Game Information

PSM Quote: "Exhilarating crash-and-smash racer"
PSM Score: 7/10

Price: £19.99
Released:
December 1995
Extras: Link cable compatible

This is basically a game based on stock car racing, and so you can expect a lot of fast paced action, with a good few smashes and crashes...but, lets look at the options...you can take your car out onto the race Track in the Championship mode, do Time Trials, and go into a bowl to take on the Total Destruction option.

The championship option is a good little game, where you start in the bottom division, and have to work your way up into the first division, this is done by scoring points both on your race placing and the amount of damage you do to your rival cars. There are a total of 19 other cars and four divisions each containing five drivers, there is a great feeling when you work your way up the divisions and the first division is a much harder place to be then the fourth...but the difficulty level is just right throughout this mode, and in fact the whole game!

The other option is time trials and total destruction, time trial is where you can learn the tracks and cars and try to beat your best lap times. This is a great little option, and is where I spend most of my time when I was playing the game...trying to beat that lap time I knew I had made a few mistakes on. The final main mode is the total destruction mode, here you simple race around a big bowl like track and the idea is to smash as many of the rival cars up, the winner is the one with the most points or the last man standing(if cars could stand?)...

This mode of play can either be played via a championship table, just to add some lifespan to the game, or via a simple single race option! This mode was good fun, but I prefferred to be out on the race track racing for position...and so I never really got into this mode, I still completed the championships, but I never got much satisfaction out of it...

"Driving games usually swing between good and bad based on the handling of the cars, and this is something Destruction Derby does to great effect."

The game has great handling, and you will be sliding your car around the corners smashing into a rival and then handbrake turning it and sliding into another rival...the handling really works well. The courses are well designed, if a little narrow...this reviewer really enjoyed racing around the figure of eight track, that was a lot of fun! There is only really one basic racing line through a corner, and when a rival or two is just up ahead, you really have to be on the limit to overtake them. There is great satisfaction to be had from overtaking your rivals, but more often then not it will end in tears...

When I first owned this game I can remember enjoying it more then Ridge Racer however, Ridge Racer really has aged well and is still a joy to play...where as with Destruction Derby, time hasn't been so kind to him and the graphics now look some what BLOCKY! He can still impress both with graphics and gameplay, but there are more times then not when you will simply think "what the f##k"...

If you have never owned this game, and want something to play over a weekend...this may well be what your looking for, but after that...well? I can remember putting hours into this game, and if you want to win the championships you will have to put the effort in. It's not a game you will complete in a few hours, but it has to be said, you may wonder why your bothering...for me it has a special place in my hart, as it was the first game I loaded up on my Playstation...but this review isn't based on my hart, and so...I have to be realistic about it...if I was to base this game on my memories, it would probably score a 10 or a 9...

If you like me can remember playing this game back then, you will remember the smile that you got as you crashed into a rivals car, sending him into a 360 degree spin, with bits of bodywork flying off, and then the Commentator shouting "Wow...that will make a great replay...." as smoke poured from your car...However, this has all gone now due to better games out there, such as Destruction Debry II, Driver and a few others.

"but the crashes are all in 2D, thus the cars never roll over!"

As good as the crashes were, they no longer look that spectacular...yes the cars all react correctly when hit from the back, or when sent into a 360 degree spin...but the crashes are all in 2D, thus the cars never roll over!

There is loads more I could say about this game, such as the hidden options, cars, tracks and the fact that upto 40 players can take part, or that the game can be played via a link cable, or even that the game had some great replays which where 100% editable and saveable to memory card, an option which the great Driver later copied to greater effect!

At it's time Destruction Derby was a simply stunning game, and a great and original idea for a computer game. However, as with all old games, it is showing it's age now and the graphics no-longer make your jaw drop. There is still plenty in this game to keep you satisfied for a good few hours, however, after that...there really is nothing to bring you back. Things seem to get a bit repetative and ultimately it begins to get boring. It's not a bad game, and for £19.99 for you could do a lot worst...however, with it's younger brother Destruction Derby II now also on the shelves for £19.99...the only reason to buy this version, as opposed to it's sequel, would be if you found it in a bargain bin somewhere...

Kevin Preston

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