Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road
System: NES
Release Date: April 1990
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Tradewest
Genre: Racing
Bring out your trucks and get to the line in Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road! Play alone or with up to three friends in off road racing circuit action. Your goal is win races to amass points and money.
Money is used between races to upgrade your parts and buy nitros. There are four different parts to soup your truck up with. Top Speed is the most expensive at 100,000 and does exactly that, increases your speed. If I were to start again, my first two race wins would go to my top speed. Next important is acceleration at 80,000, as getting off the line is imperative. Shocks cost 60,000 and help you bounce less allowing for faster corners. Tires run you 40,000 and increase your grip, giving you a bit better control of your truck. Every nitro you buy will set you back 10,000 and you can hold up to 99.
Controlling your truck is pretty simple. You hold the A Button to press the velocitator to the floor. The B Button will expend one of your nitros that are counted at the top of the screen. These boost your present speed for just a moment, but can be cut sooner by hitting an obstacle, wall, or fellow racer. Turning is absolute. If you need to move the nose of your car to its right, you press right. Depth perception can be difficult and you’ll find yourself driving into a wall right when you don’t want to be.
The races are split into the qualifying round and the tournament of champions. When you don’t come in first, you lose a life. If you lose all three, you’re allowed to continue in the qualifying round, but in the tournament of champions, it’s game over. You gain a life back when you come in first, so as long as you don’t have a run of bad luck or cheese, you can get pretty far.
Some races are straightforward with walls keeping you on the track. Other races have a crossing point that can get you in trouble if you collide with something or turn the wrong way. Falling off an edge caused the purple racer to get some super speed catch up AI. You always like it when the silver truck gets caught on a rival, but it’s the worst when it happens to you. That yellow car becomes a real nuisance by the time you hit race #40.
Graphics: 1.5
It’s not the best looking thing I’ve ever seen. The truck sprites are tiny. The tracks are awash in brown dirt. The colors of the trucks and the characters are inconsistent.
Sound: 2.5
I give Rare credit that they string together a bunch of different instrument sounds in their songs. Even if the songs aren’t amazing.
Gameplay: 2.0
Turning into walls happens way too much. The rival racers have extremely varying skill sets through races.
Difficulty: 3.0
The game builds difficulty up as you upgrade, then it gets mean after a few dozen races.
Fun Factor: 2.0
It’s a good time to play until you die. I wouldn’t start a new game after dying right away, personally.
Overall Grade: 2.2
Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road earns a C+. It’s an enjoyable game that doesn’t have enough gas to keep your throttle thrown until the end.