Test Drive 2

Test Drive 2 The Duel is a racing game developed by Distinctive Software Vancouver and distributed by Accolade.

Built over an enhanced version of the engine used in the first Test Drive, this sequel is about driving exotic supercars across roads and highways with heavy traffic. You can duel against a computer-controlled car or simply against the clock. The goal is to reach the gas station at the end of each stage in the least amount of time. You start the game with five lives, and if you complete a stage without crashing, your car will grant you an extra life.

One key ingredient in this game is the police car that will chase you and your opponent if it finds that someone is speeding. To prevent this, you will need to low your speed if the police car is near you. You'll have this information from the radar that is equipped in your vehicle. If police surpass your vehicle, you will be forced to pull over and get a speed ticket, losing lots of time in the process.

You can choose between several different difficulty levels. Easy ones make your car's gearbox automatic, while you will need to change gears manually on the hard levels. Also, on hard levels, you will encounter police cars more often, and the computer opponent will drive faster, plus it will be less likely to collide with traffic.

The cars you can choose to play in the original version of the game are a Ferrari F40 and a Porsche 959. The original game scenario is called Master Scenery Disk and contains stages across the desert, mountains, and grassy areas.

There are car and scenario expansions for computer versions of the game.

The cars expansions are: "The Supercars", which adds Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa, Ruf Twin Turbo and Lotus Turbo Esprit; "The Muscle Cars", which adds 1967 Pontiac GTO, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, 1963 Corvette Stingray, 1969 Camaro ZL-1, 1968 Mustang Shelby GT500.

The scenario expansions are: "California Challenge", which includes seven stages representing a different part of California's State; "European Challenge", which includes six stages representing different European countries.

This game has a special place in my heart, as it was one of my first PC games and for many years my absolute favorite car game. I recommend the Amiga version as it has better sound and graphics than other computer versions. For consoles, the SNES version stands out over the others.

If you love the idea of drive exotic sports cars across traffic at high speeds, running away from the police, there was no better game than this in the late eighties or early nineties, and even today is a perfectly enjoyable game.