Overview
Top Gear 3000 (JP: The Planet's Champ TG3000) is a racing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed in the UK by Gremlin Interactive and published by Gremlin in their home territory, and by Kemco everywhere else. The game was released early 1995.
It balances the racing of Top Gear with some more futuristic settings and concepts. It also added weapons to the Top Gear series for the first time, which can be acquired by purchasing them along with sci-fi upgrades like a nuclear fusion engines or warp devices.
Story
Set in the year 3000 and organized by an anonymous race or individual. The competition starts far away from Earth, on alien planets on the other side of the galaxy. Below is the text from the introduction of the game:
“Once every millennium, one of the greatest events in the galaxy begins... It is a race. A car race. It starts at the furthest reaches of the galaxy and ends at the center. For the winner riches beyond belief. Knowledge of the race is passed from generation to generation. The identity of the organizer has been lost through the mists of the time. Or maybe it has never been known. But even the youngest child knows on a certain date... all he has to do is look to the skies... for a sign. The time has arrived. YOU are in the race. GOOD LUCK”
Gameplay
In all, there are 48 different tracks, with varying environments throughout the game. Cars can be upgraded before a race and the settings are more extensive than in previous versions of Top Gear. The player can set armor combinations on the vehicle to help protect it, as well as alter the paint job, change the gear configuration, set boost settings and modify and enhance the engine. Weapons are also featured throughout the game, used best for defensive purposes.
One of the prime features of the game is the use of the Super Nintendo multi-tap allowing up to four players to play the game simultaneously. The screen is split four ways and if there are fewer than four players, AI opponents will fill up the remaining places. The game features Championship and VS modes. The Championship mode has the option for one-player full screen and two-player split screen. The multiplayer game has two-, three- and four-player options.
Reception
On its release it received mixed ratings. The March 1995 issue of Game pro scored it 4/5 and Nintendo Power gave the game 3.2/5.
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