Demolition Racer: No Exit

"Slam Bang! Right down the main line..."

Tickles down your spine - you're killing yourself now.
It's a heavy duty concoction, this Demolition Racer, and it's not for the light of heart. Auto wreckage racing has never, ever looked or played so good, so fast, or so destructive - this is vicarious muscle-car gladiatorship at its best.

Demolition Racer: No Exit for the Dreamcast represents a lot of really great things. By itself as a racing game, it's one of the best. By itself as a demolition game, it's also one of the best. As a combination of the two, it's absolutely incredible.

Graphics -
They're just incredible. The textures are great, the paint designs stick out well. The framerate is FAST, even with 16 cars on screen at a time there's no hiccups at all. No pop-up or draw-in at all, even when you're involved in a 10-car collision at full speed, with hoods flying everywhere and pieces of car shrapnel flying outward wildly. Even without the violence, the racing secion looks great. Textures on the track/ground/dirt/whatever you're on depending on the stage, all perfect.

Control -
Maybe a little twitchy at first, but you do get used to it with some practice. Not much either - this isn't a huge learning curve situation, but it can be offputting for a the first 10 minutes or so. And to give the game credit - muscle-cars and the like driving on jagged dirt roads after being smashed up a bunch probably don't handle with pinpoint precision anyhoo.

Game Design -
Just incredible. On-track boxes give armor powerups, turbo boosts, bombs, point bonuses or deductions and much more. Ramps which can be strategically used to land upon and destroy opponents are well-placed, and there are many secret paths and tunnels. There are tons (and I mean TONS) of tracks for the regular racer game. And there are tons (and once again, I mean TOOOONS!) of extra modes available, including a straight-up demolition game that's riotous fun time and time again. In the extras, once you open some of them up, there are some of the best extra games I've ever played. One is a demoliton version of Pong that may in fact be the best Dreamcast game I own, no joke. Another is a game of soccer in cars that involves you maneuvering your car to either knock the ball through the opponent's goal...or into the opponent (destroy them, and you can score at will, repeatedly). And there's even a light-gun compatible extra game called ''Big Car Hunter'' in which you shoot demolition cars as they careen towards the screen at great speed. In sum, every conceivable bell and whistle has been thrown in, and it is SWEET.

So why only a 9 out of 10?
Well, these extras are a REAL pain to get. The game's last few stages of difficulty are an absolute nightmare to beat, even with the best of skill and luck on your side. A tragic flaw that - unfortunately, directly effects enjoyment of the game since the great extra modes can't be had until you spend many many hours painstakingly beating game levels. But believe me, it's worth it. But the game does lose a point for the failure to maintain a steady, gradually increasing ramp of difficulty that would be optimal.

But don't get it wrong - DR: No Exit is one of the best Dreamcast games, and one of the best games ever for any system when it comes right down to it. It's just overflowing with fun factor, overpacked with extra treats, and a marvel of videogame design from start to finish.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/06/02, Updated 05/06/02