"Demolish towns and parts of cities with swift precision to save the world!"

Time to tear ‘em up! ~ Talk about a strange concept for a game. You know what your objective is? That’s right, just what the title says. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take on a variety of emergency jobs in destruction and carve a clear path through evacuated towns for one dangerous little truck to safely pass through. You have to be quick with your actions and think up strategies for how you will swiftly destroy all in your path. You have a bulldozer, cars, mechs, a dumptruck, a snazzy missile firing motorcycle, and many more at your disposal to assault a number of missions. To tell the truth, though, this game really isn’t about action. It is about speed. And not just foolhardy speed. You have to know what you are doing. With that in mind, this game being listed under the genre of “puzzle” seems most fitting and to be quite honest I can’t imagine it being labeled anything else. Talk about a unique concept, huh?

Well, the big question is… does it work? Not all innovative ideas are effective when put into practice, after all. Well, let’s give it a look, shall we?

Story ~ The story doesn’t play a major role in this game. There is no true developed plot, just an intermittent paragraph of information referring to how your actions are effecting the world every so often. The story itself is a bit odd. I can’t recall all the details, but there is this truck filled with derelict nuclear weapons where the drivers have died, and it is now being guided by computer straight to ground zero. Unfortunately, it must go straight through cities, towns, and farms to do so. There is enough junk in this truck to create a catastrophe for the entire work, and so all these areas have been evacuated. It is the job of the people of Blast Corps to clear out all the obstacles in the truck’s direct path so as to avert a nuclear cataclysm.

I, personally, liked the story. Despite how silly and unbelievable it is, I really like it. Sure, it sounds ridiculous and merely like a good excuse to destroy buildings, but I find it a far more likely event to take place in the real world than that which occurs in most RPGs and adventure games. Heck, I find it to be a refreshing break from the “save the world from the maniacal villain” type deal.

However, regardless of what you think of the story, it doesn’t really affect the game to much. It is a premise, and little more than that. The real draw to this game, if there is one, is in the gameplay. Before we touch upon that, however…

Graphics ~ Well, let’s be frank here. The graphics are probably one of the game’s weaker points. The robots and the vehicles are fairly smooth, along with the worlds and layouts, but there are still plenty of rigid edges where their ought not to be. It’s not horrible nor does it really detach from gameplay; it just is blatantly noticeable at times. Then, worst of all… the textures. They tend to either look quite sharp and crisp or appear smudged and blurry. Many N64 games suffer from this, but the landscapes in this seem to suffer in particular.

They aren’t all bad or mediocre, though. As you may have guessed, the explosions are fantastic and look great. The buildings shatter and shift, crack and bend to the forcible blows you dealt to them. Light is also treated well in this game. Metal surfaces are quite reflective and changing angles causes the light reflections to change with it. Also, the black van featured in this game is especially well textured, along with the missile launching motorcycle. They are probably the most crisp of the vehicles.

So overall, not great, but they get the job done. If there ever is a sequel to this game, this is one thing they should pay more attention to. Though in truth, it does work and isn’t something to whine about too much. I’m just getting picky for the sake of being critical.

Gameplay ~ Oh, goodness gracious! This game is great! This section is pretty darn close to perfect; I don’t know how they could have done better with a theme of destroying buildings. You’d think you would be bored of it within an hour, but the variety of layouts, the different tactics you must use with different vehicles, the sometimes radically different controls for vehicles, the ability to switch between them in levels… wow. There is a lot of way to accomplish the tasks set before you, and there are plenty of ways to get it done in a speedy manner. You have to figure out how you like to play and what techniques work best for you with each and every instrument of annihilation. I can’t stress how much this adds; how much this forces you to learn the whole game and want to learn the whole game. It can very well turn into an addictive and ever-driven need to improve and sharpen your skills, and all the flying dust and explosions are sure to be an added plus for pyromaniacs everywhere. Also, the additions of new time attacks to aim for as you go along add greatly to the challenge and replay value. If you like this game, you will have plenty to keep you busy for a time to come.

Granted, this type of game isn’t for everyone. I can think of a number of people who just can’t get drawn into this sort of game. Those who need a pat on the back after each level by additional storyline and explanation of what is going on, leave at once. Those who need a lot of emotion to come from a game’s characters and to be able to feel the suspense of the situation, get out. This game can only be enjoyed if you love it for how you play it instead of obtaining the end result. Simply put, if you are the kind of person who can play tetris and pac-man for hours on end, you will simply love this game. End of story.

Control ~ The controls are a bit mixed, but overall very competently managed. Despite the sometimes radical differences in control (like going from the shaky, slow moving dumptruck to a giant flying mech with jet thrusters) when you switch from vehicle to vehicle the control adaptation allows for you to immediately transition. Only after a few tries will it almost become effortless to convert to different motions for steering and different button combinations for wiping out buildings. Some players may find it to be a rather unwieldy game at first, but I implore you to give it time. The differences between vehicles isn’t usually due to back control design so much that the designers attempted to balance many things out. For instance, the race car painted like the American flag has very lousy grip and slow acceleration, and takes a lot of effort to control. In exchange it is super fast. However, there is also the van which has super good grip, but is no where near as fast. It also has mediocre acceleration. Then, as if to contrast, there is a red sports car that has great acceleration but only decent speed and grip.

However, some vehicles feel… too handicapped. The bulldozer in particular. It is designed so that you have to swerve around and careen into buildings backwards, using the heavy metal back end to decimate structures. However, the control and grip is so incredibly palsy that it could very well scare away new players. This vehicle takes a lot of time to master, and unfortunately you have little choice but to use it in some of the harder levels. The missile launching motorcycle is another story. It is fast, but at the same time, has incredible grip and super tight turning skills. Such to the point where you can drive in tight circles with little effort. This may sound cool, but when every little flinch against the joystick throws off the aim of your missiles it can be tasking to learn proper movement methods.

In short, the control system is not broken. It is balanced very well. Perhaps a bit too well, in some cases, demanding you to take on every little error and con with each vehicle along with the pros. Overall it is a very good system once you learn it, but it can be quite difficult to set into it with some of the vehicle types. Still very good considering the diversity.

Sound ~ The sound is good and solid, but nothing to write home about. Explosions sound like explosions, and will vary depending on level of destruction. Engines all have unique sounds along with tire screeches, jet blasts, and the like. The voices of the characters are pretty good too, though they don’t really play any huge role. The music works well, but it is nothing that will stay in your head all day. That, in my opinion, can be a plus of its own: good enough not to annoy you but not catchy enough to make you start humming it randomly and annoy everyone around you. Simple as that.

Final Synopsis ~ Overall, the graphics and sound are decent, the gameplay is phenomenal, and the controls can be rather annoying at times but you can still live with them if you work at it. Definitely a solid eight, and with a design and concept unlike ever I have stumbled across in all of gaming. To not give a game like this an honest chance and at least play it is a crime. I feel that many developers could take a lesson in innovation by looking at how different this game is, and how it still plays wonderfully. If you still own a N64 then you owe it to yourself to hunt down this title and give it a go; for the sheer novelty if nothing else. It’s fairly old now, and certainly dirt cheap. Don’t rent it, buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/04