The ''Lotus'' series consists of three racing computer games based around the Lotus brand: ''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge'', ''Lotus Turbo Challenge 2'', and ''Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge''. Published between 1990 and 1992 by

Gremlin Graphics Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...

, the games gained very favourable reviews upon release. Original Amiga versions of the games were created by Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris of

Magnetic Fields A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

, and then ported by other individuals to several other computers and game consoles.

''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge''

The first game in the series was released in 1990 8-bit and 16-bit computer systems, the Amiga and Atari ST versions. The game allowed the player to race a Lotus Esprit Turbo SE car through several (32 in the Amiga version) circuit race tracks of varying scenery. Two player simultaneous play (with split screen) was also provided, and a choice of audio tracks to accompany races. Each track is lap-based and consists of turns of varying degrees, as well as hills and hollows which slow down or speed up the car passing through them. Each turn is indicated by a chain of road-side signs, and the difficulty of the turn is reflected by the number and density of these signs - a feature common to all titles in the ''Lotus'' series. While racing, the players must manage their fuel supply, occasionally visiting the

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...

for refuelling. Also apart from overtaking the other cars, the racers must avoid various hazards and obstacles. These are dependent on the scenery the track is located in, and include slippery road on the winter courses, road blocks, slippery puddles and wooden logs. The tracks are split into three race series, with different difficulty levels. In each race the player or players compete against 20 opponents. The goal is to finish each race on the highest possible position; if the player finishes a race within the first 10 places they qualify for the next race and receive points towards a final position on the high-score table. The names of the computer-controlled drivers are puns on the names of real-life racers of the time (" Ayrton Sendup", " Nijel Mainsail" and " Alain Phosphate" for example). Unusually, the player's starting position in each race is the exact opposite of the position reached at the end of the previous one. This gives weaker players a chance to improve by starting in a higher position. In the Amiga version entering "MONSTER" and "SEVENTEEN" as names of players 1 and 2 respectively, reveals a hidden mini-game - a simple space-themed shooter, where the objective is to survive as long as possible while shooting rocks that fly around.

Reception

''Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge'' was well received by the gaming press, which praised its feeling of speed, technical quality and two-player gameplay. The game in all its versions was rated around 80-90%. It was the only title in the series that was released for an 8-bit platform - the later ones were 16-bit only. The ZX Spectrum version was voted number 17 in the ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History T ...

Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time''.

''Lotus Turbo Challenge 2''

The second Lotus game shifted focus to arcade-oriented gameplay. Being the first of the series released for a game console (for the

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as ...

under the title ''Lotus Turbo Challenge''), the fuel limit and difficulty levels were dropped, and the lap-based levels were replaced with course-based time trials (not unlike arcade games such as ''

Out Run (also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi (comp ...

''), with the player required to complete each course within a specified time to qualify for the next one. In addition to the Esprit Turbo SE, ''Lotus Turbo Challenge 2'' also featured the Lotus Elan SE, hence 'Esprit' being dropped from the title. There was no choice of car however; the player runs with the Elan SE on odd levels, and with the Esprit on even levels. Lotus 2's single-player mode uses all of the game screen instead of half, and opponent cars appear in a variety of colors (opponent cars in the original game were all white). The music is absent from racing altogether; the player instead hears the car's engine sound. ''Lotus 2'' was developed for the Amiga and then converted for the other platforms.

Barry Leitch Barry Leitch (born April 27, 1970 in Strathaven, Scotland) is a Scottish video game music composer, responsible for the music in many games spanning multiple consoles and personal computers. Most notable is his work from the '' Lotus Turbo Challen ...

's intro music for ''Lotus 2'' is often found on playlists of retro computer music webradio stations; it contains a

subliminal message Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonanc ...

in the form of a sampled voice at around the 12-second mark (played through the left channel only) which says "you will not copy this game". The sample is played very quietly during the first few bars, and can be easily accessed in any MOD tracker program. The hi-hat and voice sample at the very beginning of the main theme is taken from Yello's '' Oh Yeah'', a song that became famous as the theme for another sports car (a Ferrari 250 GT California) in the movie ''

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer ...

''. ''Lotus 2'' uses a password system to access different races - once the player qualifies for a particular race, the password is revealed. Additionally, a rendition of Shaun Southern's early creation '' Kwazy Kwaks'', originally published for the

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...

in 1984, is accessed by using the password "DUX". There is a touch of humour on level six (the motorway level) of the Amiga version: if the player manages to successfully drive under the trailer of one of the lorries that cross the road, the in-game announcer shouts "Yeehaa!" This sound was used as a taunt on the Genesis port. The Amiga and Atari ST versions are able to use the serial port and connect to another computer (the players could link 2 Amiga, 2 Atari ST or an Amiga and an Atari ST) running ''Lotus 2'', thus making it possible for three or four players to play at the same time, or two players to play in fullscreen mode. This feature does not exists in other versions, nor in the two other episodes.

''Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge''

The third game in the series combined the gameplay aspects of its predecessors, allowing players to choose between racing opponents of ''Lotus Turbo Challenge'' or the arcade-like time trials of ''Lotus 2''. The two-player option was retained and the music selection feature returns ( Patrick Phelan's soundtrack to ''Lotus III'' spawned many modern remixes). ''Lotus III'' also added a third car - a

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...

Lotus M200 Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

automobile - and allowed the player to choose which one to race with. The game recycled most of the graphics from ''Lotus 2'', but added a number of new sceneries. The third installment also contains a quasi-track constructor where it is possible to create a track based on set parameters. As a result the player receives a level code using which it is possible to create the whole multi-track race. The game also enables the player to input any random numbers and letters and based on them have a race on a completely random track.

''Lotus Trilogy''

In 1994, the three games were released for

Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on July 16, ...

in one package, as ''The Classic Lotus Trilogy''. The Lotus Trilogy was also released for Atari 1040ST and Amiga that included all three games.

Reception

Italian magazine ''Computer+Videogiochi'' scored the Amiga CD32 version 82.

References

External links