Test Drive Le Mans

"Interesting, but Not Necessarily Worth Stepping Back from Le Mans 24 Hours"

Shortly after I bought my original PlayStation console in 1999, I happened upon Test Drive Le Mans. I remember really liking the game at the time, although my driving skills were not truly up to par at that time, so I eventually sold off the game.

Since then, I have upgraded to a PlayStation2 and greatly improved my driving skills. I have also owned Le Mans 24 Hours (for PS2) since its release in August 2001 and have recently been thinking that it would be great to reacquire Test Drive Le Mans to see how the two games compare, especially in their renditions of the famous Le Mans circuit (La Circuit de la Sarthe).

Stepping backward from the PS2 Le Mans 24 Hours to the PSX Test Drive Le Mans is very a eye-opening experience. In Quick Race mode, where car adjustments such as fuel and aerodynamics are not available, car handling is VERY twitchy, to the extent that even the cars with the best handling characteristics are simply not driveable. Some of the other game modes, however, DO allow for car adjustments; if the right combination can be found, the cars can be driven fairly well... although the cars will still be somewhat twitchy in terms of handling. Le Mans 24 Hours is also more of a simulation-style game, whereas Test Drive Le Mans is much more of an arcade-style game with a (very) few tuning and adjustment options available.

What disappointed me most, however, is the 'lack of faithfulness' to the real-world Le Mans circuit. Le Mans 24 Hours does an excellent job of this; real-world drivers can complete a lap at Le Mans in about 3:40, give or take a few seconds. Test Drive Le Mans, however, severely compresses the Le Mans circuit, to the point that I currently have a record lap time of 1:25.53 :-( This is most likely due to the limitations of the PlayStation itself (the console for which the game was designed), but this also means that there is no true sense of the immense length of the world-famous Mulsanne/Hunaudieres straight; also, there are also virtually NO elevation changes in Test Drive Le Mans. For those with any level of familiarity with Le Mans 24 Hours, the Le Mans circuit in Test Drive Le Mans is definitely recognizable, but also very much an abomination :-(

Just to clarify, Test Drive Le Mans is definitely NOT a bad game!!!!! However, despite being an arcade-style game, Test Drive Le Mans definitely does require better-than-average driving skills. As such, it is NOT a good game for young children, as they will quickly become frustrated at their lack of success (especially in Quick Race mode). Some measure of patience is certainly required in any driving game, but Test Drive Le Mans requires a lot more patience than any other driving/racing game I have ever played - either on PlayStation OR PlayStation2.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/02, Updated 07/03/02