By:
UbiSoft

It's that depressing time of year isn't it? Homeless Santas are still out in flocks with their flasks of whisky, suicides are up and the shelves are still fully stocked with racing games for the PC. In the past month alone we've already seen the likes of Dethkarz, Test Drive 5, S.C.A.R.S, Viper Racing and Powerslide released (we could go on and on). So how does Speed Busters: American Highways, Ubi Soft's latest addition to the racing game genre, measure up in the race? Well before you all shout 'pod', it doesn't quite hit the pole position but it's well up there on the racing genre starting grid. Despite the odd title (what kind of a name is Speed Busters anyway?) we were left considerably more impressed than we'd originally expected. From the moment you load up Speed Busters and wade your way through the bizarre intro movie, you start to get the picture. The goofy sound track (which gives you a migraine if induced in extremely heavy doses) also clues you into the fact that it's been raining cheese crackers. This is no sim (look to Viper Racing for that) and neither does it take itself all that seriously. Far from it, this is arcade racing at its fastest on a PC. Buckle up folks. You are in for a bit of fun.

Even though Speed Busters is a racing game, as you all know by now, it seems as though every racing game needs a story these days (what's the industry coming to?). So what's Speed Busters' excuse for a game then? Actually to cut a long story short, it's a good excuse. Think of Burt Reynolds in the incredibly cheesy Cannonball Run (or Gumball Rally in the 1970s if you can remember that far back)- Speed Busters is the 'Cannonball Run' of the 90s but minus Burt Reynolds thankfully. You race for money- full stop. The money itself is kindly put up by an odd policeman, who has just won a million bucks in the lottery. The intro shows off the policeman in question buying an ice cream and subsequently the 'scoop' falling off on to his shoe, which is a parody of the weird concept but who cares?