"Ready, Steady, Go"

Introduction
Ignition is a very fun and quirky racing game that will have you pushing and shoving your opponents on your way into 1st place. It is a simple game with simple controls and is easy to pick up and play.

Game Modes
There are four modes of play: Championship, Single Race, Time Trial and Pursue Mode. In "Championship Mode" you race 3 laps on 5 to 7 different tracks. Each finish will earn you points and in order to advance to the next track you need to finish at least 3rd place. After all of the tracks have been raced, if you have the highest point total then you advance to the next difficulty level. There are four Championship levels to go through: Novice, Amateur, Pro and Mirror (the tracks are mirror imaged). Keep winning races to win the prize cup. It's basic racing cup stuff, really. In "Single Race Mode" you pick a track and race 3 laps with 5 opponents. In "Time Trial Mode" you will race ghosts of your best lap and track times as you try to beat your own best scores. In "Pursue Mode" the last car to finish a lap is eliminated every lap. There can be only one.

Gameplay
You begin the game with seven vehicles and five tracks, but quickly unlock more. All in all, there are eleven vehicles in which you can dash and power slide you way though seven terrific tracks. The cars are not your typical race cars. They are all very novel for a racing game. Each car has four statistics (acceleration, turbo, speed and grip) which vary from car to car. The tracks are very well designed and make great use of the space they have. The terrain is all 3D and has ample gorges, hairpin turns, cliffs with no guard rails and big jumps galore. On every track there are obstacles such as lightning bolts, avalanches, rock slides, and pedestrian vehicles that can make you lose valuable time and generally cause a ruckus. There are alternate routes in the courses that you can try to use to out maneuver your opponents.

Control
The controls are very simplistic and easily configurable. You have your choice of Automatic or Manual Gearbox. So you can either worry about shifting or just put the pedal to the metal. There is speed meter that, when full, allows you to get a burst of speed. There is also Rear View that you can check to keep an eye on the racers that are trailing you.

Sound
Ignition supports CD Audio playback for its game music. So that means the soundtrack is awesome. Pop your favorite CD into your drive and go. I love this feature. As for the in-game sound, it's typical racing game fare: screeching, engine noise, peel outs, bloops and bleeps in the menu. One nice touch, however, is that each car has its own individual sound for when you hit a speed burst. For instance, the Police Car's siren wails and the Hot Rod's horn blows 'La Cucaracha' like a good ol' southern boy's horn should.

Graphics
There are lots of small details that really make these older graphics look nice. Things like rain in some areas, water puddles and flashing safety cones that you can plow right through. The cars leave skid marks, smoke and dust trails, speed burst spark trails and lots of explosion and fire effects.

Replay Value
For each track, the best times for laps and races are saved, so you will always have something to go back to and try to one up. Also, all of the modes can be played in multi-player. You can use split screen for multi-player games with two players on one computer or use the LAN network feature to take on a neighbor.

Recommendation
If you are a fan of simple racing games, then you will love this game. There are no 500 lap courses, no pit stops, no gear ratio front-end super torque balance hullabaloo... just bash 'em and crash 'em racing fun. Ignition isn't the best most intensive racing game in the world, but that is what makes it fun.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06