The option to drive in combat races, however, helps even the odds against the AI and lights a firecracker under Breakneck. With guns and guided missiles, it's actually fun and sometimes advantageous to be behind. The weapons are simple and effective, ranging from nail and oil droppers to machine guns, missiles, grenades, mines, and even curses that cause opponent's vehicles to malfunction. The combat vehicles are all based on the sports car types, and careening through tracks at high speed while having to monitor weapons makes for an exciting afternoon. Hitting an opponent serves two purposes: it slows them and lets you pass, and it damages their vehicle and can eventually force them out of the race.

For us, the combat really saved Breakneck. After playing Breakneck for a while, we kept coming back to the cars with guns. It is just too satisfying to get bumped by one of the AI drivers, and reclaim position by hitting him with an electromagnetic pulse missile. We felt vindicated when the same drivers that shredded our tires with nails were piled on the roadside after shooting at each other. Setting up a single combat race is easy and quick, and this proved our favorite competition in Breakneck.

There's a fun variant in the racing that's available for both combat and non-combat racing. In Fox Hunting, the driver designated as the Fox gets a ten second head start and must stay ahead of the pack for the entire race. If another driver can stay ahead of the Fox for thirty seconds, the Fox loses. This added a twist to regular racing, but was most fun in the combat option.

Breakneck's campaign mode takes your alter ego through an entire season of racing. Starting with a modest budget, you'll secure a sponsor, buy or rent a car, and start putting races in your competition calendar. Each race brings the opportunity to win money and upgrade or replace your vehicle. This 'expert' mode is unfortunately shackled by a confusing and garish interface that's hardly the model of simplicity seen in the arcade mode. The documentation is helpful in getting through the expert screens, but in the end, we stuck with arcade races. It was easier to navigate and play, and since the AI is tough in Breakneck, it's easy to lose, and lose interest in, the expert mode.

Breakneck entertains, but racing games are a dime a dozen and there are both smarter and prettier ones to be had. We credit the game's variety of vehicles, though some were inappropriate on most tracks, and we found the combat light and accessible. We prefer ultimately our copies of Need for Speed and Interstate '76, but our casual gaming friends were impressed with Breakneck. The crowd that wants some speed and variety in a single package could do worse than this jack-of-all-trades.

By Bernard Dy
Contributing Editor