Lotus (game series)
| Lotus Challenge | |
|---|---|
| developer |
 Magnetic Fields
|
| Publisher |
Gremlin Graphics
|
| First title | Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (1990) |
| Last title | Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge (1992) |
| Platform (s) | Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Atari ST , C64 , ZX Spectrum , Acorn Archimedes , Mega Drive , Amiga CD32 , MS-DOS |
| Genre (s) | Racing game |
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge , Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 and Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge are well-known "pseudo-3D" racing games of the early 1990s and were particularly popular on the Amiga and Atari ST home computers and pointed the way for the genre at that time . Implementations for various other systems followed. The Lotus games were developed by Magnetic Fields and distributed by Gremlin Graphics .
The eponymous main vehicle is a Lotus Esprit . Two players can race against each other via split screen , with the screen divided into an upper and lower half. It was also possible to connect two Amiga or two Atari computers using a null modem cable . This allowed four players to take part in a race at the same time. Through this ability, the game established the first more widespread forerunner of today's LAN parties . The game graphics are comparable to Sega's OutRun .
Lotus III had the then new option of generating around five trillion routes using the course designer Racing Environment Construction System (RECS), which combines various specified parameters (frequency of curves, route characteristics, weather, etc.) into an eleven-digit code and so again later makes available. Interestingly enough, Magnetic Fields took up the idea of a track generator for the 1997 International Rally Championship .
Games of the series
- Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge : Amiga, Atari ST , C64 , Amstrad CPC , ZX Spectrum (all 1990)
- Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 : Amiga, Atari ST (both 1991), Sega Mega Drive (1992), Acorn Archimedes (1993)
- Lotus III - The Ultimate Challenge : Amiga, Atari ST (both 1992), Sega MegaDrive, PC (both 1993)
In 1994 Gremlin Graphics released a compilation of the three games under the name Lotus Trilogy .
Reviews of the press
- Lotus 1: 86% Amiga Joker (11/90) / 71% Power Play (1/91) / 87% CU Amiga (11/90)
- Lotus 2: 88% Amiga Joker (12/91) / 82% Power Play (1/92) / 93% CU Amiga (10/91)
- Lotus 3: 85% Amiga Joker (11/92) / 85% Power Play (11/92) / 86% CU Amiga (10/92)
Trivia
- The soundtrack of Lotus III was particularly popular and has been for many modern remixes used.
- In the intro to Lotus 2 a sample "You will not copy this game" is played (see also: Subliminal messages ).
- Only Lotus III was implemented for the PC . To run the game under Windows, however, a DOS emulator, such as the free DOSBox , is required.
Offshoot
The Lotus Challenge , released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox , has nothing in common with the classic trilogy and is similar to modern games such as Need for Speed .
Web links
- Lotus at MobyGames (English)
- LemonAmiga (pictures and information about the Amiga version)
Individual evidence
- ^ Christian Wirsig: The large lexicon of computer games , Schwartzkopf & Schwartzkopf, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89602-525-2
- ↑ Amiga Joker 10/1992, page 12f. Retrieved December 28, 2010 .
- ↑ ASM 11/1992. Retrieved December 28, 2010 .
- ↑ Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge at www.thelegacy.de. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 7, 2011 ; Retrieved January 7, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on www.thelegacy.de. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 7, 2011 ; Retrieved January 7, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge on www.thelegacy.de. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 7, 2011 ; Retrieved January 7, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lotus Challenge Series at www.mobygames.com. Retrieved January 7, 2011 .
