Monster Truck Rally
System: NES
Release Date: September 1991
Developer: Realtime Associates
Publisher: INTV
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Trudge through the mud and bogs while crushing cars and having the fastest lap in Monster Truck Rally! There are eight events that are calling your name in order to be the top truck driver there is. Control your beast of a machine as you go up and down inclines and avoid or destroy obstacles. It’s every kids dream, is it yours?
Begin by setting some options. You get to set the number of laps, trucks on the track, what direction they’ll travel, and whether they are human or computer controlled. Then you get to choose what event you’d like to take part in. Each event is in an isometric view with different road grades that can be difficult to keep your bearings on. It looks like I’m going sideways here, but it’s a steep grade downhill. Is the guy who did the music for this do the music for Maniac Mansion, too? Yes, the Fatman George Sanger did music for both. The A Button accelerates and if you let it go and press again quickly, you can increase the gear you’re running in. There are three gears and you’ll automatically downshift. The B Button brakes and runs you in reverse if that ever becomes necessary.
Hill Climb starts us out and you have to get up some huge hills and not crash out in the process. It can be difficult to understand what direction you’re facing because your car looks like its turning as you go up steep enough inclines. The computer is always on the best line, so you can’t be there yourself. Drag Race can be cheap because sometimes only the racers on the edge get hazards and you slow down when you adjust your heading. You have to learn to steer properly in later attempts. The Bog is basically the hill climb, but with water pits instead of big hills. Terrain hazards on the course will slow you down. Keep an eye out for water and mud. These jerkwad trucks are constantly running into me. We both spin out, but they end up heading the right way, while I end up facing backward!
The Car Crush is a simple race around the track, but you get bonus points for crushing cars along the way. I found no rhyme or reason to why some cars ended up looking smashed and others didn’t. The Tug of War is just a hold the button down and try to pull the other truck across the finish line. Steering your opponent into mud and water seems to help, but sooner or later the rope will just snap. The computer can beat each other, though. They can also battle for minutes of your time… The Sled Pull has you shifting for speed and distance. I think I did good on my first heat, but I didn’t deal with any hazards in my way. I tried steering around mud in my second heat and failed to accelerate quickly enough, so that was a loss.
The Drawbridge event has ramps that go up and down on a timer. If you miss your window, you get stuck for a moment until you can safely pass. Even if you time it right and brake so you don’t run into the bridge, your opponents will smash you. Donuts has you speeding around a super short track. This is crash-a-palooza, so you need to get a lucky spin out to get ahead. Try this with four trucks going different directions for a chaotic mess. You can also hit up the Combo Course if you want to get a taste of many of these separate events together in one long track. But this one does take several minutes to get through, so be prepared.
Once you know how to play each event, you can test your mettle with the Monster Truck Rally and do them all in turn. I may not have won the most points in every event, but I did enough to defeat my opponents with overall good racing. If you want unlimited play, you can make your own custom track out of the different set pieces. You can also have the game make you a random track and watch it produce what you’ll race on. Even if it might have some trouble figuring out how to finish it…
Graphics: 2.0
I don’t mind the looks, but I do mind that it can be difficult to tell what direction you’re truly facing.
Sound: 1.5
The music is pretty rocking between stages, but the engine noises aren’t that entertaining.
Gameplay: 2.0
All of the events work, though they may not be designed in a way that is enjoyable to play or fair.
Difficulty: 1.5
The computer hogs the best lines. Hazards are placed randomly and lopsidedly.
Fun Factor: 1.5
It’s not an awful game, but it could have been a lot more fun with some better design.
Overall Rating: 1.7
Monster Truck Rally earns a C-. This isn’t a bad game, but it’s not a good one either, so temper your expectations and see if you can enjoy it.