Death Rally - ADG Episode 302

[@MartijnFrazer]

Love this game, especially for its progression. The racing itself isn't bad either, but where it really shines imho is how you constantly are upgrading your car and going up through the ranks. Just feels good to see the numbers go up and eventually beat the top guys and take the prize.

[@ajax700]

That's one hell of a piece of a game! One of the best games racing games in the PC EVER. Excellent music. Probably the DOS game with better music. Excellent graphics. Excellent options (weapons/no weapons, difficulty). Very good game mechanics. Network multiplayer. Best wishes.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Always gotta love it when you hear rubber tyres squealing on _unpaved dirt roads!_

[@lasskinn474]

Its the wheels hitting the wheelwells, its canon. (No its not canon)

[@understyled]

One of the greats. Especially the music!

[@RantingThespian]

I played the shareware/demo of this game to death (pun not intended...ok it was) back in the 90s. I freakin' love this game! Also, something about those pre-rendered tracks really gives this game a unique and fun atmosphere. The remake is alright, but doesn't have the charm or whimsy that the original had.

[@negirno]

Yeah, I remember the shareware version nagging me after a while, saying things like "playing this version any further is like chewing a chewing gum which lost its flavor long ago" :-)

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

The grindfest on the remake was real (as I can remember), which should be no surprise that said remake was originally done for mobile first, before getting that PC port. It's a shame that the balance is out there (I'd forgotten that too), but the core is quite solid, and I really found the visual style with the mix of polygonal 3D and pre-rendered to work quite well though, even after all this time.

[@negirno]

I have some fond memories of this game, I remember the freeware Windows version was available outside Steam, that's where I got it. However, I've not really played it for over a decade now...

[@DookNookim]

Thanks to Scott Miller's hints, I've beaten the game in easy mode in 15 races: * I'm able to buy a Dervish on my second race by blasting away the cars, plus getting 2% or less damage (which gives you the no/low damage bonus). * Immediately go to the medium tracks, and focus on killing the opponents every race. Get the mines and sabotage most races. Don't get tires! Only get engines. Buy a Sentinel when you can also buy one engine at the same time. Only take out a loan maybe once or twice a game. When you have the Sentinel stay on the medium tracks until you get both engines, then buy one tire upgrade (your first tires bought in the game), then go to the hard tracks. Save before doing this. Play the hard tracks about five times trying the win a race by killing the opponents--if this doesn't happen restore your game. Once you've gotten luck a few times and have some wins, you'll have enough money to get a Deliverator, skipping two cars. Then stay on the hard races until you place first, focusing on engine upgrades beefier buy a tire upgrade. You need all of the engines and two tire to beat the adversary. If you've done well you can buy one or two armors, but only for the Deliverator. * When you face the Adversary, get everything in the U-Market, and just kill that bastard! ;)

[@BaronSFel001]

This and Wacky Wheels are exactly the sort of games that play best in the racing configuration for those fortunate enough to have Gravis GriP gamepads (with shoulder button steering) which required a proprietary multiport to work but its particular setup can easily be emulated in DOSBox with any modern controller. I mention it as an example of the many interesting developments in the later pre-USB era to get around the inherent restrictions of the IBM analog gameport. Someone still has the GriP drivers and manual archived online but it really only pertains to those who have the complete hardware and I can tell you finding mine, let alone paying for it, was a challenge. I've had fun beating this game many times and never play as anyone but Duke Nukem: can't beat the Jon St. John voiceover. I also like how nearly all the other racers have parody names (this came from the house of Max Payne after all).

[@Pixelmusement]

I'm not certain, but I don't think Jon St. John did Duke's voice in this game... :o

[@bsdims]

I asked about Death Rally a little while ago on Twitter, simply because I love its tracker music, alongside the rest of the guys who made it, previously known for 2nd Reality, Scream Tracker 2 & 3, so on, things of that nature really. :D

[@jarmoranta5184]

Not gonna lie. Your tweet where you asked about Death Rally and Kris's reply about not owning it made me decide that I'll buy and send a copy for Kris. I had wanted to see Death Rally on ADG for a very long time as I'm a big fan of both. :) This episode was gold.

