SUNDAY DRIVING GAME by KTB Retro

 

SUNDAY DRIVING GAME by KTB Retro for ZX Spectrum 48K

   My good mood reaches the stratosphere when our participants repeat and send another game. So, here we have KTB Retro Computing Productions, the world-famous company that creates video games for the ZX Spectrum and Enterprise. This time, they are offering us a ride on a steam-powered four-wheeler. 

   I know what you are thinking, would he have created it at another lunch-break or maybe over breakfast ? Well, it seems not, something even more delirious:

"While watching progress bars... progress... I opened FUSE and started writing a game."

   I can't imagine anything more inspiring...

   But the connection is there, the progress bar makes it exasperatingly slow and our steam car... about the same.

   This is a relaxed driving game.

   With the consequent risk that the management of KTB Retro indicates in its mail: " the main danger being "falling asleep at the wheel" " - And here, the musical memory comes in again, reminding us that the band ST has a song with the same title.

"I wasn't meant to feel this...
I wasn't meant to feel this...
I wasn't meant to feel this way
Counting on nothing, the numbers get higher
Blinded by reason, you're asleep at the wheel
Confused understanding, with a slip for the hold
Squeeze past the pressure, you're asleep at the wheel"

   Connect the tape.

   Could this be the first game to fall into the therapy category? Let's see.

   

   As we can see in the image, our red steam car is at the top of the screen, while the track is formed from ASCII characters below. The author skilfully varies the string of characters to create the effect of a road. The car does not move left or right; rather, the road moves when we press O-P. This immediately leads us to the irrefutable conclusion that the KTB Retro steam engine is also a Dark Matter engine. It uses the same technology as the famous Futurama ship.

" I understand how the engines work now. 

It came to me in a dream. The engines don't move the ship at all. 

The ship stays where it is and the engines move the universe around it."

―Cubert Farnsworth

   Yes, you can quietly admit it, we are all petrified with amazement. In this now interplanetary contest we have combined the technology of the early 20th century with that of the 31st century. No one and nothing beats us.

   But, despite or because of all this, it seems that moving the universe around the car makes it very slow. Very slow. This is where the author's warning comes in, too much relaxation becomes dangerous.

   Without overclocking, we can estimate that we travel 10 yards every second at ZX Spectrum speeds. The cultural and informative nature of our prestigious contest means I must convert units for everyone:

10yd/s = 20.455mph

10yd/s = 32.919kph

10yd/s = 7.9006e+7cm/day

10yd/s = 0.0060095973 Velocity of sound in sea water (20°C, 10 meter deep)

10yd/s = 17.774909028 knot

   The intro is a bit misleading in that it tells us that if we have an accident, it's OK, just carry on driving in a relaxed way. But no, if we crash, that's it.

   Interestingly, each time we complete a mile, the road changes both in colour and in difficulty.

Scary road ahead.

   I know what you're thinking... How about increasing the speed in the emulator? Then our old steam car could become the Stanley Semi-Racer Model K land speed record breaker.

   The game then becomes closer to the arcade experience, very entertaining but without the therapeutic component of ‘sunday driving on an empty road’. The good thing is that we can choose one or the other.

   Unlike most games of this type, this one has an ending. We have to drive 11 miles, which is not easy, and then we will be congratulated.

   11 miles...

(Post Rock band EXXASENS great album "Eleven Miles")

Extravagances of this programme: 

   - The way the characters' lines are filled and refreshed creates a strange effect that distracts the mind.

   - I've tried, but I can't see the steam car, the red sports car or the interplanetary shuttle:

   - And the mutation when we crash still puzzles me:

   Collecting all the steam: An entertaining game based on a concept worthy of this unique competition. Well executed. I like the crappy look. But relaxation, not at all. It's difficult; the roads become almost impossible at times. I wonder if we'll soon see 'Aliens Meet the Steam Car'...

Scrambled Smile: 7/10

Broccoli and Squid Yoghourt: 4/10

Deep Fried Ice Cream: 5/10

Strawberry Monosodium Glutamate: 6/10

Affable Hot Chocolate Sauce: 6/10