Driver

You are the wheelman...

There are some games I really looked forward to on this 1001 list. Be they games I'd really wanted to play and hadn't or games that I haven't played since they first came out, there was also something upcoming that I knew I was going to enjoy.

I was going to enjoy going back to playing Driver for the first time in nearly twenty years, not because of its take on car chases filmed in the 1970s, but because of that driving test.

Infamous in its difficulty, this entry might be over before it starts...

Interstate '76

Funky Single-Player Unmitigated Vengeance Quest

Some games live long in the memory, and some stay a while on the shelves. Some appear out of nowhere, flying under the radar, and then disappear before you know what happened. I think that's how Interstate '76 can be described because I had never heard of it in my life until this 1001 list brought it up.

Now, no gamer is expected to know of every game there is, of course, but we ought to know some of the more unusual or unexpected titles if only to broaden our knowledge. This time, I'm catching up on my awareness of vehicular combat simulators set in the 1970s of an alternate American history - a genre that began and most likely ended with Interstate '76.

Let's get our groove on and see what this is about.

APB

Calling car 54...

Source // Wikipedia

"Oh hey, look, it's Grand Theft Auto except you play as the cops" might have been the first words to arise upon seeing APB, or All Points Bulletin for those who are acronym averse. It's not a terrible descriptor of the game, but nor is it terribly accurate.

You control rookie cop Officer Bob in a top down view of streets full of criminal scum. Meet your quota for the day and you'll succeed. Fail to pull over enough of them and you'll have your superiors to answer to, and will eventually be fired.

Is it a realistic representation of police life? I wouldn't know, I've never been a copper. Is it a must play arcade game? Let's find out.

OutRun

The real driving simulator.

Source // Hardcore Gaming 101

Back in my childhood I had two racing games for the Game Boy, F1 Race and Race Days. They weren't played too much thanks to the likes of Super Mario Land, but I enjoyed how simple they were. The road ahead would bend and straighten out in front of you, and all you needed to do was keep your car in the middle and avoid whomever was in your way.

What I wasn't aware of until much later was that I hadn't got a clue about the racing game to popularise this gameplay - OutRun. Although it's not a racing game according to its designer, which makes sense seeing as you don't have any competitors out there on the road. 

So what do you have? A time limit, a death wish and a blonde to impress. Time to put the pedal to the metal.