[@bsdims]

@@jarmoranta5184 Oh dang, glad I sparked a chord there! :D

[@ImperatorZed]

This was one of my favorites

[@GatorRay]

Ah yes. Road Runner's Death Valley Rally. A game that I remember SCXCR reviewing and saying that he hated since he was a kid (Also a game that had a sequel in the works with a role reversal that never saw the light of day because Sunsoft was going bankrupt at the time)

[@andersonbargas2255]

Wow! I remember playing this one. Thanks for bringing this memory. 👍

[@Morinaka25]

4:50 i'm sure you already know this, but for others, if you are searching on ebay, you can tell it to exclude items with specific keywords. So with this game, you could do 'death rally -(runner,snes,nintendo)' then filter by video game category and it should eliminate a good 95%+ of SNES cart versions.

[@OttoIncognito]

Death Rally is a great game. Might be biased since I love all the genres it hits but I definitely recommend it to anyone even vaguely interested in 2D racing games with progression between levels

[@thejoin4687]

Nice to see True Tom Rhymer. Someone's been listening to Steeleye Span.

[@nosferadu]

I beat this game in a few hours as a 13 or 14 year old, hardly a racing pro, though I might have save scummed a bit. Anyway it's one of the best racers ever made for DOS.

[@Mat_1000]

I've never liked overhead racing games for the reasons you mentioned (not be able to see what's coming, and reversed controls when going down). The only game of this type that I've enjoyed back then was Micro Machines V2. Still, thanks for the video! Suggestions of games (in case you're running short. And sorry if there are games that already appeared in an episode, I've seen a lot of them, but I can't remember all of them) : - Quarantine - Carmageddon - Flashback - Fade To Black - Bioforge - Estatica 1 & 2 - MDK - Rotox - Cannon Fodder 1 & 2 - Dreams to Reality - Crusader No Remorse - Crusader No Regret - Syndicate - Syndicate Wars - Inferno - Hi Octane - Giants: Citizen Kabuto (I know it's not a DOS game, but damn nobody is ever talking about this crazily creative title (at the time of its release)).

[@Pixelmusement]

I've already covered FIVE of the games you suggested! You may wish to give the alphabetical listing on my website a look! ;) www.pixelships.com/adg/index2.html

[@Mat_1000]

@@Pixelmusement Oh ok, thank you! : ) I didn't know there was a listing, and as you have a very large number of videos on youtube, it's hard with the interface of youtube to have a clear view of everything that you did, but it's still possible I guess to make a search for each game, but I'm sorry I'm not that patient :D I've found the playlist you did of ADG Episodes, but it's still a pain to scroll to the bottom with youtube's interface. So, thanks a lot for the listing! It's in my bookmarks now! I discovered your channel recently and I've been spending evenings binge watching your videos, so I haven't seen all your videos yet, and after watching a good number of them, it's hard to remember everything. But I sure do like a lot how you present each game, with the game stats and the best way to find the game etc... Very interesting! Well, all of that to say that I'm sorry if I listed games you already covered because I'm lazy and stupid :D But keep doing what you do, it's very well done and really enjoyable! It's not just a "let's play" with someone commenting what's happening over it, it's a good analysis of all the weaknesses and strength of a game. And my list of games was not to say "you HAVE TO do these games" but more like if one day you have no idea what game you'll cover next, then I just wanted to give ideas ; ) Thanks for the listing, for taking the time to read my comment and to answer it ; ) (PS: I didn't get any notification about your reply, that's why I'm replying late).

[@Pixelmusement]

@@Mat_1000 Yeah, KZbin's comment system is... "unreliable" to say the least, but glad you're enjoying the videos! ^_^

[@FuzzballRenakitty]

I know there have been plenty of top down racers over the years but for me, it'll always be Micro Machines that takes those top spots :)

[@SLiPCoR]

that game was so much fun though :D

[@daffers2345]

Remember those commercials where the guy talked really fast, too? Those were the greatest.

[@FuzzballRenakitty]

@@daffers2345 Ah I don't sadly! Will have to look them up

[@daniel_007]

One of the best MS-DOS games I ever played!

[@EdmondDantes224]

Man, I was gonna do a joke comment where I talk fast like the Micro Machines guy... but then realized it would be mistaken for a Speed Racer parody, if it was understood at all (because Micro Machines was also a top-view racer, see). And man, you aren't kidding about the art reminding of Speed Racer.... one of the dudes with glasses made me think of Snake Oiler, and that dude with the cigar made me think "that's Cruncher Block." Also, when you were flipping thru the character portraits, I was like "wait, was that Duke Nukem?" I love that you apparently also did a double-take at that exact moment. Now if only this game had Dastardly and Muttley, that would've been perfect. ;)

[@Pixelmusement]

I still have my old Micro Machines in a box somewhere in storage, along with a small airport playset which folds up to resemble a car battery! :D

[@SteveMacSticky]

my favourite game. one of the best

[@jason7478]

I had the shareware from this off of a public library disc in the back of a book, and for some reason after installing the folder size fluctuated rapidly in size, which caused multiple crashes, difficulty deleting the damn thing, and general pain for our old 2 gig hard drive.

