ChinnyVision: WEC Le Mans

[chinnyhill10]

CPC taking centre stage in this review. Has anyone ever discovered if Burnin' Rubber reuses any WEC Le Mans code?


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5KeS-ssyiQ[/youtube]


I got the game *after* my GX4000. Not quite sure why I bought it but never gave it the time I gave Burnin' Rubber. Interesting that the CPC version was done in house by Ocean by the Speccy version was outsourced.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Oh boy, did I ever love this game despite it's awful speccy graphics.
This one got bundled with 100% dynamite, as compilations began to lose their value around 89-90 when they comprised of either 3-4 games as opposed to the days of getting 8-10 games in a compilation.

It was the one to go for as a tape user when you didn't want to be stuck in multiload hell. Ridiculously fast too, but after the second lap, it started to get silly with the amount of computer controlled cars turning kamikaze.
Although a full pelt crash, that sequence was almost worth trashing the thing to see 'er fly! 

[ivarf]

Oh boy, did I ever love this game despite it's awful speccy graphics.

Spectrum owners can only dream of graphics like this.. I think this uses the CPCs graphics well and I prefer its looks to Chase HQ

[Carnivius]

Nothing Speccy about that at all.   It's Mode 1 done properly with superly defined and animated car sprites with great detail and actual shading with colours which the Spectrum couldn't even begin to do without a colour clash  nightmare.   I think it's rather beautiful and those colours make sense with it's green grass, grey roads and blue skies and some lovely rainbow coloured effects in the top half from time to time.  It's one of my absolute fave CPC games graphically when it comes to Mode 1.

The C64 version though.. now that's ugly.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Sorry, but if I can see the background of the track in the car, it's speccy graphics.
Strider on the other hand was a perfect example of Mode 1 used correctly.

[Carnivius]

Are you kidding?  You do not see the background of the track in the car. at all.  It shares the grey colour with the road but that is it.  The car is not transparent. When it goes off road it doesn't become overwhelmingly green.  It just keeps the green that was used as a dark shade in the rather nice coloring job on the car sprites

And Strider IS a speccy port!!!  It's got the same graphics copied over with some basic colour fills.  Not even well chosen colours.  Strider is not meant to be in bright pink!



 

[seanb]

I liked the graphics for this game but the only thing I didn't like was the colours used but after seeing the speccy and cpc game side by side I appreciate the cpc's graphics more.


Good game and I had lots of fun with it.

[arnoldemu]

Sorry, but if I can see the background of the track in the car, it's speccy graphics.
Strider on the other hand was a perfect example of Mode 1 used correctly.

Shaun you need your eyes checking! 

Strider is a perfect use of mode 1? Really? The backgrounds are basically 1 colour the sprites are ok.

(I'm guessing it's like Ghosts n Goblins but in mode 1. 2 colours for background, other colours being used for sprites.)

It is nice in a way that the sprites stand out from the background, but I would like more colour in the background to be honest.

Now, wec le mans.. we're talking the same game here on cpc aren't we? The sprites are nice, the road is nice. The trees don't mask well with the background but the rest does. I'm not sure what you're on about.

[chinnyhill10]

Oh boy, did I ever love this game despite it's awful speccy graphics.

They are CPC graphics. The Spectrum graphics are entirely different.

[chinnyhill10]

Sorry, but if I can see the background of the track in the car, it's speccy graphics.

You can't. The car remains solid when you go on the grass. There is no attribute clash. The game demonstrates a perfectly valid use of the CPC's mode 1.

[Shaun M. Neary]

And Strider IS a speccy port!!!  It's got the same graphics copied over with some basic colour fills.  Not even well chosen colours.  Strider is not meant to be in bright pink!



 

Strider was purple and orange!!
And *I* need *MY* eyes checked? 

[Shaun M. Neary]

Shaun you need your eyes checking! 

Strider is a perfect use of mode 1? Really? The backgrounds are basically 1 colour the sprites are ok.

(I'm guessing it's like Ghosts n Goblins but in mode 1. 2 colours for background, other colours being used for sprites.)

It is nice in a way that the sprites stand out from the background, but I would like more colour in the background to be honest.

Now, wec le mans.. we're talking the same game here on cpc aren't we? The sprites are nice, the road is nice. The trees don't mask well with the background but the rest does. I'm not sure what you're on about.

You can't. The car remains solid when you go on the grass. There is no attribute clash. The game demonstrates a perfectly valid use of the CPC's mode 1.

OK, I'll stand corrected on the sprites and the speccy comment.
But that colour scheme was not great though either. For the use of mode 1, it was rather drab looking.

[Carnivius]

Strider was purple and orange!!
And *I* need *MY* eyes checked? 

Technically it's a bright magenta or even perhaps fuchsia (would need to be a lot bluer to be the CPC's purple) and Strider is meant to be wear blue (and have brown hair).  Almost any of the CPC's variety of blues would have been a better choice both looking more accurate to the costume and make the game generally look better. They got the colours right for their own non-Capcom-involved sequel though where they used Mode 0 instead and they actually put effort into creating proper CPC graphics.

