Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge is one of the Amiga’s most beloved (and well-remembered) ‘into-the-screen’ driving games. Created by Gremlin and Magnetic Fields, its life began on the smaller 8-bit computers of the late 80s before triumphing on the Amiga in the first few years of the 90s.
There’s plenty of options available - me being plumps for automatic gears every time – but the hardest choice is what music you’re going to play through your racing, but hey, you can always settle for the traditional revs…
The game itself is split into 3 sections of differing difficulty levels.
To qualify for the next race in each section you have to make sure you finish in the top ten (or in two player mode at least one of you does). Luckily, thanks to the game’s well pitched learning curve you’ll be getting the hang of it straight away – or if not, there’s always a practice track to aid your Lotus education.
We begin in Italy, a nice and simple four lap race to give you a taste of what’s to come. You’re immediately struck by the wonderful graphics and smooth scrolling but the most impressive aspect is the game’s engine – you really feel as if you’re in control of your Lotus; if you’re spiraling out on a corner, then braking helps you find
your driving line again.
The next track finds you pitted against obstacles such as rocks and road works, but also rolling hills. You don’t want to find yourself bumped by another car at the bottom of a slope otherwise you’ll have a really difficult time building your speed up again (traditionally for racing games if another car bashes into your vehicle you lose ground, but the other cars don’t seem to be afflicted, you’re left to eat their dust as they race off into the distance – bit unfair…). The third track set in Iceland finds you having to refuel for the first time – it’s a matter of judgment here, as pit stops are, as you’d expect, in real time. If you’re diligent in filling your tank to the top you’ll lose vital places, not enough petrol however and you’ll find yourself spluttering to a halt halfway around the track. Not good.
The game continues from there throwing in more intriguing obstacles as you progress, water, oil and great big boulders right in the middle of the track (you’d think they’d hire a safety car or something…). There are night tracks, sprint tracks and even tracks with no discernable road markings – thankfully these are in the last, most difficult section of the game. Complete these final tracks with championship standing and you’ll get a code to send off to Gremlin and they’ll send you a ‘Lotus License’ – okay, all a bit silly, but it proves what us gamers have known all along: Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge is a user-friendly, challenging driving experience that you’ll return to time and time again.