[@Pixelmusement]

That sounds more like an HDD error than a problem with the game itself; the game just happened to be using a section of the drive which was having issues. :P

[@Lagbeard]

I feel the inclusion of Duke Nukem was them making the most of the Apogee publishing.

[@negirno]

But Duke Nukem was so big success that they basically sunset the (somewhat tarnished) Apogee brand after this game and _Stargunner_ came out.

[@rharms_]

i had tons of fun back in the day w this one, was perfectly balanced to be challenging and engaging , had a great 90s soundtrack ...... to me its a classic..........btw peculiar it had a 18 rating /adults only, in my area even though its VERY cartoonish

[@Pixelmusement]

Because you can run over pedestrians. It's a mild enough effect that I figured I could get away with not age gating the video but that was about borderline for that kind of thing. :P

[@solsticeprojekt1937]

I remember you hinting at it! :D

[@zloboslav_]

i remember loving that game as a kid :)

[@PlayStationPaul]

There’s a remake of this. I played the tablet version, which has microtransactions and can’t be “200%” completed without them. It’s also on PC, without microtransactions, but costs more than buying the app version with all microtransactions. PC is probably the best way to play it though, as touch screen controls for a game like this aren’t ideal. You’re probably better off playing the original for free though.

[@kizmetmars]

Little known fact, Duke Nukem was also a renown Death Rally driver.

[@komojo]

I mainly know this game from the soundtrack, which I still listen to sometimes.

[@bsdims]

same :D I have way, way too much tracker music saved on my harddrive

[@7thDementia]

I think the Shrooms mode in this game may be better than the Shrooms mode in Rise of the Triad. XD

[@SLiPCoR]

Hmm I downloaded 1.0 at some point (a few years ago) from their website, seems they have removed it there and moved it to steam. sad. isn't the start order very straightforward based on ranks? except for when you share the rank then you get the spot ahead (or only if you have a worse car?) Anyhow, very neat video :)

[@Pixelmusement]

Hmm... well, this was a very difficult thing to keep track of over the course of playing the game, but I was able to scrub through my footage just now using my editing software and... yeah, it does seem to be strictly based on ranks! :B

[@SLiPCoR]

@@Pixelmusement as with many things, once you see it it seems obvious. :) but when it turns it around when you have a worse car it can throw you off

[@sirlight-ljij]

I remember playing this game with guns off because I was very angry at stupid bots not knowing how to drive properly and shooting me down for being first

[@saxxonpike]

Game's great! The top two vehicles are too punishing for the rewards you get though. I go right to car 4 and beat the game using it in case I have a bad race.

[@lilwyvern4]

Had this game on disk way back when. Never played it without cheats then, helped me with my typing speed. :P Fun fact: If you play as Duke Nukem, properly capitalized (Even though the font is all caps), he's got extra strong armor and you only take like a quarter of normal damage. As for the reboot, it's...eh. There's multiple different types of races, but it's a quick and dirty mobile port which just feels kind of soulless.

[@RookMeAmadeus]

Slightly less fun fact. If you don't pick Duke Nukem's photo, he'll be in the game from the start, in a red Deliverator, and HE gets that same super armor.

[@Aldenfenris]

@@RookMeAmadeus Apparently some names have other bonuses too, guess you just take t he place of the 'AI' drivers and get the bonuses? intentional or just weird coding about names? heh

[@Maggerama]

I remember dreaming of playing this game properly for years. I couldn't because my GPU wasn't up to snuff. Then, I got a new one, played it... and it was just okay. Eh.

[@daffers2345]

Ha! I guessed correctly this time! I loved this game.

[@MillywiggZ]

I keep confusing this game’s name with ‘Planet of Death’ hahaa! The two games are similar though. They’re of that time where there was no rubber-banding in racing games. Once you hit the wall, that was it for most people, all you could do was enjoy the scenery and hope for some AI screw ups.

[@OisEucalypt]

My sister and I probably put a hundred hours++ into the demo of this one in the mid 90s. What a classic.

[@nil0bject]

i mix this up with death track

[@PeaceArt1]

For those interested, someone ported this to PS Vita. It is great on the go.

