Smashing Drive
| Smashing Drive | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) |
Gaelco (Arcade) Point of View (GameCube/Xbox) DSI Games (GBA) |
| Publisher(s) |
Gaelco (Arcade) Namco (GameCube/Xbox) Zoo (GBA) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance |
| Release date(s) |
Arcade
|
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Smashing Drive is a racing video game developed and published by Gaelco and distributed by Namco. The game was first released in arcades in 2000 and was ported to the Nintendo Gamecube and Xbox in 2002 by Point of View and Namco. Subsequently, it has been brought to the Game Boy Advance in 2004 by DSI Games and Namco.
The player races against time and another psychotic cab driver through New York City to earn money. The game is divided into four difficulties, each of which contains three different levels (with the exception of "Dusk and Wired", which only contains one). If the player manages to beat the rival cab in all three levels of a difficulty, they are taken to a bonus stage with the only available route being all of the Risky Routes. At the end of a stage, the player's score is based on the amount of time it took to reach the destination, the cab's condition, the rival being beaten, the number of Turbo powerups obtained, and the number of Risky Routes traversed. Unlike many racing games, the horn actually has a functional use of making (most) mobile vehicles move aside. If the player runs out of time before completing the stage, they encounter a continue screen. A 10-second countdown will be then given to the player if they wish to try again. After it expires, the game is over. However, on the console version's Head-to-Head mode, there is no continue feature. After time runs out, the game automatically ends.
Reviews for this game were generally negative for the Xbox and Gamecube versions and mixed for the Game Boy Advance version.
Jon Thompson of AllGame rated the arcade version three stars out of five and wrote, "The visuals of Smashing Drive are certainly decent, although they can't qualify as top-notch in this day and age." Thompson also wrote, "It isn't the most amazing racer ever made, but it has enough interesting ideas and strong enough execution to make it something different in the arcade world. It's tough, it's attractive, and overall, it's fun."
Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame rated the GameCube version two stars out of five and wrote, "Namco's history of delivering feature packed arcade ports to home consoles comes crashing to a halt with Smashing Drive [...]. Smashing Drive was probably not an easy game to port due to so much happening on the screen, and to its credit, the game never bogs down. Unfortunately, the darn thing never speeds up either, so each race feels like it takes place underwater. The graphics are colorful but simple, lacking the detailed textures expected from a GameCube title. [...] Succeeding in Smashing Drive is a simple matter of memorizing the courses, knowing where each turbo is located, and learning the best shortcuts. Once that's done, there's very little replay value."
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