Daisy Lipsey, Sharon Sharalike and the rest of the chicks are back
and ready to burn a little rubber (ummm, yeah), as Fiendish Games
presents, SuperChix '76. If you don't remember the original game,
Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix, you didn't miss much. It was a disappointing
arcade racer that had very few redeeming features. That's alright
though, Fiendish Games returned to the garage and did a little
work on their baby, so if you're ready for a little T&A (and by T&A, I
mean tires and accelerator of course), then let's jump into
SuperChix '76 and give it a little test ride, shall we?
SuperChix '76 features two modes of play: Rally Mode and Cop
Chase. I'll begin with Cop Chase, since it really is the worst of the
two modes. In this mode, you'll face off, one-on-one, with one of
the eight chicks. The objective is to win the race. In order to do so,
you'll have to avoid the cops. Sound fun? Well, it's not. If anything,
it's deafening. Sirens abound in this mode and there literally won't
be a second when you won't hear a blaring siren. It completely
dominates the play and after a race or two, you won't be able to
stand the racket anymore. The Cop Chase mode is not fun at all
because the AI is absolutely horrible. There are usually 5 or 6 cop
cars chasing your car through the track and when they happen to
catch up to you, at times they'll simply drive in front of you at the
same speed your going, almost as if to give you a police escort.
The few times when they actually do attempt to ram you off the
road, they don't seem to know how to do so properly. They tend to
drive erratically and many times they'll run themselves into a tree
without your help. The addition of the cop chase mode is certainly
welcome, but it just isn't implemented well here at all.
The Rally mode is where the meat of the game is and lets just say
this chick has about as much meat on her as Kate Moss. The Rally
mode comprises of nine separate races, divided into sections of
three apiece. In order to advance to the next set of three, you must
win the championship by amassing the highest number of points in
the previous three races. When you win a race, you gain 10 points.
If you finish second, you're awarded 7 and if you finish third, you'll
receive 4 points. Basically, if you can win two of the three races,
you'll undoubtedly win the championship and advance to the next
three courses. Completing all nine courses is a relatively easy task
once you figure out which car is best for each section, and once
you've outright won the entire Rally, the game loses all
replayability.
So what's new in SuperChix '76? Well, instead of a sextet of
chicks, there are now eight chicks in total. There is no option to set
the difficulty level, that feature seems to be determined by the car
and chick you choose to race with. Some of the ladies drive much
better 70's American muscle cars than others. As you select your
chick to drive with, their car's characteristics present themselves in
terms of acceleration, braking, handling and turning. If you wish to
give yourself more of a challenge, you'll obviously have to select
the chick with the worst car. In case you're wondering, that chick
would probably be Daisey who seems to enjoy it in the rear
(ummm, yeah) while other chicks like Fabia and Schiza would
prefer to be on top (ummm, yeah). Outside of the chicks and their
cars, there are a total of 4 international tracks ranging from the
sweaty jungles of the Amazon Basin to the streetwise cool of
night-time San Francisco. Each of the tracks can be raced both
forwards and backwards and the Rally mode takes full advantage
of that fact. If you remember the original Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix,
you'll probably recognize three of the tracks. If you're math is as
good (or bad) as mine, you'll probably realize that means there is
exactly one new track added to SuperChix '76.
SuperChix '76 is strictly an arcade racer. It's relatively shallow, not
only in course design and replayability, but in terms of the overall
game design. You won't have to purchase improved parts for your
car, in fact you won't have to repair your car at all. There's no
damage model meaning you can take turns at maximum speed
and not worry about denting your fender. This works in many ways
against SuperChix '76, as it eliminates the need to powerslide
around corners and use banked turns. You can literally bounce off
trees and other obstacles without losing much momentum at all. I
found that actually accelerating around corners, instead of
powersliding around them, was much more productive than proper
techniques. You'll also find that if you're car begins to flip over, a
nice swift knock from behind by one of the other ladies will get
you right back into the game without losing any speed at all.
Graphically, SuperChix '76 doesn't look all that different from its
predecessor. Since the tracks are re-used, the game in fact looks
exactly the same minus a few graphical enhancements. The cars
certainly look better as does the menu system, not to mention
more options and better preview screens, but other than that, you
won't notice much of a difference. The sounds also appear to be
untouched. The sound effects are as metallic as ever. The musical score continues to
make use of 70's disco tunes and unless you grab the patch for
SuperChix '76, the music will be the same as in the original.
Controls in SuperChix '76 are extremely simple to learn and use.
Using either one of the keyboard, gamepad or wheel, all you'll
need to worry about is directional controls as well as the brake
and accelerator. There's no multiplayer in SuperChix '76, so don't
expect to be able to race against your buddies in this one.
SuperChix '76 is disappointing to say the least. Considering this is
a sequel to Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix, there's relatively few new
additions to speak of. Two new chicks, a slightly improved
graphical/menu display, one new track, and the addition of a cop
chase mode is all you get. Fiendish Games
were on a roll there with the release of Tower of the Ancients and
Hunt for the Red Baron, but SuperChix '76 is definitely a step back.
If it's an arcade racing experience you're after, there are much
better options out there other than SuperChix '76, even if the game
comes cheap.
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