April 24, 2006

GT Legends (**** out of four) is a racing simulation that provides some arcade-like racing action but with very realistic features. You get to drive some of the legendary thunder cars of the 60s and 70s, including the AC Shelby Cobra, Alfa Romeo GTA, ‘65 and ‘74 Corvettes, BMW CSL, Ford GT 40 and the "cute" Mini Cooper S, to name a few of the 90 cars you eventually can access.

We say eventually because you have to earn your racing stripes. You start with access to only two cars in your garage: the Mini Cooper and the boxy Lotus Cortina. As you win Cup Challenges, you’ll be awarded prize money and, in some cases, special rare, legend cars. With your winnings, you can buy "new" legend cars. You can, at any time, visit the Car Dealer to drool over all but the prize cars and even get to test drive some as well. But you still have to win money to buy the cars, or you can sell or trade cars you already own.

For a realistic game experience, each car has different handling characteristics modeled by the program from the real cars. If you want, you can tweak the cars for better performance or different handling effects. The car sounds are authentic recordings of the cars, and the sounds reflect where you are: in the cockpit, under the hood, behind the car and the like. Really cool.

The game includes 25 variations of real FIA tracks for you to race on, such as Mondello in Ireland, Anderstorp in Sweden, Nurburgring Mullenbach in Germany or Magny Cours Club in France. When you first start the game, you’ll only have access to a few tracks, but additional tracks are unlocked for you as you win races and prove your worth.

You can start game play in the Cup Challenge, which takes you through five stages of increasing challenge--from the touring cars to the GTs to the FIA GTC cars. We’d advise doing a bit of practice in Open Practice or Quick Race modes before jumping in to the Cup Challenge though. Choose to race as Pro, Semi-pro, Amateur, Novice or Beginner. Each type has increasing levels of difficulty, less forgiveness and fewer assists.

Car control is somewhat touchy and takes practice and skill to master but, hey, these are racing machines. The program supports force feedback steering wheels for the most realistic experience. Race using manual or auto shift. Change camera view from a variety of selections, including in-car Heads Up display. This display shows car performance and offers some choices in driving assists, such as manual or auto transmission. Another cool feature of the program is the in-car music. Copy your favorite MP3 music into the GT Legend folder and it plays as your in-car music if you choose to listen.

Graphics are very good, and car details are impressive. For example, when you’re in the cockpit, the images in the mirrors reflect car motion. Track details are also very good, but loading for each selection may take up to two minutes. The program comes on 3 CD-ROMs and takes 2.3GB of hard drive space, so installation takes a while as well. Multiplayer mode is supported via LAN or Internet. You’ll find a lot of fun driving the muscle cars of the 60s and 70s as well as the better handling European touring cars.

To The Rescue (ages 4 - 7)

Fisher-Price Rescue Heros: Mission Select (****) is an adventure game that includes three missions where children can learn skills and life lessons, all while having fun and participating in imaginative play. The game is based on the TV cartoon series Rescue Heros.

The program has two levels of difficulty that all take place in the Disaster Zones. Here children can choose to help in Volcano Fury, Flood Force or Burning Blackout, and in each area children have to deliver everyone to safety in one of eight rescue vehicles. Players need to reach hikers stranded near an erupting volcano, save people trapped by flood waters, put out raging fires and perform other similar tasks. Children can use the mouse or arrow keys to move the vehicles and rescue the people in each of the disaster zones.

Voice directions from the "chief" help children follow directions as they are asked to find needed gear and objects to help in the rescue efforts. Often the gear and objects are identified by color, adding to the learning process. For example, in Flood Force, children use a power boat to rescue stranded people and then bring them to the First Aid station. Then they have to dive under water to find a yellow gear wheel they can use to help rescue people from the Ferris Wheel.

There’s plenty of help throughout the program from Rescue Heroes team members: Billy Blazes, Gil Gripper, Jake Justice and others, and there are vehicles such as Rescue Chopper, Dirt Bike, Police Cruiser and more to use in the missions. As children accomplish tasks, they can uncover bonus vehicles, such as a hydrofoil boat, fire truck and helicopter backpack. After completion of each mission, children get a recap from the chief on the problems solved and the importance of teamwork.

The game plays easily and is likely to have much appeal to youngsters, especially those interested in action and rescue-style activities. Fun with a purpose for the young set.

Return to Main CD-ROM Archives Page