The Duel: Test Drive II

The Duel: Test Drive II
Developer	Distinctive Software Ballistic (Mega Drive, SNES)
Publisher	Accolade
Released	1989 Atari ST EU: 1990 Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) 1992 SNES (Super Famicom) NA: December, 1992 EU: March, 1993
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Singleplayer
Platform(s)	Amiga Amstrad CPC Apple IIGS Apple Macintosh Atari ST Commodore 64 MS-DOS MSX SNES (Super Famicom) Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) ZX Spectrum

The Duel: Test Drive II is a racing game developed by Distinctive Software and published by Accolade in 1989. It is the second entry in the Test Drive series of video games.

Gameplay

As in the original Test Drive, the focus of The Duel is driving exotic cars through dangerous highways, evading traffic, and trying to escape police pursuits. While the first game in the series had the player simply racing for time in a single scenario, Test Drive II improves upon its predecessor by introducing varied scenery, and giving players the option of racing against the clock or competing against a computer-controlled opponent.

The player is initially given the opportunity to choose a car to drive and a level of difficulty, which in turn determines the use of automatic or manual transmission - the number of difficulty options varies between gaming platforms. Levels begin with the player’s car - and the computer opponent, if selected - idling on a roadway. Primarily these are two to four lane public highways with many turns - each level is different, and they include obstacles such as bridges, cliffs, and tunnels in addition to the other cars already on the road. Each level also has one or more police cars along the course.

The goal of each section is to reach the gas station at the end of the course in the least amount of time. Stopping at the gas station is not mandatory, and one could drive past it if inattentive. The consequence of not stopping results in running out of gas, and thus losing a car's "life". The player begins the game with 5 lives, one of which is lost each time players crash into something. If the player completes a level without crashing or running out of gas, then he or she is awarded a bonus life. In addition to losing a life, crashing adds thirty seconds to the player's time. Cars can crash into other traffic or off-road obstacles such as trees, as well as by falling off the cliff on one of the mountain levels, or they could sustain too much damage by staying off the roadway for too long on the flatland levels. Players could also lose a life when using a manual transmission byredlining and consequently blowing the engine. Crashing into a police car instantly ends the game, regardless of the number of lives the player has left.

Police cars appear in every level, and if the player is driving faster than the speed limit when encountering one of them, the police car will follow in pursuit. If at any point whilst being pursued the police car is able to pass the player’s car, the player is forced to pull over and receives a ticket stating the offense and the speed of the vehicle. This doesn’t cost the player a life, although it takes away valuable time. Players can avoid being pursued by police by slowing down before encountering them, anticipating them through the aid of a radar detector which comes standard in all vehicles in the game.

Vehicles

Main article: Test Drive II/Vehicles

In the standard version of Test Drive II players has the option of using one of two vehicles; the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959. They are presented at the beginning of the game with technical specifications, including top speed, torque, and acceleration rates. Console versions released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and SNES would include a third selectable car.

Add-ons

For the Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and Macintosh versions, Accolade later released two data disks which included more playable cars

The Supercars

The Supercars car disk included cars from the previous game in the series, some in slightly different versions.

The Muscle Cars

The Muscle Cars car disk included five muscle cars from the 60's. The expansion didn't change the police cars as well, though, so the player had practically no chance of outrunning a police car when caught speeding.

Courses

Computer Versions

The computer versions of the game provided one course, referred to by the game as “Master Scenery”, consisting of several stages. Each stage had one of three possible locations: a desert, with cacti along the side of the road; a mountain, with a sheer rock wall on one side of the highway and a cliff on the other, and occasionally a tunnel through the mountain; and a grassy area with trees.

Later, two "scenery disks" were released, each containing an additional course:

• California Challenge - Includes seven stages, each representing a section of a southbound crossing of the state of California.
• European Challenge - Allow players to travel through six different European countries - the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Spain.

Console Versions

The Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) release includes three scenarios, described as "bone-dry deserts, up twisting mountains, and scenic cities" respectively.

The SNES version of the game includes four available courses, each of varying length and difficulty. Each is a route on a public highway in a different part of the continental United States. The courses included are:

• Desert Blast (Easy) - Seemingly takes place somewhere in the US Southwest.
• City Bound (Medium) - It is not entirely clear where this takes place, but in various parts of the course, Mount Rushmore can be seen.
• East Coast (Hard) - Takes place in the eastern U.S., with the last section of the course including a view of the New England coast.
• West Coast (Hardest) - Takes place in the United States West Coast and is the longest and most difficult course in the game. The Seattle skyline and Space Needle can be seen in the beginning parts of the course.

The game can technically be "won" if players are not stopped by the law. At which point an animated female police officer smiles at the character; to which the character smiles in return. If players are apprehended by law enforcement for various infractions, including evasion of police, on any course, the end sequence shows the same female police officer placing the player under arrest.

Differences

All computer releases of The Duel: Test Drive II keep intact the same gameplay, although graphics and audio differ depending on the system, with the Amiga version having the most detailed visuals and audio. Additional data disks were made available for the computer releases with exclusive cars and courses.

Console versions developed in partnership with Ballistic were made available for the SNES and Mega Drive three years after the computer release. They run at a faster frame rate and feature different race courses as well as a new car. The Mega Drive version is also the only version to feature music during races.

Reception

Computer Gaming World stated that those who liked Test Drive would like this version more, but that those who did not like the predecessor's steering system should avoid it. Compute! favorably reviewed the game's realism, especially with a joystick, but stated that installation was overly difficult and frustrating.

Media

• Screenshots
• Videos