C.A.R.T. Fury: Championship Racing

• Release Date: May 25, 2001
• Genre: Racing
• Style: Formula-1/Indy Racing
• Similar Games: Downforce (PlayStation 2), Formula One 2001 (PlayStation 2), F1 2002 (PlayStation 2)

Game Description

C.A.R.T. Fury is the only PlayStation 2 game sanctioned by CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams). CART racers are open wheeled, as opposed to the more standard looking NASCAR vehicles. The game includes seven authentic tracks hand picked from various locations around the world and the player can race as one of 15 well-known drivers, including Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi. Game Modes include: simulation, arcade, season, and Driving 101. Also included is a variety of driving games, such as: Last Man Standing, Duel, Block Your Opponent, Time Trial/Practice Mode, Follow the Line, and Lock On.

C.A.R.T. Fury's play mechanics are more over the top than many sim-type racing games, and includes more car crashes and general destruction. Drivers can employ regular and turbo boosts to help goose more performance out of their cars. Bumping other players' cars and AI cars is discouraged because it costs the player speed, but the temptation to sideswipe a competitor's car is never far away.

Review: Overall

C.A.R.T. may actually stand for Championship Auto Racing Team, but in the case of Midway's C.A.R.T. Fury, it might just as well stand for: Curiously Arranged Retaliatory Traffic; Catastrophic Automobiles Rushing Thither; Clearly Angry Random Trespassers; or Crushed Aluminum Rally Trash. They all fit equally well, and actually describe the game's action far better.

C.A.R.T. Fury is officially licensed by CART, though it would be interesting what some of the CART driving community thought of the game. It no more resembles a sanctioned CART event than NBA Jam resembles basketball. While C.A.R.T. Fury may be a CART game in name and appearance only, it does deliver arcade-style action that is fast, furious, and -- were it to happen in real life like it does in this game -- probably fatal.

While it would be tempting to relegate C.A.R.T. Fury to the scrap heap of other arcade racers ported to various console platforms, including MotoGP, Ridge Racer V, and nearly every Dreamcast racing title, this game fairly demands that a review accentuate its positives. To paraphrase William Shakespeare, who actually would more likely have been a NASCAR fan had he been alive today, we have come to praise C.A.R.T. Fury, not to bury it.

C.A.R.T. Fury doesn't stack up well if you run it head-to-head against more sophisticated competition, such as Gran Turismo or the aforementioned Ridge Racer V. One suspects, however, that such was never publisher Midway's intent. To say C.A.R.T. Fury is "racing lite" is like saying the Titanic is "a nice boat." Real racing fans would shy away from it like it was a Big Mac in London at the height of Mad Cow epidemic.

Fans of video games, however, will probably enjoy the game's antics just fine. It is simple to learn and fairly easy to master. Moms, dads, younger brothers, girlfriends -- possibly even the family pet -- can expect to pick up this game and have fun with it from the get-go. Its lightning-quick frame rate, nimble handling, arcade-style physics, and straightforward menu system guarantee a wide audience.

The best feature in the game is its use of both regular and super boosts. By crossing the start/finish line, the player collects a set amount of regular boost. By beating a pre-set lap time, the player is awarded an equal amount of Super Boost, which is much more dynamic. Not only does your car move faster, but flames will explode from behind your tires.

If there is a flaw in this game it is the AI. Much of the time it is quite easy to wax the opposition and speed past the finish line. However, there are times when the AI cars are just too brutal to beat. When that happens, the AI car appears to be shot out of a cannon and any physical laws that you might have to adhere to will be suspended. In short, when you win, it often seems too easy to be truly satisfying; when you lose, the opponents have cheated you. It's a no-win situation for C.A.R.T. Fury -- if you take winning and losing seriously, that is.

The start-up screens and options menus are simple to navigate and easy to read. The design elements are brassy, which is in keeping with the tone of the game, but they would have to leave any CART official in his right mind wondering what planet the designers came from. In-game graphics are competent. The tracks are colorful enough, but the cars sometimes give one the feeling that they are just glued onto the tracks. More attention to lighting and shadow rendering would have helped.

This game has more than enough depth with its mini-games and driving modes, but what is most fun is the wanton nature of its car crashes. If it's true that fans go to the races to see crashes, then this game should succeed far beyond Midway's dreams. There are crashes everywhere. This game doesn't resemble an actual CART race as much as it does a series of explosions at a wrecking yard. Because the threat of a collision is ever present, you dare not take your eyes off of the road, and no lead is safe as long as there are other cars present -- even a few lengths away, either to the front or the rear.

The music is passable, if a bit repetitive, but the sound effects are limited, both in number and quality. Why this is so is anyone's guess, since other developers have been getting much better quality from the PS2 hardware for their titles. Perhaps it came down to how much Midway was willing to redo from the original arcade system hardware. Regardless of the reasons, the proof is in the pudding and this game's pudding barely resembles Jell-O, much less the Savoy Truffle.

Is C.A.R.T. Fury a great game? Is it going to be placed in a time capsule as the paragon of racing games? Probably not. Is it fun to play? You bet. This one is certainly worth a spin for racing fans who like a little extra pizzazz while gunning for the checkered flag.

Review: Enjoyment

Is your glass half full or half empty? Do you want to be able to pick up a game and enjoy it right out of the box, without having to learn the ins and outs of sim-style driving and impossibly real physics. Do you enjoy a quick fix of racing that's full of arcade wackiness and impossible crashes? This game is quick, easy, and infectious -- in short, it's fun.

Review: Graphics

Midway serves up a steaming serving of standard stuff. The tracks are well laid out and colorful enough. There is no texture shimmer or frame rate lag. As with many other racing games, the environments are too sterile to be serving as a venue for an exciting race.

Review: Sound

"V" may stand for Victory, but it also should stand for Variety. The designers completely forgot that different cars have different engine sounds; that an environment is made more complete through a wide variety of sound effects. Music is average to good, with a nod to including such groups as Disturbed and Outkast.

Review: Replay Value

Like popcorn and pretzels, this game should be a party favorite. Get two people into it head-to-head and just watch the hours fly by.

Review: Documentation

Twenty-five pages of documentation, all in black-and-white. Adequately describes the controller options, driving modes, and mini-games.

Production Credits