Karting Grand Prix

Karting Grand Prix was a 1988 racing game released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 16 and MS-DOS, published by Anco Software Ltd.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The game is a cheap knock-off of the Atari racing game Super Sprint, except with a top-down view instead of an isometric view.
 * 2) The controls make no sense and are somewhat unresponsive.
 * 3) For a kart racer, it is needlessly complicated, as you can adjust tyre compound and sprockets, in addition to weather.
 * 4) For some reason, you race against two opponents, not three like in most other racing games.
 * 5) The tracks are way too narrow for a kart racer.
 * 6) The C64 version is just a straight port of the C16 version with little-to-no enhancements.

Atari ST only

 * 1) Getting through the main menu is a real chore, as the controls take a few seconds to respond.
 * 2) The in-game graphics are really ugly.
 * 3) * All of the karts look exactly the same, meaning it's impossible to tell them apart from yours.
 * 4) * The karts' graphics corrupt when they drive on grass or in the shadows.
 * 5) * For some reason, the HUD is missing.
 * 6) The gameplay is even slower than the Amiga version, with an abysmal framerate. The controls as a result are even worse than the Amiga version.
 * 7) The collision detection is incredibly glitchy, as you can end up getting stuck on a bridge, even if you're driving on the upper side of it.
 * 8) The sound effects only consist of a constant buzzing noise.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The graphics in the Amiga version are alright for a top-down racer.
 * 2) The music in the Amiga version is decent.

Reception
Karting Grand Prix received mixed reviews, at least on the Amiga. While ACE gave the Amiga version a high score of 84% (and later including it in their Top 100 list of computer games from 1987-1988), the other magazines were less kind. The only magazine to review the Atari ST version of the game was ST Action, who gave it a paltry 24%, citing the gameplay as its main flaw.

Stuart Ashen reviewed the Atari ST version of Karting Grand Prix in 2007, also eviscerating its gameplay, as well as the ugly graphics and annoying sound, and yet, for whatever reason, he rated the game at 73%.

Trivia

 * The Atari ST version of Karting Grand Prix was the very first game Stuart Ashen reviewed as part of his Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of video series.

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