Death Rally

Before Max Payne and Alan Wake, Remedy made a small, mean top-down racing game called Death Rally. Nearly thirty years later it is still one of the most satisfying car combat games around.

The pitch

You start with almost no money, a terrible car and a bad reputation. The underground racing circuit is run by a mysterious champion called the Adversary, and your goal is to climb the rankings until he agrees to race you. Each race is a few frantic laps on a compact overhead track. You win by being fastest, by being the last car still running, or ideally both.

What works

• The economy loop. The game is really a racing game with a management layer on top. Prize money pays for engine, tyre and armour upgrades, better cars and weapons such as mines and spikes. Choosing between an easy race with a small payout and a dangerous one with a big payout gives every decision some weight.
• Dirty tricks. You can take out a loan from a shady lender, sabotage rivals before a race, or accept sponsor jobs that pay a bonus for wrecking a specific driver. These small touches give the circuit a scrappy personality.
• Combat that feels good. The machine gun rattles, cars explode in satisfying bursts, and running a rival off the road after he shot you all the previous lap is a lasting pleasure. The cameo from Duke Nukem as a rival racer suits the attitude.
• Atmosphere. The grimy pixel art and pounding soundtrack hold up well and give the game a strong identity.

What doesn’t

• The early game is harsh. Your first car is slow and fragile, and rivals can bully you off the podium for several races in a row. Some players will quit before it clicks.
• Limited variety. The number of tracks is modest, and once you have a top-tier car the challenge drops off until the final showdown.
• Overhead camera. At high speed the top-down view can make it hard to see turns coming, so you rely on memorising the tracks.

Verdict

Death Rally is short, punishing and addictive, with a “just one more race” loop that modern games still struggle to match. Remedy later released the original as freeware, so it costs nothing to try, though you may need DOSBox or a fan port to run it smoothly. The 2011 remake for mobile and PC is a slicker way in, but the original has more grit.