18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker Review

6.0

Format Dreamcast

Developer AM2

Publisher Sega

Genre Unknown

Sega's enormous trucking arcade game has arrived on Dreamcast. Dylan Davies picks up some Swedish hitchers and smells the diesel

18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker is something of a contemporary arcade legend. Its notoriety is sometimes more to do with the dimensions of the cabinet than the actual game itself - an IMAX-sized screen, a bench seat (presumably for arcade hitchers), a steering wheel with a diameter that rivals the world's largest pizza, and a reassuringly large button that activates the reassuringly large horn. Though many grumble at its Ł2 price tag, many more love its behemoth take on the world of driving games, ensuring it a place in the hearts of wannabe Rubber Ducks everywhere.

So the big game has finally come to the little Dreamcast. Does it come with an oversized wheel? No, of course not. Does it come with a bench? No, players must provide their own seating. Does it come with a horn button? Yes, it's the yellow one on your existing Dreamcast controller! Thanks Sega. This isn't a peripheral-based game like Samba De Amigo (ODM #15, 8/10), it's just an arcade conversion on a little silver disc. So what do we get for our wonga? Well, for a kick off there's the original Arcade mode...

Before you can go anywhere near racing you must first choose your driver. The five characters come equipped with distinct personas and truck design. There's Asphalt Cowboy (whose name sounds like 'Asshole Cowboy' when shouted in an American accent), and Nippon Maru in his gaudy over-customised rig. Streamline is the Blaxploitation character that every game must have, Highway Cat is the foxy chick, and finally there's Long Horn - a fat cowboy in a truck that looks like a bad sci-fi monster. It seems truckers have changed since the film Convoy back in 1978, as now, with their bad disco outfits, Sega truckers look like members of the Village People. Each character has their own cab with differing amounts of torque, speed and strength. For those of you who don't read car magazines, torque is the low-end power that provides acceleration, speed is the fastest a body of matter can travel through space, and strength is how much you can abuse your truck before it ceases to work as a truck. Let's race!

Arcade mode is exactly what you might have played in, er, the arcade. You must navigate your way across the USA in Jack-Kerouac-with-a-purpose fashion from New York to San Francisco within a time limit. At the start of each stage you must choose a trailer. The heavier the trailer, the more cash you'll receive. However, the extra weight means you'll accelerate slower and it'll take longer to slow down into corners. Also, should you clatter your trailer against, or be clattered by, traffic you'll lose final marks due to 'damaged goods'. This doesn't radically alter your game strategy as the trailer can take loads of damage and the game seems to be more about crossing the line as quickly as possible, rather than points. Along your journey you'll be hounded by a rogue 'Rival' truck driven by a man called Lizard Tail. He'll do his best to cut you up, barge into the side of your truck and shout 'Outta my way, green horn!' in an attempt to demean your pride. As your nemesis he'll lose you your reward if he finishes the stage before you, so keep your head up and your foot down.

COMING TO AMERICA

The voyage across America is kindly split up into four bite-sized levels - New York to St Petersburg, St Petersburg to Dallas, Dallas to Las Vegas and finally Las Vegas to San Francisco. When we say bite-sized, we really mean they're tiny succulent morsels. Along each stage there is a fork in the road, which splits the level into two routes that meet up again for the final dash to the line. It's a way of instilling more variety into the level and a way of avoiding the evil Mr Lizard Tail. Perilous obstacles such as rock falls and tornadoes litter the routes, the latter raining falling trucks upon the road ahead. Tragically the levels are short - very short - and there's only four of them. With a bit of persistence you'll have this part of the game finished in under an hour, and repeat visits will only take ten minutes. All there's left to do is try to beat your time/score and adjust the difficulty level. Sadly there are no extra levels for Dreamcast - what you saw in the arcade is exactly what you get here. At this point the player is likely to be wondering where their money went.

