Top Gear 3000

Infobox VG
title = Top Gear 3000


developer = Gremlin Graphics
publisher = Kemco
designer =
engine=
released = vgrelease|North America|NA|April 27, 1995
vgrelease|Japan|JP|April 28, 1995
vgrelease|Europe|EU|1995
genre = Racing
modes = Single-player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Everyone
platforms = SNES
media = Cartridge
requirements=

"Top Gear 3000" was a sequel to the 1992 video game "Top Gear" for the Super NES. It is a racing game similar to the original in gameplay, but set in the distant future with 48 different tracks on alien planets, and a variety of environments.

Comparison to series

As the name implies, the game is set in the year 3000. The introduction states that anonymous benefactor and funders have created a massive galaxy-wide racing campaign at the outset of each millennium [Intro:"Once every millennium, one of the greatest events in the galaxy begins... It is a race. A car race. It starts at the furthest reaches of the galaxy and ends at the center. For the winner riches beyond belief. Knowledge of the race is passed from generation to generation. The identity of the organizer has been lost through the mists of the time. Or maybe it has never been known. But even the youngest child knows on a certain date... all he has to do is look to the skies... for a sign. The time has arrived. YOU are in the race. GOOD LUCK"] , and reward the winner with "riches beyond belief." Placing this game a thousand years in the future allowed the developers to plausibly include futuristic and improbable technologies, and abandon the relative realism of Top Gear 2.

Car upgrades were more extensive than in Top Gear 2 , and "weapons" were featured for the first time in the series. Upgrades included a nuclear fusion engine, a cobalt-titanium armor kit, and a liquid polymer gearbox; weapons included a device to jump over cars, a warp device, and a magnetic attractor to steal kinetic energy from other cars.

Gameplay

The game has two distinct modes of gameplay, with Championship being the most expansive. Cars are limited by the range of their fuel, and of the condition of their frame; players gain fuel by driving over the red Recharge strips, and repair their car's structural integrity by driving over the blue Repair strips.

Championship

In Championship mode, one or two players can play, or one player can play with the screen split between his/her view and that of an AI opponent. Players start off with identical cars and may change the color, name, whether the speedometer displays mph or kph, and the button layout. Unlike in previous Top Gear games with a few pre-generated layouts, the players may adjust any function to any button desired.

Each race contains a pack of twenty cars, with eighteen or nineteen named AI opponents. After races are won, players then spend earned credits replacing the engine, gearbox, tires, armor, boost, and adding "weapons" capability. The AI opponents do not purchase upgrades, but grow steadily faster throughout the championship. Bonuses of various quantities may be placed on the track as spherical icons, or awarded for certain driver activities after the end of each race.

Versus

In Versus Mode, up to four players can play with the addition of a multitap. The screen is always split four ways; if there are fewer than four players, AI opponents will form up the remainder. Each race is a stand-alone affair on a single track, with players choosing from four different speed/acceleration/boost combinations (similar to original Top Gear) before the race begins.

Reception

Nintendo Power gave it a contemporary rating of 3.2/5 [ [http://www.gamespot.com/snes/driving/planetchamptg3000/review.html?mode=web&tag=hotslot;theysay] ] and Top Gear 3000 was not considered a highly-regarded racing game in its day.Fact|date=October 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.gamestats.com/objects/009/009059/ GameStats entry]
* [http://www.gamespot.com/snes/driving/planetchamptg3000/index.html Gamespot entry]
* [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=70523 Bonus opportunities and cheats]