Players must choose between a dune buggy, a sand rail vehicle, and the incredible off-road truck. All races are strictly against the clock while the driver navigates through blockades on the road and other drivers that want to defeat the player. All of the ten courses must be unlocked in a linear fashion; all the races take place in a tube. Few power-ups exist in them game; including a chance to increase the player's nitro boost. There are ten stages in the entire game. No penalties are given for bumping into the other drivers; unlike real life. Each course is in the shape of a half-pipe.
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The half-pipe design is a decent way to add some visual interest to what would otherwise be reminiscent of a racing game from a decade ago, but the large sprites bring about the usual problems with top down racing games like this which makes the gameplay clunky and frustrating.
This review contains spoilers
not super interesting. it felt a bit like I was just hoping to get powerups that would allow me to finish the course before time was up.
at first I mistook the shadow beneath the car during a jump for a wrecking ball and thought that was the offensive mechanic.
at first I mistook the shadow beneath the car during a jump for a wrecking ball and thought that was the offensive mechanic.
Well Electro Brain Corp, you really did not deliver on impressing me. I expected a high energy adrenaline pumping offroad adventure, but instead I received lies and false hopes. With a box art showing off some fun offroad racing, one would only assume that's what they were to receive, but instead, the entire game takes place in some random halfpipe with no indication of offroad racing outside of the vehicles featured and the occasional boulder.
While the crimes committed by the games box art were bad, things got even worse after I opened up the manual for the game. The lies were so bad, that I almost wish I could've just gone into the game blind instead of being fed these false hopes. Straight from the 4th page of the manual we are told "RACE OF A LIFETIME" which immediately got me excited. Featured right below is a picture of the game's map. The map of the game was this long and wavy path that looks like it should be some of the most fun I can have with a racing game on the GBA, but that's not true! While I was advertised and led to believe I was getting an adventure, I instead got a series of the beforementioned halfpipes and almost nothing else. The game got very repetitive and felt extremely lacking after the first stage
However, I would be lying if I said 'Dead Heat Scramble' was all bad news. I must admit, I had fun on stage 1. The controls felt smooth, and the rush of quickly avoiding obstacles and ramming into opponents was like nothing else at the time on the GBA. When playing top-down racing games, I am often reminded of one of my favorite video games from when I was around the age range of 5-10. That game was 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' and I will admit, that during that age range of 5-10 years old, I had a great time with that game. While my memories of 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' are very limited, I at least remember that I enjoyed the game and the general concept of the game. When Comparing "Dead Heat Scramble' to 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' I begin to think about how much of Dead Heat Scramble really matters to begin with. If I was in the age range of 5-10 years old and playing Dead Head Scramble, what would I remember when writing a review as a 20 year old adult? With such bland visuals and a tiring gameplay loop, I think the only thing I would remember is the box art. I would probably think about Dead Heat Scramble as the game that brought me false hopes, and not the gameplay. As mentioned previously, I remember almost nothing about 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' but I remember the visuals and premise which is one thing no child will probably ever remember about Dead Heat Scramble.
While the crimes committed by the games box art were bad, things got even worse after I opened up the manual for the game. The lies were so bad, that I almost wish I could've just gone into the game blind instead of being fed these false hopes. Straight from the 4th page of the manual we are told "RACE OF A LIFETIME" which immediately got me excited. Featured right below is a picture of the game's map. The map of the game was this long and wavy path that looks like it should be some of the most fun I can have with a racing game on the GBA, but that's not true! While I was advertised and led to believe I was getting an adventure, I instead got a series of the beforementioned halfpipes and almost nothing else. The game got very repetitive and felt extremely lacking after the first stage
However, I would be lying if I said 'Dead Heat Scramble' was all bad news. I must admit, I had fun on stage 1. The controls felt smooth, and the rush of quickly avoiding obstacles and ramming into opponents was like nothing else at the time on the GBA. When playing top-down racing games, I am often reminded of one of my favorite video games from when I was around the age range of 5-10. That game was 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' and I will admit, that during that age range of 5-10 years old, I had a great time with that game. While my memories of 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' are very limited, I at least remember that I enjoyed the game and the general concept of the game. When Comparing "Dead Heat Scramble' to 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' I begin to think about how much of Dead Heat Scramble really matters to begin with. If I was in the age range of 5-10 years old and playing Dead Head Scramble, what would I remember when writing a review as a 20 year old adult? With such bland visuals and a tiring gameplay loop, I think the only thing I would remember is the box art. I would probably think about Dead Heat Scramble as the game that brought me false hopes, and not the gameplay. As mentioned previously, I remember almost nothing about 'Matchbox Air Land Sea Rescue/Emergency Response' but I remember the visuals and premise which is one thing no child will probably ever remember about Dead Heat Scramble.