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| | Publisher: Monkey Byte  Genre: Sports | | Mac OS X: Not Supported Mac OS Classic: Mac OS 8.1
CPU: 603e @ 180 MHz RAM: 32 MB Hard Disk: 50 MB 4x CD-ROM Graphics: 640x480 @ 16-bit |
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Kawasaki ATV Powersports is here. Monkeybyte has jumped on the Mac racing game bandwagon and released a game that should kick patootie. Instead ATV will only serve to add to your ever-growing collection of coasters…er…AOL CD’s. So, get your helmet, suit, and gas ‘er up, because Kawasaki ATV Powersports is here.ATV, as it will be referred to from now on, is now available from Monkeybyte online or from your favorite retailer (e.g. Mac-O-rama). The Lay of the Land Imagine what you would expect from a game that simulates racing all terrain vehicles and you are still not quite there with this game. The pace of the game is not all that exciting. Each race comes with its own preinstalled courses that have some pretty unique names. Names like Black Widow, A Bridge too Far, and No Hitta da Hutt abound.One way to access the course layout is to check it out in the spiffy course editor. Well, it is very simplistic, actually. Nothing could be easier and basic as laying out a new course within ATV’s editor. The editor lays out the course obstacles and displays the starting gate. It is your job to add the other gates. Be sure to include some straightaways to keep the speeds high. Modifying the course you created is simplicity itself, even a child could handle it. Some may quibble over the lack of 3D graphics in the course editor, but I think it would have just been a waste of effort. However, a preview of the course after producing it would be a great boon to the game. Overall, this is a big plus for a game that has very few.Many of the preinstalled courses are interesting. Some were designed for speed while others were designed merely to test your patience with their winding ways. My particular favorite is the salt flats course. The mogul sections are great at showcasing the high-flying abilities of these four wheelers. The best thing about it is there are a million of them. Well, maybe not a million, but there are quite a few preinstalled layouts for each course. There is really no difficulty level setting for ATV, so the course layouts have to compensate. Some layouts are more serpentine, some straight, some flat, and some require you to spend quite a bit of time with the rubber off terrafirma. Be sure to have your helmet securely in place. Moving in and out of the setup screens is less than interesting. Screens require clicking on a green checkmark to move forward (not the most intuitive graphic) and a red left arrow to move backward. Using the Mac standard command+Q does not quit the game except from the main screen. How inconvenient is that? It will, however, exit you from the current racecourse. The Escape key is the one constant that will move you backward through the screens. ATV allows you to customize your vehicle. Before you get too excited, there are no options to enhance your bike as there are to enhance the pod racer in Star Wars Racer. The only customizable options are to change the color of the bike and the flare of the fenders. It would have been a boon to the game if it allowed the vehicle to be damaged in the race so your crew (if there were a crew present) could fix the bike. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are neither upgraded parts to purchase nor broken parts to repair. There are male and female driver options for you, as well. The graphics in ATV are lacking. The game does support RAVE. That is the mode used for the following comments. The surrounding visuals lack flair. The course settings are varied, but are missing depth. The ground surface is equally flat regardless of the choice of terrain be it desert, grassland, or salt flats. The colors and textures show little contrast. One area where the lack of "Unreal-like" graphics shows itself most definitely is when your ATV is moving through water. The contrast between the submerged part of the vehicle and the unsubmerged portion is not as great as it could be. In this day of killer 3D graphics, ATV runs way at the back of the pack.
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