''CyberRace'' is a futuristic single player

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...

developed and published by

Cyberdreams Cyberdreams Interactive Entertainment was a video game publisher located in California that specialized in adventure games developed in collaboration with famous names from the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres between 1990 and 1997. H ...

in 1993 for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

. It features

flying car A flying car or roadable aircraft is a type of vehicle which can function both as a road vehicle and as an aircraft. As used here, this includes vehicles which drive as motorcycles when on the road. The term "flying car" is also sometimes u ...

vehicles, called sleds, designed by industrial designer Syd Mead. The 1995 game ''

Cyber Speedway ''Cyber Speedway'' (''Gran Chaser'' in Japan) is a 1995 racing video game developed by NexTech and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The game was originally called ''Grand Racer'', but was renamed to avoid confusion with another early Satur ...

'' is a

spiritual sequel A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...

to ''CyberRace''.

Plot

In the game manual the background setting for the game's universe is told. There are two main rivaling empires:

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

and Kaladasia. After the galaxy was nearly destroyed, war battles were replaced with racing competition. The player in the role of Clay Shaw is forced to become a sled pilot for the Terran team, as his girlfriend is held captive by a Terran agent named Dobbs. Terra wants Shaw as a pilot because his father, John Shaw, was a well-known, successful pilot, and Clay is hoped to become equally good.

Gameplay

The player can select strategy options and equipment for the sled before the race. The races take place on different planets which provide the background for the racing circuits. The player must fly the sled along the circuit for several rounds, the number of rounds increasing with progression in the game. The player and computer-generated competitors can use weapons (e.g. missiles) and shields.

Release

''CyberRace'' was released in two editions: on six 3½-inch

floppy disks A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined wi ...

and on one

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

. Both packages included a manual, a quick reference card, a small plastic model of a racing sled and a signed card by Syd Mead. As the game was programmed for DOS, playing it on modern PCs is usually not possible under modern operating systems without the use of an emulator such as

DOSBox DOSBox is a free and open-source emulator which runs software for MS-DOS compatible disk operating systems—primarily video games. It was first released in 2002, when DOS technology was becoming obsolete. Its adoption for running DOS games i ...

Reception

'' Computer Gaming World'' stated in February 1994 that ''CyberRace'' was "primarily action intensive", but that with Mead helping to develop the storyline, "the story itself may actually eclipse game play", with "strong appeal among sci-fi fans and racing enthusiasts". A longer review in March 1994 described the graphics as "spectacular ... amazing" and the racing as "a lot of fun", albeit "fairly easy" after time. It reported, however, that ''CyberRace'' did not live up to the hype of a game "from the man who brought you ''Blade Runner''", stating that Mead's influence was only visible in the sled designs and that good voice acting did not compensate for poor writing, non-racing animation, and not enough playtesting. The magazine concluded that "''CyberRace'' is a fun, visually stunning race simulator with a rather weakly constructed and executed narrative framework". In April 1994 the magazine said that "While the racing can be mildly interesting ... an uninteresting plot and characters fail to keep interest, despite some pretty neat artwork". In 1996, ''Computer Gaming World'' declared ''CyberRace'' the 39th-worst computer game ever released.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:CyberRace 1993 video games Cyberdreams games DOS games DOS-only games Science fiction racing games Racing video games Science fiction video games Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games