Ahhh, 1996. I would of been 14-15, depending on what ever month it was that I came across a demo of Death Rally. Off of a PC-Powerplay coverdisk if I recall correctly.

I played it only a little at first. I was familiar with the Micro-Machines games, and was skeptical of an action variation. With the likes of Duke Nukem' and anime style profile pics.

Then I played the demo to Death, ranking up money until the demo became pointless. I was never able to find a copy of the full game back then, a time when I only got one or two games per year. And when the free and updated versions were released enough time had passed that I had moved on...

DEATH RALLY!

For whatever reason, seeing this title helped push me to grab a bundle of games on a sale. This was the first one I installed.

After an intro that totally misrepresents the game, and a splash screen that stayed visible for about 1 second, I was dumped into the main menu. And I was at home.

First thing I did was crank up the music: Jonne Valtonen! of Future Crew - Five Musicians. Around this time I was just getting into the Tracker scene and instantly recognised the creator for this one by the style/patterns used before I saw the name.
I know the creation of tracker music really shows the age, but it just has this awesome charm to it that I want to hug the keyboard.

a-hem... Anyway, then I changed the keyboard layout and was unable to start a race.
Had to delete a .cfg file and reverify the game to get it to work. It's a small issue but one worth noting.

The game is pretty much how I remember it. Was surprised how many race tracks I could remember the paths too. Must of spent hundreds of hours on that demo.

As said, think of a top down micro-machines style racer. With weapons. Though you can play a non-weapon lower violence version.

At the start of each race, you can upgrade and repair your vehicle, or trade it in for a newer and faster machine. This was one part the enemy AI did better than I did, and for a few races I was dropping positions until I could afford a tier upgrade. In a way, this provides a nice difficulty curve. Just when things are getting tough, you can afford that new car part and regain 1st place for a while.

Alternatively you have a chance of sabotaging another enemy player, and buying black-market goods to gain an advantage.
From my memory of the demo, the AI can do this too. Sometimes you get really lucky and everything hits one opponent, nearly guaranteeing you at least 3rd place and some bonus cash.

One part I did not immediately remember was the Sponsor Challenges and Winning Streak bonuses. I know now I would of encountered them in the 1990s but they were something I had totally forgotten about when I installed today.

These can give you that extra amount of cash. Either used to repair a heavily damaged vehicle, or to grab that nice new car part. Or you can sit on the cash if you want, I didn't encounter any penalty for racking up the $$$.

Once you are racing there are a few seconds of peace-time before you can unload the guns and start shooting.
Depending on how strong and powerful your car is, it might even be best to not speed off as soon as the green light says GO! and hold back for a few seconds. The enemy will all clump together, trying to shoot each other and get in front. Staying behind for a quarter to half a lap, then shooting and zooming forward certainly helped me win a few times.

As you drive you'll encounter Bonus $$$, Repair Tools to auto decrease total damage, extra ammunition, and turbo boost fuel. And hopefully you will not run into a mine dropped by another opponent... Or one of your own!

Drive Fast. Shoot Smart. Win Races.

I really enjoyed this game as a teenager, and I'm honestly surprised I did not get it when it had the re-release port earlier on.

It's a great late 90s era game that deserves a shot if you like top down racers, and not too difficult that you'll get beaten right off. But do make use of the Save/Load feature, as once you are out of cash and the car is at 100% damage it is game over.

Game Acquisition: Purchased on Sale (Bundle Stars)
Platform Used: Steam
Tweet Thread: 1 - 12 February 2016
PC Used: Scorptec Venom 2009

OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
Processor: Intel Core Duo 2
Memory: 2 GB RAM \\