[@AlyxxTheRat]

To be honest I've never been a fan of overhead view racers. But this one is still pretty decent. :)

[@lasskinn474]

Micro machines turbo tournament on pc is the best one(with some friends)

[@thepirategamerboy12]

2:50 Ehh, my NEC CRT can switch video modes near instantly.

[@Pixelmusement]

Oh yeah, it all depends on the screen, but the trick is that non-multisync screens switch INSTANTLY because they don't need to do any sort of scanning of the sync signal coming in, but then at the same time will go wild if they aren't able to sync to the signal, whereas a multisync monitor needs to take a moment to sync to any new signal regardless of that signal, which if you're lucky, your screen will just blank for a second and there you go, but some multi-sync screens literally SHUT OFF during the sync process, so you can end up waiting up to two seconds for the sync to lock in, then up to three seconds as everything gets power again and the image stretches and fades in as the cathodes and such heat back up. :P

[@karriliikkanen]

This is one of the best games I've ever played. I pretty much disagree with you completely :D. It is, in a sense, a perfect game: balance, role-playing element (upgrading the car), and great fun to play every time. There are small details that you missed that really lift this game to the next level. There is a character, True Tom, who talks to you beyond the grave (Adversary killed him) throughout the game. The amount of jokes and puns is amazing, I guess it foreshadows what a narrative juggernaut Remedy became later with Max Payne, Adam Wake, Quantum Break, and Control. Example: "All you can see from the rear mirror is rocket fume, and you know there isn't that much smoke in the whole burning hell. And your engine, it screams and moans like a banshee. Death is coming, death is coming. That's what it's saying. Listen. This is True Tom talking. I speak to you through the mystic ring-shapes of your wheels. A genie in a bottle, I sing to you from that beer bottle, half drunk, on the side of the road. Smell my sweat in the reek and excitement of petrol pumps." They still crack me up. Magnificent snippets of comedy are spread all over the game: the descriptions in the shop and the black market, Duke Nukem's arrogance, and the spectators watching the race and being shot or overrun evert single time, yet coming back for the next race again. That Death Rally manages to include a vivid world inside such a simple frame is amazing. There is no problem with the balance you mentioned. You can quite quickly figure out a close to optimum way of playing the game, taking into account the bonuses and points. You simply have to optimize money in the beginning and points in the end and you can pass the game in even under 30 races on normal difficulty. All in all, Death Rally is the most flawless game I have ever played and I salute the guys at Remedy for creating it. Hats off. True Tom tells no lies.

[@dinitroacetylen]

"Surprisingly resilient to being cheesed"? Speedrunners beg of you to differ, and general strategies that they use don't require machine precision to pull off. Hard-mode speedruns get so cheesy you'd think you stumbled into a chupaqueso restaurant (I wonder who knows the reference).

[@Pixelmusement]

I meant in terms of general gameplay. Speedrunners are of COURSE gonna find tricks and tactics outside of the realm of "normal" gameplay to break the system. ;)

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

Do tell! I'm curious =3

[@dinitroacetylen]

@@YukaTakeuchiFan Schlock Mercenary, the webcomic. 20 years of daily strips without a miss. Consistently thrilling story, unwaivering humour. Also enriched our culture with two original dishes, one of which is chupaqueso.

[@Roobar_Plays]

The only other good racing game that is similar to this is Mad Cars

[@anoftc]

Good game, great video, but a bad selection of the car's color - purple is not a good color ;) Thanks for the video!

[@ADarkandStormyNight]

THE EMPIRE OF MIKE CLAIMS THE FIRST COMMENT!

[@Pixelmusement]

Congrats on getting the first comment! The reward for being first this week is... let's see here... OH! What a coincidence! The reward is once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a hostile takeover your empire! You'll get to witness high-performance space fighters decimate your fleets and experience the thrill of assassins infiltrating your base of operations! Of course, you can always opt-out of the entire thing if you want, as all rewards for claiming the first comment are and always will be entirely optional! ;)

[@ADarkandStormyNight]

@@Pixelmusement The Empire of Mike neither retreats nor accepts defeat! We mostly eat chips and comment on videos..it's pretty cool actually

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

@@ADarkandStormyNight Well, nobody said that the assassins weren't there just to hang out after-hours and swap Hitman tactics...

[@MarquisDeSang]

The game is too dark, cannot watch your video.

[@ProcessID]

A bit late to the party, but regarding filtering searches: most search systems allow term exclusion via the - operator. Eg. in your search for this title, you might try appending " -valley" to exclude the other title.