against other drivers. The player starts with $10,000 to spend on weapons, and earns more money by winning races. For each item the player buys, there are three variants: small/ineffective, medium/good and large/best.
Reception
Computer Gaming World called DeathTrack "an outstanding new action game ... gratuitous violence at its therapeutic best", praising the graphics.[3]
In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Deathtrack the 124th-best computer game ever released.[4]
Legacy
A Game Boy version was in the works by game developer Argonaut Software, but was unreleased.[5]
A sequel, Death Track: Resurrection, was released on February 22, 2008, in Russia, then later released in North America and Europe.[6] An Xbox 360 version of the game was expected to be released later in 2009.[7]
References
- "Computer Releases". Computer Entertainer. Vol. 8, no. 10. January 1990. p. 22.
- DeathTrack - PC - IGN
- Lombardi, Chris A. (February 1990). "Murder on the Backstretch / Activision's "DeathTrack"". Computer Gaming World. No. 68. p. 44.
- "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. No. 148. November 1996. pp. 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
- "Trail Blazer (Death Track) [GameBoy - Cancelled] - Unseen64". Unseen64: Beta, Cancelled & Unseen Videogames!. 2011-12-10. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- "Review: Death Track: Resurrection Hands-on". IGN. 2008-06-06. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- "IGN: Death Track: Resurrection". IGN. Retrieved 2009-09-21.