I am going to shout this. THIS GAME IS SO 90s YOU GET POGS WITH THE GAME.
Now, I am going to whisper these three things very quietly, 1) I never knew there was a space between Ubi and Soft 2) Super Mario Kart on the SNES is borderline unplayable trash 3) I thought this game was a Street Fighter spin-off.
I’m not too proud to admit to two of those things, but I felt I needed to be honest with you all and since I clearly know nothing about this game, here we go.
What better way to celebrate my 201st post spectacular by doing the sequel to my 14th?
I rated Destruction Derby quite highly, but what about the sequel?
Alright so DD2 is a racing game with the same twist as the first. Racing is the supposed to be the secondary aspect of the race and your primary focus is crashing into opponents. You start in Division 4, and move your way up to the top by winning points, hopefully winning your league to move up to the next league.the next season, and some newer tracks.
Points are rewarded for winning a race, but more points are rewarded for you attacking other cars; destroying a car nets you 50 points, spin a car 90degrees will gain you 10 points, do this to 1st place and the points are DOUBLED so you can theoretically rack up points if you are not terrible.
Win a race, get 10 points… It means that racing is redundant, and very few AI cars attempt to race. Meaning the only way to win is to fuck shit up.
Once they pass you you’ll never see them again.
Alright, so this a pretty important aspect of a Racing Game, and problem is, I am not a fan. Destruction Derby had small, tight tracks, and several incorporated crossover points to maximise the crash potential. DD2‘s tracks are overly long, so you’ll spend more time looking for other racers to crash into, or reversing around the track…
Just reverse…
The tracks are ideal for the standard racing mode, but I reckon you’ll be buying Destruction Derby for the Destruction.
The problem comes from a switch from Banger Racing to more Nascar style racing. This was done specifically to appeal to the American audience, but it means DD2 misses its own point.
The Bowls remain, and now you can unlock more by progressing single player mode, and they are still the best part. If you didn’t play the first game what these are are “20 drivers crashing into each other“. They are fast and fun, the only issue is they are often over too quickly.
Oh yeah, you now flip over REALLY easily.
Like my sexlife it is all over too quickly. The damage to your car is too quick, so crash 3 times and you’re pretty much out. To counter this, there is a new pit-stop mechanic, which allows you to fix damage, but usually means not seeing another car again. As this isn’t avaiable in the Bowls, the Bowl is often over after 30 seconds. Which for me, ruins the best feature of the game.
It means you can either over poon, maybe get some points and die in a race. Or, poon a little and pitstop so that you can finish the race but get no more points.
All this means that pit stopping has no advantage to it unless you are playing the regular racing mode, and again, this is Destruction Derby…
Get used to this screen
I really don’t have much to say. DD2 isn’t as fun as DD1 as there seems to be too much focus on racing. This might sound like an odd criticism for a racing game, but if you want a racer with shitty physics and bland track(s) play Ridge Racer. If you want a fun crashathon, play Destruction Derby.
Having cars made out of cheese, moon buggy physics, and bland racers mean DD2 simply isn’t a patch on the original.
Pros: 20 cars per race
Cons: Just a bit rubbish, music is atrocious generic Thrash Metal, lazy sequel
Praised for a better collision detection system and improved physics, DD2 was also criticised for having overly aggressive AI, and the fact it is impossible to catch up to the ones “racing” DD2 went on to score 80s or 8/10 type scores.
Peering into the time machine that is Retro Gaming will often produce weird feelings. There is no denying that the PlayStation was a success, however, when you look objectively at the launch titles for the European release you’ll honestly wonder why ANYBODY bought the PS1 at release. In Europe we got:
3D Lemmings, Battle Arena Toshinden, Jumping Flash!, Kileak: The Blood, Novastorm, Rapid Reload, Wipeout and Ridge Racer.
As launch titles, it isn’t exactly an exciting list (certainly not in retrospect) and I can understand why my parents waited a year and got me a Die Hard Trilogy/Destruction Derby bundle for xmas 96.
Anyway, onto Ridge Racer. Continue reading
I have hung fire reviewing Road Rash as it was one of my favourite games growing up. Continue reading
Since I got into Retro Gaming I have played a lot of games that I missed the first time around. This is one of them.
And you know what?
I am glad! I wouldn’t have liked it in 1993. I didn’t like “Heavy Metal”, I also couldn’t play racing games to save my life. So I am glad I am looking at it for what it is, not what it was.
Cyberhawk and the Screaming for Vengeance cover art are basically the same thing
This is our first “request”, so it better be a goon ‘un!
You know what? Destruction Derby is still REALLY fun to play! Continue reading
Woof. I’ve been sat for some time trying to think of an eloquent opening paragraph but….man. Just….woof. Continue reading
