Aesthetics:
The graphics are outstanding... Each level is different, ranging from dinosaur parks to underground UFO landings. The image quality is great, with nice little touches to everything. The smoothness in the game is very good at most times, but sometimes it feels like the car is going a bit slower, but nothing really to worry about. The animation in the game is very, very good. I believe this is a key part to the game, seeming though you can drive through, doors, boxes, hay stacks, other cars etc and watch them shatter.
Sound:
The sound is also excellent. With differences between road and dirt, skids, lava, jumps, smashing into boxes, doors, train crossings... it is just beautiful. The music changes throughout all the levels with a nice little variety, but it is either love or hate. I enjoyed it but to some it may be annoying due to its repetitiveness. The sound is of course in full stereo, which is good for us, amp users, but it isn't (unfortunately) in surround. (but what is??).
Control:
Well you can master these in about... er.... 2 seconds. There are four buttons, R to shoot (in beetle battle), A to go, B to brake, Z to reverse and joy to turn.
Gameplay:
Ok there is three main choices in this game, they are single player, two player or beetle battle (this is where the NShooters comes to mind).
Now single player is excellent, the graphics and sound are great and the variability is excellent; because there are some many hidden short cuts, heaps of little add-ons (like dinosaurs jumping out at you, UFO's,
helicopters, trains, jumps, being able to jump over fences even though there would be no point at all to.. etc) The single player realism is half/half, the jumps distance etc and the things you can drive threw (or shatter threw) is unrealistic, but other things like handling and more realistic. One more thing is bonuses, you can find a certain box threw the game and at the end receive a cheat, or get a certain amount of bonus point boxes and receive a
new car (like an alien car, rally car etc.)
Multiplayer:
Two player is virtually the same as above, but you race head to head on a track with a little less detail.
Now beetle battle. This can be 2 to 4 players. You all pick you car and colour and then the track. The objective is to collect all the coloured beetles and return to the exit... but it isn't so easy, every one can pick up rockets, stealer rockets, health etc. So all you are doing is driving around looking for beetles while firing rockets. It is a pretty nifty feature.
OVERALL:
I believe this is the 'Goldeneye' game of racers. With little hidden add-ons and variable... it is just excellent.
The Lowdown on  Beetle Adventure Racing
| Aesthetics: Awesome |
Control: Awesome |
| Gameplay: Awesome |
Multiplayer: Awesome |
| Sound: Awesome |
Innovation: 6/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 6/6 |
|
Overall: Awesome!
"Top of the Genre"
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Beetle Adventure Racing
