MegaRace is a video game created by Cryo Interactive

Cryo Interactive

Cryo Interactive Entertainment is a French video game development and publishing company founded in 1992, but existing unofficially since 1989 as a developer group under the name Cryo...

, released in 1994. It features pre-rendered 3-D graphics and over twenty minutes of full motion video

Full motion video

Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...

 of fictional game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 host, Lance Boyle. It was released for MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

 on March 28, 1994, for the Sega Mega-CD/Sega CD

Sega Mega-CD

The is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The device was also released in North America under the name Sega CD, for the Sega Genesis...

 on July 30, 1994 and for the 3DO

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...

 on September 5, 1994. There was apparently a version in development for the Commodore Amiga CD32, which was previewed in many Amiga magazines of the time. (http://eager.back2roots.org/DATA/M/MEGRA.html)

Microïds

Microïds

Microïds is a French software brand belonging to Anuman Interactive that publishes and develops video games. In recent years the company's collection of brands and game licenses has grown since being a part of MC2 France...

, owners of the Cryo brand, made the game available on Good Old Games in 2009.

It is the first in the series, MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2 is a racing/fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 1996, released on August 31 of that year for the PC. It was published by Mindscape and is the first sequel of the original MegaRace, which was later followed by MegaRace 3.This game also features host, Lance Boyle, played by...

 and MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3 is a racing\fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 2001, released for the PC and Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel of MegaRace and MegaRace 2....

 being produced afterwards.

Plot

MegaRace takes place in the distant future, where the player is a contestant on a game show, called "MegaRace". MegaRace is on the VWBT (Virtual World Broadcast Television) television channel where contestants compete in a live-or-die race match against Hells Angels

Hells Angels

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...

-like speed gangs. MegaRace's host is the eccentric Lance Boyle (played by Christian Erickson

Christian Erickson

Christian Erickson is an American actor and voice actor currently living in Paris, France. He is known for his role as General Kormarov in the film adaption of Hitman, and his most popular role is that of Lance Boyle, the TV presenter in the MegaRace video games series.-Films:* Fun with Dick and...

). He guides the player throughout the game, introducing new levels and enemies, frequently discouraging the player.

Objective

The objective in MegaRace is to kill all of the speed-gang members in each race before three laps of the racetrack are completed. The first race starts out with a small number of speed-gang punks, but more are added in each subsequent race. Three ways are available to the player for dispatching opponents: slamming them into the sidewall of the track, hitting them with missile

Missile

Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...

s mounted on the player's car, or passing them, causing the opponent's vehicle to explode after the gap between the two cars becomes too great. Missiles are the most effective way of dispatching opponents; however, they are limited by a finite amount of ammunition available in each race. If all opponents are not killed within three laps, the race is lost and the player must start again from their last saved game. If all opponents are successfully dispatched, the player moves on to the next race.

Gameplay

Megarace is a Vehicular combat game

Vehicular combat game

Vehicular combat games are typically video or computer games where the primary focus of play concerns automobiles or other vehicles, normally armed with guns or other weaponry, attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players...

 with arcade

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 gameplay, similar to that of RoadBlasters

RoadBlasters

RoadBlasters is an arcade game released by Atari Games in 1987. In RoadBlasters, the player must navigate a sports car through 50 different rally races, getting to the finish line before running out of fuel.-Object of the game:...

 and Spy Hunter

Spy Hunter

Spy Hunter is a 1983 arcade game developed and released by Bally Midway. It has also been ported to various home computers and video game systems....

. However, it is also a rail shooter, in which the player does not fully control the car; he can move it from side to side and accelerate within a limited range, but cannot turn nor fully stop the vehicle. In fact, the speedway is actually a pre-rendered full-motion video playing on a loop. The player must not only kill the opponents, but must also selectively avoid or run over "symbols" marked on the speedway itself. When driven over, these symbols temporarily improve or harm your car's performance. Almost every symbol on the speedway has a corresponding symbol with an opposite effect, such as acceleration and deceleration symbols. It can be quite difficult to make optimal use of the symbols in some levels, particularly Paradise Valley.

Cars

There are a total of 8 cars in the game. Three of the cars (the Enforcer's) are available to choose from at the very beginning.

