R. C. PRO-AM RACING

 In R. C. PRO-AM RACING (RC) for the Nintendo Entertainment System, you direct
(via joystick) an onscreen, radio-controlled car. Your car, along with three
others, enters a race; if you come in first, second, or third, you continue on
to the next race. If you come in last, you can race again, provided you haven't
come in last twice before.

 There are 32 possible races or "levels." Each level contains a circular track
(no drag races). Before the start of each race, the number of laps it takes to
complete the race, the track conditions, and any special items you have
accumulated are displayed. The special items include sticky tires, which allow
you to go around corners faster, turbo acceleration, which lets you accelerate
faster, and a top-speed engine, which increases the top speed you can drive at.
While you're driving, you see a close-up of the track you're on, and at the
bottom, the level number, the lap number, the amount of ammunition you have, the
type of weapon you have, and a small version of the track with all the current
positions of the cars on it.

 You can find the special items lying around on the track, along with letters
that will eventually spell NINTENDO. You must drive over the items or the
letters in order to pick them up, and the other cars don't compete with you over
the items or letters. Also (to your delight) you can pick up missiles, bombs,
and ammunition that works with either. The missiles allow you to shoot another
car in front of you, causing it to temporarily crash. The bombs let you shoot
another car behind you. Again, the other cars do not have this ability. The
other cars do compete with you on picking up the roll bars. The roll bars are
handy, as they prevent a car from crashing (unless it is shot); they also cause
cars that are attempting to pass you to crash.

 When you pick up all the NINTENDO letters, you receive a new, higher-powered
car and a 40,000 point bonus. Unfortunately, the computer-controlled cars get
higher powered cars too, so you really only do it for the 40,000 points. Each
level contains one letter. If you miss the letter on any given level, it will
appear again on the next level. The car you start out with is a truck, the next
is a van, and the last is a real race car.

 The track itself contains oil slicks (real dangerous when they appear just
before or in a curve), wet spots (slow you down), and zippers (which speed you
up). There are also pop-up barriers that cause a car to crash immediately. The
zippers are a bit tricky, because if you miss a zipper, and the other cars get
one, you're left far behind. Roll bars help with the oil slicks, and sticky
tires allow better traction in the wet spots. As mentioned before, there's
ammunition on the tracks, but there are also skulls, which remove your
ammunition.

 I've enjoyed this game quite a lot. It doesn't take too long to play, you don't
need to be a dexterous whiz to play it, and it's suitable for Nintendo beginners
as well as experts. The computer cars, while having "perfect" knowledge of the
track, make mistakes just like you do. I've seen them crash into a pop-up
barrier, or take an oil-slicked curve a little too quickly. They also change
their driving routines to react to yours. Most other driving games that I've
seen have the computer-controlled cars doing the exact same thing at the exact
same time, so instead of a challenge to finish the race, the game becomes a
memorization exercise. RC doesn't suffer from this defect. The ability to shoot
the other cars decreases the frustration I've experienced with many other
Nintendo games. Even if you're losing, at least you can take someone with you.
On the other hand, having the missiles and bombs are no guarantee of success.

 The game isn't perfect, however. I would appreciate a tone to let me know when
I'm entering the last lap of a race (it's displayed onscreen, but you often
can't take your eyes off your car at that time). There isn't much variation in
the speed of the car; it would have been more convenient if you could press the
B button to slow down or stop (as you do to start). Because the yellow car takes
off like a bullet (and you have no hope of catching up to it), the race ends
much earlier than you'd expect. If you're not in first, second, or third place,
you have a lot less time to catch up to third. I haven't discovered what makes
the yellow car (we call him "Weenie") do this. I do know Weenie won't do it if
you're in first place. I'd also like to be able to play with two players, but
that would require a split screen, and I suppose they didn't have enough ROM to
implement it.

 There are no published spoilers for this game (at the time of this writing),
but the one I'm trying to find on my own is the ability to start playing at a
higher level than one. There is also a way to play on a pitch-black track, but I
haven't discovered how to do this reliably (I think it has something to do with
pressing the Reset button).

 I do recommend R. C. PRO-AM RACING very highly. It's especially suitable for
the family or gaming group that has members who aren't such hot-shot players, as
well as members who are.

 R.C. PRO-AM RACING is published and distributed by Nintendo of America, Inc.

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