Zzap


Mountain Bike Racer

Publisher: Zeppelin Games
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #60

Mountain Bike Racer

Do you ever get a sense of deja vu? Do you ever get a sense of deja vu? Well, following last month's Pro Mountain Bike Sim from Alternative comes Zeppelin's Mountain Bike Racer - oh, what an original idea; why don't they do something exciting like 'Pro Mountain Challenge Turbo Bike Racing Ninja... Sim'?!

Oh, well, this is much like the Alternative effort with your bike travelling through a horizontally scrolling obstacle course. You must jump over things like tyres, and go fast enough to get up hills, but slow down so you don't slip off muddy downslopes. Now I may be wrong, but I thought the whole point of mountain bikes was to go easily over rough terrain. However, in this 'sim' the slightest little thing can cause the rider to fall off - perhaps he's just got a poor sense of balance! Anyway, hitting the ground every five seconds is frustrating, but if you manage to stumble to the end of the first level, you can spend your prize mony on some useful extras like fat tyres, ice chains and a puncture repair kit.

Simplistic and irritatingly tough, the game lacks Pro Mountain Bike Sim's neat two-player mode and playability, and apart from some fairly attractive graphics is totally inferior in every way. Steer well clear.