TEST DRIVE II: THE DUEL

 TEST DRIVE II: THE DUEL is a cross between TEST DRIVE and GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT.
The concept is the same as in the original TEST DRIVE: Drive a high-powered
sports car as fast as you can without crashing or getting caught by the Highway
Patrol. The innovation is that you can race against a computer-controlled,
high-powered sports car that can also crash or get a speeding ticket. (This
review, CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE and EUROPEAN CHALLENGE scenery disk notes, and
SUPERCARS car disk notes are based on the IBM-PC version. Commodore 64/128
version notes for SUPERCARS and CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE follow, along with THE
MUSCLE CARS car disk notes for the Amiga version.)

 Only two cars are included in the basic TD II game: the Porsche 959 and the
Ferrari F40, both of which share similar handling characteristics. The joystick
or keyboard controls acceleration, braking, turning, and shifting.
Unfortunately, the ability to control shifting from the keyboard while driving
with the joystick has not been implemented in TD II. I've played TEST DRIVE and
GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT, and both games allow the "A" and "Z" keys to upshift and
downshift while using the joystick -- a very useful feature.

 According to Accolade's representative in the Game Publishers Forum (GO
GAMPUB), the game designers felt that activating the keyboard shift while using
the joystick would be redundant. Obviously, I disagree. Many times I've
encountered trouble by going too slow; in order to get into first gear, I have
to bring the car to a complete stop. When keyboard shifting is available, this
problem doesn't occur. In any case, separate controls are more realistic: The
accelerator and gear shift on a real car aren't interconnected.

 An "expert" shift mode is included, but it affects the handling of the cars too
much to be fun. In expert mode, the fire button of the joystick must be pressed
for the joystick to become a gear shift; the player must move the joystick in
the direction of the shift pattern. It's quite difficult to do this without
steering the car all over the road, because the joystick is also your steering
wheel. Distinctive Software should have considered incorporating an optional
second joystick as the expert stick shift.

 There are twelve levels of difficulty in TD II. Levels 1-4 include automatic
shifting. As your level increases, so do your opponent's speed, the cop's speed,
the traffic speed, and the traffic density. Point scores also increase in
proportion to difficulty.

 TD II is more sophisticated than original TEST DRIVE. Crashes result in the
addition of a 20-second penalty to your (or your computer opponent's) time.
Running over road debris eventually causes a gear to be stripped. There are
sections of road three or four lanes wide. You can even drive off the road onto
the shoulder to avoid oncoming traffic, because a cliff isn't always on the
other side. If you do go off a cliff, you see part of the fall before you crash.
Tunnels are included on this disk and on the California scenery disk, as well.

 TD II's master (default) scenery consists of six stretches of road. Each
subsequent section seems to offer more twists and turns than the last.
Successful driving requires more than a lead foot. Careful timing and knowing
when to slow down are the secrets to winning.

 I played TD II on a GenTech 386/20 computer, with an Everex EVGA graphics card,
Mitsubishi Diamondscan monitor, and CH Mach IV joystick. Distinctive Software's
standard tic-tac-toe display calibrates the joystick. The game supports CGA,
EGA, Tandy, and Hercules graphics. The copy-protection scheme involves a key
disk. The game can be reinstalled if you make a mistake the first time. Scenery
disks and car disks are installed from the opening menu.

 Distinctive Software has produced a fine successor to TEST DRIVE in TEST DRIVE
II: THE DUEL. It's fun, it's addictive, and it's a real test of reaction time
and eye-hand coordination.

 TEST DRIVE II: CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE SCENERY DISK NOTES

 The CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE scenery disk includes seven legs from northern to
southern California. The Redwood Forest, the Bay Area, the Monterey Peninsula,
Big Sur, the beaches near Los Angeles, and the San Diego area are all depicted
nicely. It's a shame you don't get to see very much at 180 miles per hour.
Nevertheless, I found the CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE less challenging than the default
scenery of THE DUEL.

 TEST DRIVE II: EUROPEAN CHALLENGE SCENERY DISK NOTES

 The EUROPEAN CHALLENGE scenery disk includes road sections in six European
countries. The tour begins in Holland and moves through Germany, Switzerland,
Italy, France, and Spain. Sprite graphics depict scenery appropriate for each
country: Windmills line the roads in Holland, and Roman ruins are everywhere in
Italy. The Swiss stretch of road is most challenging, with hairpin turns and
tunnels through the Alps. Rockslides and gravel are hazards along the Spanish
roads. Germany has a four-lane Autobahn with no speed limit. Beaches are the
background for the south coast of France.

