NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing
Score: 70% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Bethesda Softworks Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 32 Genre: Racing/ Online
Graphics & Sound: NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing contains some nice cosmetic effects such as great particle, smoke, and damage effects, but overall lacks a good look. Seeing a car go to pieces just doesn’t feel the same when the overall car designs are drab and cartoony. The backgrounds are repetitious (but it’s drag racing, not science fiction) and the programmers did nothing to hide the flatness of the pitmen and the crowd (serious 2D here). The sound, on the other hand, is quite well done and certainly does a great job of bringing realism to the races; great crashing and grinding effects and good engine noise and peel-out effects. However, I have one major gripe about this game and the few like it. Why make a 3DFX accelerated game only? Some of us have much better cards than 3DFX, so why cut out a large chunk of possible game buyers who might be interested in your product??? I have nothing against 3DFX, but I must speak for those who are a little more with the times.
Gameplay: Fairly straightforward here folks, literally. Import Drag is a pure drag racing simulation, yet on the level of import street cars, not your average dragsters. The cars handle well and the game designers were quite detailed in their endeavor to create an extremely true-to-life sim. You can warm your tires, wipe your brow, and wait for the green here. Although there is not a great sum of control to worry about, Intense Import makes up for it on how well you can customize your racer. The die hard racer will definitely appreciate the smoothness and realism in the control of the different cars along with the thought processes necessary to be a true champion.
Difficulty: NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing lacks in this department. The game in and of itself is fairly simple. Short and to the point racing makes the learning curve seem more like a walk in the park. You can increase difficulty, but anyone who knows anything about cars can pretty much vamp their racer to a point where it is nearly impossible to lose, and the A.I. in some cases will overcompensate and give opposing cars attributes not capable by their customization. The overall difficulty of this game is achieved through the true racer’s spirit to beat his or her own times, not necessarily worrying about beating a computerized opponent. So you can work with many combinations and see how each affects the outcome of your racing.
Game Mechanics: No-brainer here. Simply get into the garage, get your car ready, heat those tires, and lay into the asphalt on the quarter. Full customization of your racer allows you to try numerous combinations of parts in order to see which give your specific car the best overall time and speed. You need lightning fast timing to predict the change from red to green to get the best jumps, and a stiff hand to avoid swerving into the crowds or into the other racer. Overall, NIRA Intense Import Drag Racing will certainly appeal to the die hard racing crowd, and that is exactly who the programmers wished to attract. Oh yeah, and attract those who only have 3DFX cards...
-Sabumnim, GameVortex Communications AKA Larry Callier
Minimum System Requirements: P75, 16MB Ram, 256-color SVGA, 3DFX graphics card strongly recommended, Double-speed CD-ROM, MPC level 2 required, 70MB available HD space, SoundBlaster compatible sound card   Test System: P2/400, 64MB Ram, Voodoo 2, 44X CD, AMD k6 400, TnT2 (pointless because not supported), 128MB Ram
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