Big Red Racing

Overview

Big Red Racing is a racing game, released in 1996 for MS-DOS. It was developed by Big Red Software, a then small british software house who would later merge with Epic Pic in 1995 to create current Publisherhouse Eidos Interactive.

In Big Red Racing you chose between 8 different vehicle classes, each consisting of 2 different vehicles to choose from, a total of 16 racers. Each course in the game have predetermined which class of vehicles the player can race with. There are a total of 24 courses to race in. Most tracks are located in various locations on earth, such as England, USA, Japan, Kenya, China, Russia and other distinct places, each course with a fitting level design for that locations specific geography. There are also courses with are not on Earth, these levels are locaed on the Moon, Mars and Venus.

Big Red Racing is a comical game, something noticable right from the get-go. There are burping sounds, screams and other comical sound effects when selecting an option in the games menu. There are also announcers who shout out ridiculous comments during races. The actual racing is  performed on courses, where the player has to race around them in a number of laps. Even so, a big part of Big Red Racing is the offroad racing part of it. On many courses the player can at any time leave the designated racing area and race around jumping feverishly, crashing into other players or obstacles. In some tracks you could travel outside the mini-map displayed in the upper-left corner and discover new areas with jumps and various obstacles.

Vehicles

There are 8 vehicle groups in the game, each containing two different vehicle types. Each course uses only one of these groups. These are:

• City, mini vehicles.

  • Car (Mini)

  • Car (Volkswagen Beetle)

• Dirt

  • Four Wheel Drive Off-Roader ( Jeep)

  • Customized All-Terrain Military Personnel Carrier (6 Wheeled ATV)

• Helicopter

  • (Failed) Prototype: Radar-Invisible Helicopter

  • Trimmed-Down Pilot-Training Helicopter

• Planet, futuristic vehicles.

  • Jet-Propelled Hover Vehicle

  • All-Terrain Vehicle

• Rig

  • Monster Truck

  • Customized Rig (Semi-trailer truck)

• Snow

  • Snow Plough

  • All-Terrain Miniture Snow Vehicle

• Quarry, quarry vehicles.

  • Excavator (Backhoe)

  • Dumper Truck (Dump truck)

• Water

  • Inflatable Motor Boat

  • Semi-Amphibious Hover Craft

Courses

There are a total 24 courses in Big Red Racing from the globe, the moon, Venus, and Mars. Each course has has a humorous subtitle, usually a parody of a famous phrase or film. These are:

• Kenya (The Coffee Ground): Rig track

• England (The Dirt Circle): Dirt track

• Chile (Reservoir Dodge): Ruff track

• United States(Wet & Wild): Water track

• Australia (Road Rage): City track

• Mexico (Margarita Meander): Dirt track

• Egypt (The Tomb): Quarry track

• Ireland (Lucky Leprechauns): Rig track

• China (Under The Bridge): Water track

• U.S.A. (Excellent Adventure): City track

• Arctic (Frosty's Revenge): Snow track

• Germany (Sound of Munich): Helicopter track

• Japan (Karma Corners): Dirt track

• Russia (Lenin's Leap): Snow track

• Italy (The Italian Job): City track

• Norway (Fjord Escort): Helicopter track

• Mars (Red Planet Roller Coaster): Planet track

• Spain (Spanish Inquisition): Rig track

• Scotland (Highland Fling): Snow track

• Venus (The Fly Trap): Planet track

• India (Hot Water Wander): Water track

• France (French Frolics): Quarry track

• Hawaii (Hawaii-5-O): Helicopter track

• Moon (Lunar Loops): Planet track