In addition to the brief arcade mode, there is a Parking mode. This is a nice new additional challenge based on the sub-games in the Arcade mode. You must navigate your truck into parking bays only slightly larger than the rig itself. This is like trying to thread a needle, only fun. On each of the four stages there are four bays to park in before the clock runs out. To assist the clock in running out there are time penalties for hitting any object. So, if you're reversing 60 tons into a small garage with only a few seconds left and you so much as touch a streetlight, it's Game Over and you have to take your test again. This is a great extra mode - the need for speed and precision in a difficult-to-navigate pivoting truck is hilarious to watch and enjoyably frustrating to play.

We're halfway through the review and head-to-head online play hasn't been mentioned. This is because it's not implemented and never will be. Sadly there will never be a UK-based online community honking horns, reading pornography and eating bacon sandwiches, forming a virtual convoy. Don't blame the messenger. The best you're gonna get is a two-player option. This provides nice smooth-running split-screen antics, but the game style really isn't radically improved by racing against a mate.

In addition to this trucking buffet there's the Time Attack mode. This is three laps of diesel-cruising around looped versions of the Arcade tracks. Violent people rejoice, for you are encouraged to hit bonus cars for extra points. Hit the same wreckage again and the points double, and again, and again until the wreckage is a vaporous memory of its former self. Your rival, Lizard Tail, (oh why won't he leave me alone?) makes an appearance again - feel free to swerve into him until he too falls apart like a broken heart in the fragile shell of adolescence.

Them's the courses and them's the challenges. As for the game itself, it's a joy to play. Contrary to popular belief, driving at no faster than 80mph can be tricky, hairy and complex. The cab's suspension appears to be constructed from bed springs, consequently any sudden movement on the controller causes the rig to roll and pitch like a tiny, tiny boat on a big, big wave. Following other trucks will cause you to enter a slipstream, accelerating you past the front vehicle - just like the best car racing games do. The hilarious bouncy movement is also accentuated by the in-cab graphics. Each driver has his/her own cab interior, with items such as dangling air fresheners, sunglasses, porn mags and lucky charms. These items slide around the dashboard so realistically you'll be forgiven for trying to catch them as they slither off the screen. Incidentally, the winner of the best interior is Nippon Maru - an interior so laced with tassels it's hard to see out of the window. Respect, Mr Maru! As 60 tons of truck will never accelerate like a Nissan Skyline, the basic trick is to never brake and maintain speed by not hitting houses - which is easier said than done.

GETTING THE HORN

The graphics move along smoother than cashmere. There is so much detail whooshing past you, and so many objects to hit, it's easy to forget you're only doing about 80mph. The skies of America have rarely looked so majestic. However, there is more noticeable scenery pop-up than in the arcade version with moderate fog on the horizon. Not quite a pea-souper but it's still noticeable. Audio is standard arcade rawk music with your nemesis shouting moderately intimidating remarks about your driving over the CB. The most beautiful part of the sound, though, is the mighty horn! This is the most pleasurable use of the X button ever. Hit the key and the horn lets out a dead-wakingly rude 'Baaaaaaaaaaaaarp!' Further into the arcade mode you'll acquire a new horn that not only wakes the dead but makes them come to your house and ask you to keep the noise down as they are trying to get some sleep eternal. It serves a practical function too, as prolonged use causes a few polite motorists to move out of your way. Sometimes.

Without trying to sound like Swiss Tony from The Fast Show, 18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. It's exciting, sometimes perilous, bouncy with a well-made chassis, but sadly over far too soon. The Dreamcast version just doesn't have enough meat in its sandwich (again, a lot like a beautiful woman). Its extra modes and absence of online play limits its time-span considerably. A good gamer will have all levels nailed within an hour of firing up their Dreamcast. An inferior gamer may have to wait another 20 minutes until they are looking in the instructions trying to find the rest of the game. For that hour you'll think you've gone to game nirvana, but after that hour you'll be in 'I'm 30 quid down with nothing to do' hell. I'm weeping into my keyboard thinking of the game this could have been - an online Convoy with loads of extra levels. If you want what you saw at the arcade and no more, buy this game. If you want a racing game worth the expense - do not touch the truck!