Porsche Challenge

"A game which suffers the ravages of time"

Porsche Challenge was originally released WAAAAY back in 1997 when the playstation console as still finding its feet. At the time it was moderately well received, as there was a lack of competition from other racing games (Gran Turismo was still a little ways off). However, upon playing the game now, the problems which were always apparent only now seem to reveal themselves.

GRAPHICS

I’m glad to say that the graphics themselves remain thoroughly consistent, with the levels looking relatively detailed and character models looking somewhat person-like but just a little square shaped. Draw in rates are a slight worry, with areas of the track just a few metres ahead pooping up out of nowhere all too often, but for the most part the game remains stable.

8/10

STORY

Are you serious? This is a racing game, pure and simple. A story is not taken into account. It tries somewhat to get a relationship between the characters, with a couple of pages in the manual dedicated to their feelings towards the other racers, but this doesn’t seem to affect the racing a single bit.

0/10

AUDIO/VIDEO

The characters voices are annoying, as they whip out their catchphrases at the beginning of every race, and the engine noise is really the only other thing going for sound in terms of this game. A very disappointing aspect of the game on the whole as video is also pretty much defunct in light of the racing genre.

<3/10>

GAMEPLAY

What was fondly remembered as a furiously fast rampage through the tracks is in reality a bland, slow affair that really lets the game down by todays standards. There are only 4 tracks contained within the game, but they try to give you the feeling of more by giving different routes throughout the courses, and by playing the reverse of these courses later on when the cheat becomes unlocked to do so. The courses themselves seem somewhat bland and dull also. From the alpine track, covered in snow, to Japan, you never get the feeling of anything unique is being seen. The small amount of tracks also leads to the lifespan of the game being very short. Even on the hard difficulty, you can complete all twelve (twenty four when mirrored) tracks within the first hour of playing, leaving nothing more to be done.
Variety too is a serious problem. Since this is Porsche Challenge, every car in the game is a Porsche Boxster, which means that there is no variation at all between whomever you choose as your driver, since they all handle the same and so forth. The feeling of speed is also never really established within the game. The top speed of these vehicles is 235mph, but even when you are redlining in this game, it seems that you are going no faster than when you were down around the 100mph mark. It all seems rather sluggish.

4/10

REPLAYABILITY

As mentioned before, it will only take around an hour to crack all of the tracks in the game, and when you do so, a cheat is unlocked which can then be entered on the main menu screen. There is a whole host of cheats, such as invisible car mode (which almost always causes the game to crash) to helium voices, and they are all vaguely amusing for a few minutes. However, they expect you to play through with every character before they give you a cheat for mirror mode, which is actually quite annoying. Apart from that, and a small video of some men talking about the Porsche Boxster, there is virtually no replayability contained within this game.

3/10

EVALUATION

What was once such a classic, has degenerated over time into a dull, slow, simple game. Everything about the game screams mediocrity at you now, but it has taken many years, and stiff competition from more established, thorough racing games for these cracks to become apparent. Don’t get me wrong, the game is by no means a terrible affair, but it just isn’t that great either. It should be available now for just a few pounds (dollars) and it still worth this measly sum. Don’t take my word for it, try the game yourself.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/03, Updated 04/07/03