Demolition Racer is a 1999 vehicular combat racing video game for the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Microsoft Windows, developed by British studio Pitbull Syndicate and published by Infogrames North America.

Demolition Racer
Developer(s)Pitbull Syndicate
Publisher(s)Infogrames North America
Producer(s)Chris Downend
Programmer(s)John Blackburne
Artist(s)Darren Abbott
Composer(s)W. Scott Snyder
Platform(s)PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast
ReleasePlayStation
Windows
Dreamcast
Genre(s)Vehicular combat, racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

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Gameplay screenshot

The game combines destruction and driving tactics in a fast-paced racing environment. It is very similar to the Destruction Derby series.

Races are won not solely by coming first in the race but by gaining the most points during the course of the event, with points being awarded for crashing into the competitors cars, breaking points boxes scattered on the track, and lastly by placing high, which delivers a points multiplier. The player must be careful of the condition of his own car as if it takes too much damage the race will end with a disqualification. Boxes are also scattered across the track that repair the players car when run over.

The PC version contained slightly better in-game graphics than the PlayStation version, and included varied weather and times of day. Drivers are given (optional) wacky portraits which displayed on the side of the screen in a race, showing who's ahead of who.

Development

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On 15 March 1999, the game was announced by Accolade.[6] it was developed by UK company Pitbull Syndicate as a spiritual sequel to their earlier Destruction Derby series, a series which many of the Pitball staff had previously worked on when at their prior employment at Reflections.

Reception

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Demolition Racer: No Exit received "generally favourable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[10] Jeff Lundrigan of NextGen said of the PlayStation version in its November 1999 issue, "Although this game has some 'modern' enhancements like shortcuts (which seem sort of pasted in), the game mechanics might as well have been transplanted whole and bleeding from Destruction Derby," and warned the reader to "Steer clear of this smoking wreck."[29] A year later, however, he wrote that No Exit "still isn't living up to its potential, but it's a fun title nonetheless."[28]

Sequel

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A sequel was released for the Dreamcast called Demolition Racer: No Exit, which featured updated graphics, new ambient sound effect, new tracks, new cars, unlockable mini games, and an additional mode called "No Exit", which plays the same as Last Man Standing in earlier games.

References

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  1. ^ "Demolition Racer". Chipsworld. Archived from the original on 6 January 2002. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  2. ^ Sato, Yoshiyuki Ike (28 September 1999). "Demolition Racer PS shipped [date mislabeled as "April 27, 2000"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 7 March 2000. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  3. ^ Wagner, Harald (7 March 2001). "Demolition Racer". PC Games (in German). Computec Media GmbH. Archived from the original on 28 December 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  4. ^ "INA Press Release". 19 August 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-08-19. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  5. ^ "GameInformer - Your Source for Gaming News". Game Informer. 2000-12-16. Archived from the original on 2000-12-16. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  6. ^ IGN staff (15 March 1999). "Accolade Announces 'Smashing' New Title". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  7. ^ "Demolition Racer: No Exit for Dreamcast". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Demolition Racer for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Demolition Racer for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Demolition Racer: No Exit for Dreamcast Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  11. ^ Nguyen, Cal. "Demolition Racer (PC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  12. ^ Goble, Gordon (11 November 1999). "Demolition Racer (PC)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  13. ^ Mahood, Andy (15 October 1999). "Demolition Racer (PS)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  14. ^ Bauman, Steve (4 November 1999). "Demolition Racer". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on 10 July 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  15. ^ EGM staff (November 1999). "Demolition Racer (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 124. Ziff Davis.
  16. ^ "REVIEW for Demolition Racer - No Exit". GameFan. Shinno Media. 3 November 2000.
  17. ^ "Demolition Racer: No Exit". Game Informer. No. 91. FuncoLand. November 2000.
  18. ^ Fitzloff, Jay (December 1999). "Demolition Racer (PS)". Game Informer. No. 80. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on 5 June 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  19. ^ The D-Pad Destroyer (3 November 2000). "Demolition Racer: No Exit Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 13 January 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  20. ^ Werner, Nash (24 November 1999). "Demolition Racer Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  21. ^ Uncle Dust (1999). "Demolition Racer Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  22. ^ Sparks, Shawn (December 2000). "Demolition Racer: No Exit Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  23. ^ Provo, Frank (2 October 2000). "Demolition Racer: No Exit Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  24. ^ Bannister, Paul (4 November 1999). "Demolition Racer Review (PC)". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  25. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (1 October 1999). "Demolition Racer Review (PS) [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  26. ^ Nix, Marc (26 October 2000). "Demolition Racer: No Exit". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  27. ^ Bhatt, Andy (14 October 1999). "Demolition Racer (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  28. ^ a b Lundrigan, Jeff (November 2000). "Demolition Racer: No Exit". NextGen. No. 71. Imagine Media. p. 124. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  29. ^ a b Lundrigan, Jeff (November 1999). "Demolition Racer (PS)". NextGen. No. 59. Imagine Media. p. 119. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  30. ^ Kujawa, Kraig (November 1999). "Demolition Racer". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 2. Ziff Davis. p. 142. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  31. ^ Kramer, Chris (January 2000). "Demolition Racer". PC Accelerator. No. 17. Imagine Media. p. 85. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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