The first three Test Drive games are a rather mixed bag.
Test Drive has horrid controls. Tap tap tap to go, tap tap tap to steer, and what buttons was it again to gear shift? Very tedious.
Test Drive 2: The Duel was much better, it was a good driving game for its time, but why couldn't they have Ad Lib sound in the DOS version? Otherwise, the only half-way decent Test Drive in my opinion.
Test Drive 3: The Passion is just a terrible, unplayable driving game. The steering is an exercise in utter frustration as it's a struggle not to veer off of a road and into a tree. The game's speed is CPU-dependent, which is pathetic for 1990, and also tied to the frame rate. The "proper" frame rate is too laggy to be unplayable, but if the frame rate is increase, the game just goes too fast. And the music and sounds are just pure cheese. Just listen to the police siren, it just makes me laugh or annoyed depending on the volume level. Squeeeeeeeeeeee-squeeeeeeeeeee-squeeeeeeeeeeee! Sounds just like nails on a chalkboard!
|