Death Rally (Game)

Death Rally

GAME » on September 6, 1996

A top-down combat-focused racing game from members of the Finnish demogroup Future Crew, under their studio Remedy, and shareware publisher Apogee Software.

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Overview

Death Rally is a top-down racing game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Apogee Software as a shareware title for DOS PCs on September 7, 1996, with GT Interactive publishing it in retail.

The first game by the Finnish studio Remedy, which was founded by members of the demoscene group Future Crew, Death Rally puts players in hectic races for up to four cars, each with various firepower (such as hood-mounted machine guns, bumper spikes, and mine layers) and power-ups to collect. It also features Duke Nukem (Character) as a guest driver.

Along with networked multiplayer, the game features a single-player campaign where players earn money and reputation to purchase new cars and weaponry, upgrade and repair their current car, and race against more difficult opponents for higher rewards. Topping the leaderboard allows players to face off against the game's final racer, known as the Adversary.

The game later received a Windows PC port, which was released by Remedy themselves as freeware in October 2009. It also received a remake in 2011-2012, first for mobile devices and then for the PC.

Gameplay

You start out with a "Vagabond" car that's based on the VW Beetle, and $495. The game has you fighting for the top spot along with 19 other racers. The game is divided into rounds; each round consists of three parallel races with different difficulty levels and four cars. The higher the difficulty, the larger the cash prize and points for the leaderboard; however if you are destroyed or lapped you don't get any points or bonuses. You race on 19 different tracks, some of which are duplicates rotated 180 degrees. Some tracks are specific to the difficulty level. You might get an objective at the start of a race to either pick up objects or destroy another driver. Successfully completing this objective will earn you extra cash, but failing will cost you. You can also borrow money from a loan shark, who must be paid back with interest.

Shops

The Shop

Allows the player to upgrade their car and repair damages. The better the car, the more expensive each upgrade and repair is.

Car - Allows the player to trade-in their car for a better (or worse) one, partially refunding the previous car's upgrades.
Engine - Improves the car's maximum speed.
Tires - Improves the car's handling.
Armor - Allows the car to resist more damage.
Repair - Repairs damage.

The Underground Market

Allows the player to acquire bonus weaponry. Unavailable if the player has disabled Weapons. In the Shareware version, only one of the four weapons (Mines, Spikes, Rocket Fuel, and Sabotage) are available at a time.

Loanshark - Allows the player to receive a short-term loan (with high interest, of course).
Mines - Replenishes the car's supply of eight highly-damaging mines for the next race.
Spikes - Applies spikes to the car's front bumper on the next race, allowing the player to deliver more damaging bumping attacks.
Rocket Fuel - Upgrades the turbo boost for the next race, improving the speed and damages the car behind it (while slowly damaging the car using it).
Sabotage - Automatically damages the highest-ranked racer at the beginning of the race.

Cars & Opponents

There are six total available cars to drive with a clear upgrade path (from the slow small car Vagabond to the fast supercar Deliverator). In the Shareware version, players are limited to the Vagabond, Dervish, and Sentinel.

Each car can be upgraded in three components: Engine (which determines its maximum speed), Tires (which determines how sharp they turn), and Armor (which determines how hard collisions and enemy weapons would damage the car). The price of these upgrades, as well as the cost to repair the car, gets higher the more expensive the car is.

Players in the single-player campaign are ranked against 19 regular opponents (out of 20 total, with the player's portrait determining which opponent sits out of the campaign), with each opponent appearing in the race difficulty that best suits their car (with the Vagabond and Dervish racers commonly found in Easy races, the Sentinel and Shrieker commonly found in Medium races, and the Wraith and Deliverator commonly found in Hard races).

Vagabond - A small car resembling the Volkswagen Beetle (Object). $500. Base Speed: 55-60. Tires can be upgraded twice, Engine and Armor can be upgraded once. Opponents: Bogus Bill, Farmer Ted.
Dervish - A pick-up truck. $2500. Base Speed: 65-75. Engine, Tires, and Armor can be upgraded twice. Opponents: Liz Arden, Diesel Joe, Mic Dair.
Sentinel - A sedan resembling the Peugeot 405. $6500. Base Speed: 80-90. Tires can be upgraded thrice, Engine and Armor can be upgraded twice. Opponents: Mori Sato, Suzy Stock, Iron John, Cher Stone.
Shrieker - A muscle car resembling the Chevrolet Camaro (Object) orPontiac Firebird (Object). $11500. Base Speed: 90-110. Engine, Tires, and Armor can be upgraded thrice. Opponents: Lee Vice, Dark Ryder, Greg Peck.
Wraith - A sports car resembling the Porsche 911. $25000. Base Speed: 115-130. Tires can be upgraded four times, Engine and Armor can be upgraded thrice. Opponents: Mad Mac, Motor Mary, Matt Miler, Clint West.
Deliverator - A supercar resembling the Mach 5 (Object) from Speed Racer. $45000. Base Speed: 140-160. Engine, Tires, and Armor can be upgraded four times. Opponents: Nasty Nick, Jane Honda, Sam Speed, Duke Nukem (Character).

The final boss of the game, Adversary, drives his own unique variation of the Deliverator with upgraded weaponry (including a rocket booster and twin chainguns) and immunity to sabotage. He is only challenged in a one-on-one race in a unique circuit (The Arena).

Tracks

Shareware + Registered

Bogota
Borneo
Eidolon
Hell Mountain
Rock Zone
Velodrome

Registered Version Only

Complex
Desert Run
Downtown
Holocaust
Newark
Oasis
Palm Side
Snake Alley
Suburbia
Toxic Dump
Utopia
West End
The Arena - Only used for the one-on-one race against Adversary.

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