Newman Haas Racing
Sony PlayStation £39.99
Old blue eyes may have passed away recently, but Paul Newman, another old favourite of the silver screen, is very much alive. In fact Newman has his own CART racing team in the US and it is one of the pacesetters in a very competitive form of motor racing.
The Newman Haas name might be familiar to some since former Formula One champion Nigel Mansell drove for the team in 1993 and became the first rookie driver to win the Indy Car series. Mansell was also the first to win the Formula One and Indy Car series in consecutive years.
Founded in 1983 with legendary driver Carl Haas, the Newman Haas team has endorsed this excellent racing sim from Psygnosis, which has had great success in the past with Wipeout and the F1 series.
Altogether the game boasts 11 real-life tracks, plus four fictitious, or fantasy, circuits. Among the real-life tracks are Toronto, Ohio, Rio and Long Beach - which is one of the most famous of all racing circuits.
Although there is a Challenge Race (arcade) option within the game, Newman Haas Racing is more a comprehensive simulation of the CART series. If you are going to enjoy it to the full you will have to spend a little time testing. To be a real winner you are also going to have to consider such things as tyre stagger, suspension, gearing, fuel loading, tyre pressure and compounds.
The graphics and sound effects are top-notch and there is little here to gripe about. However, one suspects that the lack of popularity for the sport on this side of the Atlantic may hinder its rise up the charts. For us Europeans, Formula One is the main event, but true motor sport fans will undoubtedly have this excellent offering in their libraries.
Graphics: 90% Sound: 90% Gameplay: 90%
Need For Speed III
Sony PlayStation £39.99
Playstation fans are a little spoiled for choice when it comes to quality motor racing games, with Grand Tourismo, F1 97 and Newman Haas all hitting the streets recently.
With these games in tow, any potential front runner will have to be in showroom condition to even contemplate making the grade. While the Need For Speed III's two predecessors were relatively good games, in today's marketplace they would already be in the scrap yard, such is the changing world of gaming.
However, the people at EA have not been found wanting and have spruced up their little racer to meet the challenge. The gameplay in this latest instalment remains basically the same, but the game makers have fine-tuned the engine to give us a real winner.
The frame rate has been improved upon and the result is much faster, smoother gameplay. There are eight new cars including the Ferrari 550 Maranello, Mercedes CLK GTR and the 1998 Corvette C5. There is now nighttime racing and the weather effects have also been tweaked.
However, what sets Need For Speed III apart from other car racers, and indeed the first two instalments of this game, is the Hot Pursuit mode. Here you must outsmart the cops or you will lose the privilege to drive. To put it bluntly, you will be jailed.
This option is great fun, as the police will not only pursue you, they will also call for back-up when the need arises, so it is not unusual to have three or four police cars breathing down your neck. Track design is also from the top drawer and peripherals such as passing scenery, bi-planes, blimps and trains are all beautifully rendered, as are all the super cars that race on them.
Graphics: - 92% Sound: - 90% Gameplay: - 93%
Top 10 sellers
This week's 10 top-selling PC CD- ROM games at Virgin Megastore are:
1) Star Wars Supremacy - £34.99 2) Starcraft - £34.99 3) Championship Manager 97/98: World Cup - £19.99 4) Quake 2 - £29.99 5) Age Of Empires - £34.99 6) Lula - 19.99 7) Tomb Raider 2 - £29.99 8) Battlezone - $34.99 9) Grand Theft Auto - £34.99 10) Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 - £34.99