Demolition Racer

Demolition Racer
PAL cover art for the PlayStation
Developer(s)	Pitbull Syndicate
Publisher(s)	Infogrames
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast
Release	PlayStation EU: 1999 NA: 31 August 1999 Microsoft Windows NA: 20 October 1999 Dreamcast NA: 23 October 2000
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat, racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Demolition Racer is a vehicular combat racing video game for the PlayStation and PC that combines destruction and driving tactics in a fast paced racing environment. It is very similar to the Destruction Derby series. The PC version contained slightly better in-game graphics than the PlayStation version, and included varied weather and times of day. Drivers are given (optional) wacky portraits which displayed on the side of the screen in a race, showing who's ahead of who.

The game was rereleased for the Dreamcast as Demolition Racer: No Exit, which featured new tracks, new cars, unlockable minigames, and an additional mode called "No Exit", which plays the same as Last Man Standing in the other games. In No Exit's version of Last Man Standing, the player must now try to survive as long as possible. The game was also redesigned and enhanced. For example, the graphics were upgraded (same goes for the HUD and menus), the levels now have ambient sound effects (such as crowds cheering), and all of the drivers' cars are also shown on the results screen in what condition they were left with at the end of a race.

The aim of the game is to win the race whilst destroying other racers' cars. Players receive points based on the amount of damage they do to other cars, then receive a score multiplier at the end of the game based on their standing in the race. In addition to the normal amounts of points, landing on another car (known in the game as a 'Death From Above') not only merit a large number of points but destroy the victim's car. In No Exit, drivers can smash straight into another car's side at high speed, known as a T-Bone, also wrecking it instantly.

Also a new addition to No Exit were the minigames. Those who complete the five "Circuit" modes also unlock a number of unusual minigames, one of which ('Big Car Hunter') can be played using a light gun, making the game one of the only 2 American Dreamcast games which worked with the official Sega (European/Asian-only release) light gun.

Demolition Racer received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review website GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Dreamcast version 76.39% and 77/100, the PlayStation version 73.38% and the PC version 54.25%.