Beetle Crazy Cup
Written: Apr 14 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Playability, Multiplayer
Cons: No TCP/IP
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| jizzium's Full Review: Beetle Adventure Racing for Nintendo 64 |
Beetle Crazy Cup: The latest release from the dynamic duo Infogrames & Xpiral. All I can say is what a great idea! If you love racing games and want to have some serious fun, you need to check this game out!
Before you ask the big question the answer is YES it does have multiplayer action. How bout 5 different types of play to go along with it? This game has everything you need for serious fun with the kids, or with your friends.
So what's all the sqwacking about? You have a multiplayer racing game that has 5 completely different types of levels:
Shark Beat
Baha Beach Race Type
Cross & Roll
Dirt Racing Figure Eight Style
U-ROCK
Standard Track Racing
The Monster
Monster Truck Lap Racing
The Take Off
See How Far You Can Jump With Nitro Boost!!
Ok now add to that the fact that the graphics rock, the sound is great, and it involves punch buggy beatles... It's just plain fun. Let's take a look at it level by level from bottom to top:
The Take Off: This appears to be the same track that you race on U-ROCK. The only difference is half way through the thing you come up to a giant ramp. I'm not kidding this thing is giant. When you first start it tells you that you have to jump 72 feet. I played the game most of the afternoon and still haven't succeeded. Closest I came was 68.32 feet. So what's the trick? Well you have these Nitrous tanks and you can't use them until your car hits about 140 miles per hour. So the object is to get to 140 early enough so that you have the option available, then you have to time the use of the nitrous tanks (space bar sets them off) so that you are at maximum speed just as you clear the ramp.
Like I said I've tried and tried and come close a few times... but never succeeded. Click the image to the right and you will get an enlarged version of the ramp. Notice the nitrous tanks are kicked in and the flames are shooting out the exhaust pipe.
The Monster: One of the best single player tracks I've had the chance to race on in some time. I couldn't seem to get it to option for the multiplayer part of the game which was very disappointing. It's a great track none the less and has a lot of nice sound effects when you are crunching cars. It's almost as good as popping those bubble wrap thingies you get when you unwrap something that was mailed to you.
This track is pretty easy, in fact it's a bit too easy -- factor in the non-multiplayer issue and this particular racing type ranks average.
U-ROCK: This is simple straight racing. You can select Championship which allows you to race different tours. They have 3 Championships that you can see, and I haven't played the game enough to explore any secret Championship tracks (if they have any). I did beat the first Championship and was then allowed to continue on to the Second Championship tour. The tracks get even better, your car gets faster so you have to get used to the steering all over again, and your AI competition gets beefed up as well. All in all I found myself fighting very hard for 5th place (out of 8). I know what you are thinking... I must suck, perhaps that is true, but I bet I can beat you :)
Cross & Roll: This track is tricky and I really do suck at this one. Basically you are on a dirt track and you have to go around this figure eight track. The key here is to slow up and start your skid just before you hit those hairpin turns then kick on the gas to pull out of the swerve. The problem is you have to know how much gas to kick on because if you use too much you'll just keep on skidding. It's definately fun, and probably one of my favorite levels. After an hour I feel like I need a few days to get it down right. It's definately a timing issue. The second level championship version of this is even harder, your car has much more power and your AI opponents are much better than the first level championship. I couldn't do better than 5th place. Not yet anyway... Very addictive track.
SHARK BEAT: Last but not least we have what I like to call the 'Baha Beach Run'. So there are a few tricks you need to know. First of all watch out for the waves. They come in and go out so it's easy to start thinking about driving on the wet sand. If you do and you get nailed by a wave you lose time. Also those beaches have long straight-aways which are great to catch up some lost time. When you start getting to about 3/4 the way pull off the gas and do about 70 because you won't be able to steer into the ramp that kicks you into the street and you'll end up against the wall loosing time.
There are many sharp turns and some side road attractions that look like you could cheat and take alternate roads... well forget it they don't let you so save your time and keep your mind on the guy in front of you and most importantly keeping the guy in back of you where he is; sucking on your dust. This is a fun level for sure and I had a great time playing it. One last tip; as you can see in the picture things got a little out of hand when I took the jump that leads back on to the beach. Keep in mind that if you take that jump fast you will end up in the water losing time and wishing you had let up on the gas.
There are many other levels that I haven't touched base on, but we did cover all the different "types" of races which was the goal. The levels get much better as you get on into the game and pass some of the lesser championships. The Multilevel part of the game is outstanding on a local area network, however they neglected to put in TCP/IP support which shows an extreme lack of vision on their part. I have to knock off a few points for that, and the Monster Truck issue. So 7.5 stars to the Beetle Crazy Cup!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jizzium
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Reviews written: 6
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