The Enforcer's Cars

• Ouzbel takes damage well and has good weapons but very bad armour and poor handling.

• Luis is not the easiest car to control, but has good weapons and armour.

• Jose has poor weapons and armour but excellent shields and handling.

Speed-Gang Cars

• Ramon ("The Vultures") takes hard turns and fires her weapons well but has poor shields.

• Maria ("The Sharks") has average weapons and armor, perfect handling and not-so-great shields.

• Hooper ("Big Bob and the Power Tools") has good armor, shields and handling but lacks good weapons.

• Omega ("King Cool and the Master Class") handles well and has perfect shields but poor weapons and armor.

• Paloma ("The Scabs") has excellent armor and weapons and good shields but is hard to control.

Speed-Gangs

• The Vultures is the first speed-gang the player encounters. Its Packleader's name is 'Jailbait'. It controls the NewSan levels (Uptown, Sunset Boulevard and The Golden Gate Speedway) and drive Ramons. It is a speed-gang with a lot of rage, and its members like to liberate those strong feelings by smearing people across the highway.

• The Sharks is the second speed-gang the player encounters. Its Packleader's name is 'Hammerhead'. It controls the Magical Maeva levels (Atlantis, Aqualand and The Blue Lagoon Funworld) and drive Marias. The speed-gang was actually bought because Maeva didn't have any vicious speed-gangs. Hammerhead wants to either nail the Enforcer to the side walls or bite the Enforcer's legs off.

• The Power Tools is the third speed-gang the player encounters. Its Packleader's name is 'Big Bob'. It controls the Factory Land levels (Industrial Park, The Snake and The Big Zero) and drive Hoopers. Its members don't like robots (because they are putting humans out of employment) and they don't like robot-lovers (like the Enforcer).

• The Master Class is the fourth speed-gang the player encounters. Its Packleader's name is 'King Cool'. It controls the Fractalian Space levels (Belly Of The Beast, Particle Accelerator and Paradise Valley) and drive Omegas. Its members come from the finest families; they are rich kids with attitude, and are tired of the ugliness that they see all around them, to the point that they want to blow it all away.

• The Scabs is the fifth and final speed-gang the player encounters. Its Packleader's name is 'Rabies'. It controls the Terminal City levels (Wasteland and Orbital Junkyard) and drive Palomas. Its members are a degenerate bunch of people that want the Enforcer to put them out of their misery.

Other Speedgangs

There are at least two other speed-gangs that are not named, these two control The Skyholder and The Can levels. The former appear to drive Luises, the latter Palomas. Of course, both of these speed-gangs could be completely virtual, controlled only by VWBT.

In the Sega CD version there is a Packleader on the Hall Of Fame with the name of 'Wolfgang' with a score of 20,000 on the Orbital Junkyard track.

Speedways

There are fourteen speedways in five worlds. This does not count two extra races, The Skyholder and The Can. The tracks' appearances differ between the 'Novice' and 'Hard' difficulty levels; races on outdoor tracks instead take place at night, the colors of indoor tracks differ, and the placement of symbols on the tracks also differ.

Worlds

• NewSan - (Futuristic San Francisco)
• Maeva - (Submarine levels, also known as 'Magical Maeva' or 'The Aquatube')
• Factory Land - (Various Construction Sites)
• Fractalian Space - (Various Extraterrestrial Locations)
• Terminal City - (Landfill, Suburb of NewSan)

Speedways

• Uptown
• Atlantis
• Industrial Park
• Belly Of The Beast
• Wasteland
• Sunset Boulevard
• Aqualand
• Particle Accelerator
• The Snake
• Orbital Junkyard
• The Blue Lagoon Funworld
• The Big Zero
• Golden Gate Speedway
• Paradise Valley

If the player beats Lance Boyle's score (120,000 points), plays for a sufficiently long time, and comes in second, third or (occasionally) fourth, Lance will let him move on to the next track. Usually, coming in any position other than first either ends the game or forces the player to play the "Last-Chance Speedway" (a.k.a. The Can, Tokyo). In this situation, Lance says, "You were lucky to finish that race alive, Enforcer. If I let you drive another one, you'll get splattered all over the track!"

