CART Fury Championship Racing

"Fun, but the CPU cheats just a little too much."

I originally played this at an arcade in Florida at around 1/13/01. I like it because I'm one of those arcade-style, nutty racing game fans. It was like Hydro Thunder on the road. I enjoyed playing it, although I had a hearing problem for the next 2 days, due to the speaker positioning. I heard it was coming to the PS 2. I was excited, so I went and bought it a week after it came out. How was it?

Story (1/10)- Hmmmm....nothing much here. Race around a track/open road and attempt to finish first. Well, racing games were never really known for their plot, except for a select few kart racers.

Gameplay (7/10)- Very good fun, but very hard. I (and a few other people) have noticed that the CPU tends to cheat. It doesn't abide by the same physics engine that you do, has this annoying tendency to get Super Boosts on the first lap, and has a higher top speed than you do. Hmmm... Well, it does add a challenge, which is preferable to blasting through the whole field and placing first with little effort. You can get performance boosts by getting good lap times. For instance: if you beat the target lap time on this track for one lap, you get a Super Boost, which involves setting your wheels on fire and boosting your speed by 50 MPH. Opponents? Ram them so hard that they wreck hard (which is no understatement). If you don't beat the target lap time, you get a regular Boost. There are some nice cheap tactics in here. Most people will force their opponent's front wheel to rub against their own fuselage for a few seconds, which ALWAYS induces a spectacular end-over-end, debris-flying-everywhere, fire-strewn wreck. The courses are either fairly easy or really hard, each with its own surprises and shortcuts. Some are based on real-life tracks (like Rio), but most are fantasy. There are about 20 drivers waiting to be selected (all real-life), with a few hidden design team members and hidden cars. Several different modes, which may involve deliberate wrecks, firing missiles, or fine tuning skills. Lots of fun, but may get old after trying that race for the 127th time...

Audio (9/10)- Ahhh....the joys. Most everything sounds great, although the music could have done with a makeover. I do indeed love the sound effects. From the smashing noise of the cars on the track to the explosion effects to the engines, it all sounds nice. Danny Sullivan provides a clear, concise commentary.

Graphics (10/10)- Well! These are what I like to call ''arcade-perfect graphics.'' The environments around the tracks look good, with none of those stupid sprites. The crashes look EXTREMELY well-done. The crashing cars remind me of the crashing Podracers from The Phantom Menace. You can actually see the front wing scrape the ground and tear off before the rest of the car is smashed. Hard. Pyro work is nice, with flames in the right places (this is Midway, after all). Lighting looks good, too. Gotta love them wrecks...

Controls (9/10)- Easy enough. You've got X sending you forwards, and Square handling the brake. All easy stuff. Shoulder buttons control the shift for you.

Multiplayer (8/10)- Pretty fun. There isn't much of a framerate drop here. Problem: you must unlock anything you want to use in multiplayer in the mode itself. Oh well.

Replayability (7/10)- I gave this a 7 only because you'll want to unlock everything in the game. Otherwise, the idea of doing everything over again is laughable.

Buy or rent?: It all depends on taste. I'd always recommend renting it first. Die-hard racing fans should go and pay the $50 for it; otherwise rent it.

Overall: Nabs a 7 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/01, Updated 12/02/01