Atari Karts
| Atari Karts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Miracle Designs |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Corporation |
| Platform(s) | Atari Jaguar |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | 1-2 players |
Atari Karts is a kart racing video game for the Atari Jaguar published by Atari Corporation and developed by Miracle Designs Ltd.[1]
The game makes numerous homages to Atari and its games. Bentley Bear, the main player character of Crystal Castles, is a playable character. The Borregas Cup is a reference to the old address of Atari: 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale. The Tempest Cup's name is a tribute to the classic Atari arcade game Tempest. The Miracle Race is named after Miracle Designs, the game's developer.
The music was composed in 1994 by Fabrice Gillet in Protracker on an Amiga.[2] Neither he nor the people who created the in-game artwork are listed in the game's credits at the end of the game. The manual refers to them as the "Miracle Designs Team".[3]
Reception
Atari Karts received mostly mixed reviews. The two sports reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it scores of 5.5 and 5 out of 10, particularly criticizing the dull track design. One of them elaborated that "Although the scenery changes, each race is an exercise in repetition: pick up icons, don't hit anything." They did, however, compliment the smoothness of the controls.[4] GamePro commented that the game was well-made but too simplistic and cutesy to appeal to anyone but young children, concluding, "These races present just the right level of cuteness and challenge for those younger Jaguar gamers. The question, of course, is how many seven-year-olds are out there looking for Jag games?"[5] Reviewers for both Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro accused the game of being an obvious knockoff of Super Mario Kart.[4][5]
In a retrospective review for The Atari Times, Gregory D. George criticized the lack of interesting power-ups and the limited enemy AI, which results in perfect drivers as the player's competition.[6]
References
- ↑ "The official Miracle Designs Ltd. website". Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
- ↑ "The games' music modules on Amiga Music Preservation, a site collecting Amiga music". Retrieved 2007-02-20.
- ↑ "A transcription of the game's manual". Archived from the original on 28 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
- 1 2 "Box Score: Atari Karts". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (80): 118. March 1996.
- 1 2 "ProReview: Atari Karts". GamePro (IDG) (91): 85. April 1996.
- ↑ George, Gregory D. "Atari Karts". Retrieved 2007-02-20.