Bonus Speedway

• The Skyholder - An entirely virtual speedway where the Enforcer's brakes have been removed, resulting in high speed, and he must dodge oncoming cars. Your opponents appear to be driving Luises.

The purpose of The Skyholder is to score bonus points. As usual, the Enforcer scores 100 points for driving over a light-colored "bonus points" symbol, or loses 100 for driving over a dark-colored "penalty points" symbol. The Enforcer also scores points by causing an enemy to crash other than by passing them, but the Enforcer also crashes in this situation, since no weapons are available in this level.

Penalty Speedway

• The Can (Also known as 'The Last Chance Speedway' or 'Tokyo') - A circular speedway in Tokyo. Your opponents drive Palomas.

The Can (a.k.a. Tokyo) is a speedway serving only as a last chance; if the player does not win this race, the game ends

Game over

Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...

. In order to race in Tokyo, the player must:

• Finish 'Belly Of The Beast' in second place.
• Finish 'Particle Accelerator' in second place after finishing first in all other races.
• Finish all 14 speedways on both difficulties and select Tokyo in the level select menu.
• Play from beginning and beat Lance Boyle's score and come in second place on any track without losing.

(Note: to reach these milestones, a new game must be started; the above options are not available via a saved game).

Prizes

Throughout the game prizes awarded for winning races. To win a prize, you must win the race and score at least 8,000 points from that race. Any score from 8,000 to 11,999 points from a race wins a prize from Gallery #1, and a score 12,000 points or more from a race wins a prize from Gallery #2. The prize is random; the player has cannot anticipate which prize he is going to receive. Prizes have no effect on the final outcome of the game; these sequences are just for show.

Symbols

MegaRace has so-called "Symbols" scattered throughout each track. The player must attempt to utilize any positive symbols, while avoiding the large swarms of negative symbols which generally pollute each track. Nearly every symbol in the game has a counterpart with an opposite effect. Enemy cars are not affected by symbols; consequently, enemy cars will unintentionally drive over negative symbols, forcing the player to cease his attack.

• Booster+ - Gives the player a boost of speed for a short amount of time. Some tracks, such as the Golden Gate Speedway, utilize this symbol as a trap rather than a benefit.

• Booster- - Applies the car's brakes causing it to suddenly lose speed. Also causes the player's car to jerk involuntarily, disrupting the player's aim.

• Points+ - Gives the player more points. The amount of points is determined by the amount of point+ symbols hit. This is the only symbol that can be found, other than the point- symbol, on the Skyholder track.

• Points- - Takes points away from the player, the amount being determined by the number of point- symbols hit one right after another.

• Energy+ - Gives the player more ammunition.

• Energy- - Takes ammunition away from the player. It is one of the most common symbols in the game.

• Weapon - Adds a weapon to the player's car, allowing the player to fire multiple laser guns at once.

• No Weapon - Strips the player's car of all weapons.

• Missile - Changes the car's weapon from lasers to missiles. The car must have missile support in order for this symbol to affect the car.

• Rails - Holds the car to the rail symbol, also adds a burst of speed for the duration that the car is on the rail.

• Shield - Grants temporary protection against enemy vehicles. The player's car must have shield support for this symbol to work.

• Radar Jam - Jams the player's radar so he cannot see the location of enemy cars.

• Blinding Zone - Causes the screen to ripple and wobble, throwing off the player's vision.

• Command Inversor - Reverses the car's steering controls (such as the keyboard, mouse, or a joystick). It is very dangerous when taking curves in the track.

• Panel Off - Disables the player's warning monitor, and causes all information on the status bar to vanish temporarily.

• Skidding - Causes the car to involuntarily jerk left or right.

• Skidding Turn - Causes the car to spin 360 degrees. Interestingly enough, this has no effect on the player's speed or traction with the road. The only thing that is disturbed is the player's aim.

• Warning - Activates the warning indicator on the player's car, allowing the player to see upcoming symbols on his status bar.

Lance Boyle

The actor who played MegaRace's host was Christian Erickson

Christian Erickson

Christian Erickson is an American actor and voice actor currently living in Paris, France. He is known for his role as General Kormarov in the film adaption of Hitman, and his most popular role is that of Lance Boyle, the TV presenter in the MegaRace video games series.-Films:* Fun with Dick and...