[Puresox]

I think WEC LeMans on the CPC is an astounding game . I like it just as much and in different ways to how I like Burnin Rubber. I think the graphics are really well done and the colours look very stylish .However when I first saw it , years ago I was pretty dismissive of it and thought it looked very spectrum like . I think the CPC version is the best out of the 8bit ports . The gameplay is well balanced and has a good progression of difficulty that keeps you honing those skills. Love the way you get higher speeds on down hill gradients . And how it sometimes gives you the impression of slipstreaming. Music is pretty decent , sound effects not bad , the other cars crashing into each other and collecting damage was a nice touch and looks great graphically . Controls also are spot on.
Spectrum version is pretty good , not as keen on the car design though CPC version looks the part . Speccy's looks squashed sideways . They both blow away the C64 version which is just abysmal in everyway . MSX is adequate.

[sigh]

Nice review of the WEC Le Mans.

I'm also in huge agreement that the mode 1 graphics on the CPC look really nice. The 4 colours they chose to use in this game couldn't have been easy to pick, but I think that they made some great choices here. The vehicles are really nicely drawn and though the design differs from the arcade version, I actually prefer the look of these cars.

The spectrum version looks super smooth and I agree that it actually looks smoother than Chase HQ. A fast and brilliant version.

The C64 - not too sure what happened here. There are some decent racers on this machine, but it seems it may need to involve a lot more technical coding and planning as they are few and far between.

The MSX is a machine that I would love to own as it has great specs, but the ports of many games are underwhelming. While pretty good for a port, a version built from the ground up would of been way better.

[Puresox]

^^^^^^^^MSX, European games for the machine are a disgrace (similar to the CPC) Japanese offerings and cartridge games are astounding and show the machine to be a quality 8-Bit . Shame the Carts are Very expensive. Plus NTSC and PAL issue no doubt, also Japanese language barrier

[Joseman]

^^^^^^^^MSX, European games for the machine are a disgrace (similar to the CPC)

What european games / companies?

MSX users seems to have the obsession to blame on everthing but his machine (a failure)...

I think that it's a disrespect to the Amstrad CPC comparing the awful game library of the MSX with the excellent that the CPC has on Spain, France, England, etc.

The MSX library is nearly a joke, at least the CPC has good games with graphics properly made and properly coded, here in spain almost the 100% MSX -> 1%, in France almost 100% MSX ->1%, England CPC 70%-80%, MSX -> 1%

Let us be serious.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Technically it's a bright magenta or even perhaps fuchsia (would need to be a lot bluer to be the CPC's purple) and Strider is meant to be wear blue (and have brown hair).  Almost any of the CPC's variety of blues would have been a better choice both looking more accurate to the costume and make the game generally look better. They got the colours right for their own non-Capcom-involved sequel though where they used Mode 0 instead and they actually put effort into creating proper CPC graphics.

I thought Strider 2 was a god-awful mess, graphics wise, nowhere near as clean as it's mode 1 prequel. It was also ridiculously easy too. I think I finished it on my second attempt.

[Puresox]

I'll agree to differ then . European meaning British /France Germny etc games. MSX exclusives were top games Quality over quantity. Amstrad Has plenty of duds , beautiful graphics  stodgy gameplay . European catering for MSX was just Speccy ports. I am not interested in commercial success of any 8-Bit machine. Talking about game quality . Which is very high for Japanese made MSX designated games.

[Puresox]

Let us be serious. You say . Surely joke when combined with those statements

[Joseman]

Which is very high for Japanese made MSX designated games.

you see? again and again with the same answer... Japanese Games...

removing the childish Japanese games... how many games remain? 5 - 6?

I repeat, this is not serious

and less it you try to compare with the CPC catalogue

[robcfg]

Let me think about it a bit.


Penguin Adventure, Gradius, Gradius II, Salamander, Treasure of Usas, Knightmare, King's Valley, Metal Gear, Space Mambow, Vampire Killer, SD Snatcher, Maze of Galious...



We're not comparing MSX with CPC, but japanese games were almost always top quality games while the MSX suffered (as the CPC did) from speccy ports.

[Bryce]

I have Penguin Adventure on Cartridge for my MSX. Very simple, but very enjoyable time waster.

Bryce.

[robcfg]

Heh, Penguin Adventure is a great game!


Nice graphics, catchy tunes, very good playability... A true classic.

[Puresox]

you see? again and again with the same answer... Japanese Games...

removing the childish Japanese games... how many games remain? 5 - 6?

I repeat, this is not serious

and less it you try to compare with the CPC catalogue

I really don't know what your issue is ? What argument are you trying to construct? If you don't like the MSX . Then thats your preference. You seem to be making an argument out of nothing though.