''Thunder Truck Rally'' (''Monster Trucks'' in Europe) is a

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

racing video 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 rac ...

developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis where players select a monster truck or otherwise 4X4 vehicle equipped with monster truck tires and have the option of either racing or crushing cars in an arena.

Gameplay

In car crushing mode, players are awarded style points for how well they crush other vehicles.

Development

During development of the game, project leader Martin Edmondson stated, "No code is shared between '' DD2'' and ''Monster Trucks'' (with the exception of surrounding code such as sound and sprite routines). ''Monster Trucks'' started development about three quarters through '' DD1'' and is a game based on those famous car-crushing, monster pick-up trucks with the oversized wheels."

Reception

The PlayStation version received mixed reviews according to the

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website

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Glenn Rubenstein Glenn Rubenstein (born March 2, 1976) is a writer, director, and journalist based in Northern California. Journalism Rubenstein has been a columnist for the ''San Francisco Examiner'', ''Sports Illustrated'' for Kids, CNET's (now defunct) GameCente ...

of ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' described it as "A fairly average driving game with a few new bells and whistles", ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' as "Not horrible, but nothing special either", and

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

as "a good, solid title, although the grainy graphics do grate sometimes." ''

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' concluded that "For off-road fans, it's a pretty solid buy, but run-of-the-mill racing buffs should get enough with only one rental." Most critics found that the game's car crushing mode, which they anticipated would have the most immediate appeal to players, is shallow and ultimately unexciting. Some also complained that in endurance mode, the guiding arrow tends to veer unexpectedly, which they felt was unfair, since the AI opponents always immediately know how to take a turn. Both Rubenstein and ''Next Generation'' remarked that while the controls are generally very good, the physics make it too easy to go off on a high jump that severely damages the player's truck. Other common criticisms were the extensive pop-up and weak sound effects, while subjects of praise included the rigorous course design, and the numerous modes and options available.

References

External links

* {{Ubisoft Reflections 1997 video games Monster truck video games Off-road racing video games PlayStation (console) games Psygnosis games Video games scored by Allister Brimble Windows games Video games developed in the United Kingdom