. His previous acting experiences were very small roles in movies such as Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane (1977 film)

Fun with Dick and Jane is a 1977 American film starring George Segal and Jane Fonda as an upper-middle-class couple who lose their jobs, fall through the cracks of society in the United States and then become high-class thieves to get back all they lost. The comedy was directed by Ted Kotcheff and...

 and Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 drama film based upon Christopher Hampton's play, Les liaisons dangereuses, which in turn was a theatrical adaptation of the 18th-century French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos....

. MegaRace was Erickson's first starring role, and after that he has appeared in many other video games (in addition to MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2 is a racing/fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 1996, released on August 31 of that year for the PC. It was published by Mindscape and is the first sequel of the original MegaRace, which was later followed by MegaRace 3.This game also features host, Lance Boyle, played by...

 and MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3 is a racing\fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 2001, released for the PC and Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel of MegaRace and MegaRace 2....

) including Atlantis: The Lost Tale, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, XIII, Syberia II

Syberia II

Syberia II is a 2004 adventure game conceived by Benoît Sokal and developed by MC2-Microïds, and a continuation to Syberia. It is a third-person puzzle-solving game. Stylistically identical to the first Syberia, Syberia II improves upon the first game by introducing more realistic character animation...

, Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit (video game)

Fahrenheit, also known as Indigo Prophecy in North America, is a cinematic adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and manufactured and marketed by Atari Europe SAS...

, better known in the USA as Indigo Prophecy

Fahrenheit (video game)

Fahrenheit, also known as Indigo Prophecy in North America, is a cinematic adventure video game developed by Quantic Dream and manufactured and marketed by Atari Europe SAS...

 and most recently (as of 2010), as 'The Doc' in Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain is an interactive drama psychological thriller video game created by Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is written and directed by Quantic Dream's founder and CEO David Cage....

.

Music

MegaRace features a techno chiptune

Chiptune

A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...

 soundtrack composed by Stephane Picq

Stéphane Picq

Stéphane Picq is a French composer of computer game music, primarily for ERE Informatique/Exxos and then Cryo Interactive.-History:Picq first began composing in 1987. He retired from the industry in 1998 and moved to Madagascar...

 of Dune fame. The music uses an AdLib

AdLib

Ad Lib, Inc. was a manufacturer of sound cards and other computer equipment founded by Martin Prevel, a former professor of music and vice-dean of the music department at the Université Laval...

 sound card for playback and unfortunately due to the sound card's lack of support and little documentation on Cryo

Cryo Interactive

Cryo Interactive Entertainment is a French video game development and publishing company founded in 1992, but existing unofficially since 1989 as a developer group under the name Cryo...

's file extensions

Filename extension

A filename extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file applied to indicate the encoding of its contents or usage....

, the music cannot be loaded into an audio player. However, the raw musical data for all the songs in the game have been captured and saved into the RAW file extension, which is playable in AdPlug, a plug-in for Winamp

Winamp

Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...

. The RAW files are available for download here. The MegaRace music can also be heard on the Kohina online radio station.

Sequels

MegaRace was a success when it first came out, selling over 100,000 units. MegaRace also spawned two sequels, MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2

MegaRace 2 is a racing/fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 1996, released on August 31 of that year for the PC. It was published by Mindscape and is the first sequel of the original MegaRace, which was later followed by MegaRace 3.This game also features host, Lance Boyle, played by...

in 1996 and MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3

MegaRace 3 is a racing\fighting game developed by Cryo Interactive in 2001, released for the PC and Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel of MegaRace and MegaRace 2....

in 2001, the former using the same pre-rendered method introduced in MR1 (albeit with 3D polygon car models instead), the latter featuring full real-time 3-D graphics. Lance Boyle also returns for both sequels. MegaRace also came included with some Packard Bell

Packard Bell

Packard Bell is a Dutch computer manufacturer and a subsidiary of Acer. The name was previously used by Packard Bell, an American radio manufacturer founded in 1926. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturer. Originally the company produced...

, Quantex computers, and Gravis Joysticks during the early to mid-1990s.