Speed Devils

• Release Date: October 28, 1999
• Genre: Racing
• Style: Sports Car Racing
• Similar Games: Tokyo Xtreme Racer (Dreamcast), Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast), Roadsters (Dreamcast)

Game Description

Speed Devils is a semi-port of the PC game Speed Busters, also by Ubisoft. Instead of a direct port Ubisoft chose to add to Speed Devils and took more of an extreme approach to racing. While racing one of the 11 available hot-rods through the 12 tracks in Speed Devils, players will encounter such obstacles as a T-Rex and a tornado. The three modes of play include: Arcade, Championship, and Multi-Player.

Arcade mode allows players to set up a single race. Only some of the tracks will be available in this mode until the rest are unlocked in Championship mode. Options that can be adjusted in Arcade mode include: weather, time, reverse track, mirror track, time attack, ghost car, nitro, and checkpoints. Every race features three laps and four opponents who will be selected by the computer based on the car you selected. After a race players can watch a replay and check to see if they set a lap or course record.

At the start of Championship mode players will be greeted by Bet-taker who provides a car and garage. Beginning in D class, users will advance to higher classes as they win races and earn Driver Points. Money will also be earned that can be used to purchase new cars and car parts. As players become well known other drivers will challenge them, which can include anything from busting police radar to preventing another racer from finishing in the top three. Winning a challenge can result in the gain of money and notoriety. Other options in Championship mode include gambling and one-on-one races where the winner receives the loser's car. The primary goal of this mode is to eventually defeat the current champion, Driver X.

Multi-Player mode is a split screen two-player game, which features adjustable options as well as five additional modes of play: Head to Head, a standard race; Defend & Attack, nine rounds where players crash into each other in order to receive a pass signal and then lead their opponenet for at least 16 seconds to win; Distance Lag, players race each other until they are separated by the distance they selected; Time Lag, checkpoints must be reached first to win points; and Special Challenge, the winner is based on the number of categories that they lead after a race.

Roots & Influences

Ubi Soft has developed many racing games so they have had plenty of experience before developing Speed Devils. The main influence on Speed Devils is their PC game Speed Busters. Speed Devils also has similarities to the Midway games Cruis'n USA and Cruis'n World.

Review: Overall

The first few races I tried in Speed Devils' Arcade mode I found to be boring and frustrating. It is boring because there is not much to do in Arcade mode other than set some lap and track time records. You also cannot select from all of the tracks and cars until they are released. However, they cannot be released in the mode I was currently playing in, instead it is in Championship mode that the extra tracks and cars must be unlocked. While Arcade mode never became worth playing it is in Championship mode that Speed Devils opens up.

Championship mode features a lot of options. Players can repair their car, gamble, buy parts, buy cars, and accept challenges. When customizing your car with new parts you will learn that Speed Devils is not aiming to be realistic, instead the whole game has an overall Arcade feel to it. Most parts come in two versions, the souped up version and then the really souped up version. There is no need to know about cars here, just buy the best parts you can buy and then drive as fast as you can.

Most of the features in Championship mode add to the replay value, as well as weaken the overall challenge, as you can lose every race and still advance. Other than winning a race, money can be obtained by busting police radar, having the fastest lap time, or reaching the fastest speed during a race. Busting police radar is sometimes a challenge because the police tend to be near tight turns where your first reaction will be to slow down. Unfortunately the police never give chase, they just sit on the side of the road with their radar detectors or take radar from a helicopter.

Racing in both Arcade mode and Championship mode is basically the same, only you win money and can advance in Championship mode. During my first race I took a drive through Las Vegas at night -- ugh. Night driving is one of the weakest areas of Speed Devils because the lighting is so poor making it difficult to see. Another problem, but at the same time a bonus, is car damage. I think having car damage is great, it should be in every game. However, when your headlights are broken during a night race you can't see a thing. This is just way too frustrating as there is no way you (well, I couldn't) can finish higher than last place. You just end up crashing into everything.

So night driving was not handled well but most of the tracks are interesting to say the least. Obstacles appear throughout every course; some are natural obstacles such as rock slides and some are strange, like a dinosaur or smoke left behind by low flying jets. The obstacles add a lot of life to the tracks but at the same time they can result in more frustration. As mentioned above, I had my headlights broken during a night race. They happened to be broken when my car was picked up and dropped by flying saucers. Having your car picked up by flying saucers is original for a racing game but it really has nothing to do with racing. Imagine, you are driving a perfect race, your in first place, and then your car is picked up off the ground and you lose the race -- not fun.

Some tracks have very few obstacles though, and many have mini shortcuts. Racing is smooth as the game runs at a constant 60 frames per second. So if you can overlook the obstacles, or even enjoy them, you may get a kick out of some of the races. Although despite being able to run tracks in the opposite direction with some different obstacles Speed Devils becomes repetitive due to the long laps of each track and the weak computer opponents. They will try to block you sometimes when you try to pass and they will also ram into you, but ultimately they do not provide an exceptional challenge.

Review: Enjoyment

Simulation fans need not apply. Cars don't handle realistically and they are only rated in three categories: speed, braking, and handling. Tracks are varied though and provide a unique, but sometimes frustrating, racing experience.

Review: Graphics

The cars are all generic but they have a lot of detail as well as a large number of selectable paint jobs. At 60fps the game runs smoothly and the tracks contain plenty of variety and originality.

Review: Sound

Music is weak and the sound effects are worse. The cars need to make more noise. With the number of characters in the game some voices could have given the game more personality.

Review: Replay Value

Championship mode is the only mode worth playing. There is enough there to keep players busy but it is not too challenging.

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual covers almost everything but they don't list any default controls.

Production Credits

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