Wacky wheels, as for some to remember was not like most other racing car/ kart games that were around back in the early nineties, such as need for speed, Burn out or Racing around the world.
But a comical 3d race game like the original Mario kart, but created by Epic, using lovable animals to race around multiple tracks, not just to win, but to make your opponents suffer if they ever got too close. The graphics was fortunately back in the time, vga 16 bit colour and not ega 8 bit colour.
.. but still needed a hefty computer such as a 486 dx with 4mb ram, Dos v5.0 or higher and an onboard sound card to play... Controls were optional back then, being either keyboard or the controllers.
Now back to the graphics, the detailing and animation were nice and distinctive, being able to tell the difference between the character you played and the wall that you were driving into.
The animation was also nice and lively, not being a single image all the way through the game, whether you are going over a bump, crashing into the wall or being hit by your so called mate.
There were a few bumps along the way as the camera pans around the track with you, and being 2d bitmap
objects, turning views were not always that eye pleasing, but back then... who really gave a hoot? Even the animation was nice, it was short of ideas, only having one style of animation for group function of being hit e.g. walls, friends, bumps. Which can also be said for the sound effects… And unfortunately that is all I can actually say about the sound, it offers nothing new, there is no wide variety of effects, and the two sounds that overbear everything else in the game is the grant of the 50cc engine or when you get hit.
The music was quiet repetitive, that after a few races, I was forced to turn the music level down, and turn on my stereo system for some variety and relief as the midi music seem to loop every 20 seconds.
For my final word, though this game might not appeal to the new gen of gamers... it still does the trick for us old follies who had had the chance to play it when it first came out and is a sweet reminder that back then... it wasn't the graphics or the music, but the gameplay that made them enjoyable.