 I found the EUROPEAN CHALLENGE to be more difficult than both TD II's master
scenery disk and the CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE. I frequently stalled the cars without
an independent shift control in joystick mode, and also earned more traffic
tickets, as the police were harder to evade on the twisting roads.

 EUROPEAN CHALLENGE doesn't provide a totally European feel. Road signs should
display speeds and distances in kilometers, but they use familiar American miles
instead; gas stations look just like American gas stations. Nevertheless,
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE will test your driving skills to the limit: You won't become
bored quickly.

 TEST DRIVE II: THE SUPERCARS CAR DISK NOTES

 THE SUPERCARS include the Lotus Turbo Esprit, the Ferrari Testarossa, the
Porsche 911 RUF, the Lamborghini Countach 5000S, and the Corvette ZR1. The Lotus
felt quite slow compared to the others, but I was able to beat a Ferrari by
driving safely while the computer racked up big penalty minutes for crashing.
The 911 RUF, with a top speed of 211 miles per hour, is outstanding in
performance, but a bear to control at that speed. The Countach, Testarossa, and
Corvette were all similar in performance, except that the Corvette has a tank of
an engine: It's the only car whose engine I couldn't blow, even after leaving it
in red line for a long time.

 COMMODORE 64/128 VERSION NOTES

 Take the Commodore 64/128 version of Accolade's THE DUEL, put it together with
its car and scenery disks (THE SUPERCARS and CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE), and watch
all your nightmares of multiple disk swaps come true...with a vengeance. Through
judicious and time-consuming use of created play disks (as well as the Install
option), you'll be able to avoid some swapping, but hardly enough to justify THE
DUEL's existence on the Commodore (whose 1541 disk drive operates at a crawl to
begin with). TD II reeks of "advanced coding techniques" -- which usually spell
trouble; the only difference here is that the techniques are crammed onto three
disks instead of one (as Electronic Arts would have done it).

 Copy protection figures into this, too. Real, actual files have to be copied
from the master disk to a play disk. Accolade is going to make you pay for this
blatant intrusion by requiring constant swapping, lots of play disks with
different car/scenery setups, or both. None of this is necessary, nor can any of
it be justified.

 On the C64 version, sounds are okay, but the graphics leave much to be desired,
especially in the wake of the Amiga and IBM versions. The displays look best on
the Commodore when you're not racing; the pre-race selection and car stats
screens are nicely done, clear and colorful. The dashboard is washed-out and
messy. The scenery is dull and listless: Workmen with vision impairments painted
the lane stripes and the billboards, and the trees and mountainsides never seem
to change, even when the road curves.

 The C64 version is completely joystick-controlled, with the exception of
keystroke-invoked toggles for sound, music, gearshift, pause, and expert mode.
In expert mode, both steering and gear-shifting must be performed simultaneously
with the same controller, a condition that is more than impossible: It's
unbelievable.

 If you feel you must have the C64 versions of THE DUEL, THE SUPERCARS, and
CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE, it's best that you be aware of the negative emotions that
are certain to follow their purchase: If you pay for them, you'll hate yourself;
if someone else does (say, for your birthday), you'll have to deal with your
guilt as you format the disks.

 TEST DRIVE II: THE MUSCLE CARS CAR DISK NOTES (AMIGA VERSION)

 THE MUSCLE CARS is a nice addition to the accessory disks available for TEST
DRIVE II. I've always considered the cars from that period essentially as
missiles without much fine control, and the performance of the cars on this disk
clearly bears that out -- but in ways that are still fun.

 Accolade seems to have become a little sloppy with its sampled sound loops,
though. When driving the GTO, for instance, you can hear the looping of the
engine sample quite clearly, which detracts rather noticeably from the
smoothness and realism of the driving experience. The side-view drawings of each
car are also less finely detailed than those included with the original game, or
those available on the SUPERCARS disk. All in all, a mild (and surprising)
drop-off in quality.

 Better brush up on your TEST DRIVE II installation procedures for this one,
too: As usual, you'll have to wade through a rather iffy and endless series of
menus and choices, and you must write-enable your master disks in order to
create a play disk that includes the combination of cars and scenery you want.
The wrong move or wrong disk swap can still destroy both your original TD II
disk and/or your new, uncopyable MUSCLE CARS disk. (I held my breath throughout
the procedure.) I hope Accolade will someday find a way to implement in these
products the copy-protection techniques they used in their wonderful motorcycle
racing game, THE CYCLES. I, for one, would eagerly purchase such an update.

 TEST DRIVE II: THE DUEL, CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE, EUROPEAN CHALLENGE, THE
SUPERCARS, and THE MUSCLE CARS are published and distributed by Accolade.

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