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Title: Micro Machines
Developer: Codemasters
Year of Release:
No. Players: 1-2
Graphics: * * * *
Control: * * * *
Sound: * * *
Genre: Top-down racer

Another classic!

It feels like - to me anyway - there have been Micro Machine games since there have been computers with keyboards. They are always there and all generations - well, perhaps not ALL - know what their favourite MM game is.
This one for the Amiga was obviously my favourite, the the ages before the machines got huge mallets to crush the other cars, or powerups of any kind. This was pure-bred racing on the tabletops! Whether it be a school desk, snooker table or even in a bath tub, Micro Machines are there, piling around a haphazard course filled with such dangers as pencils, bubbles, cue tips and blobs of glue.
On the Amiga, there was only room for two players, but this did not lessen the experience; the bots are quite well programmed. Each player - human and CPU - could choose a character, each character has better skill (it doesn't SAY it anywhere, you just learn). So the way to win the tournament modes, was to play as Spider (the toughest) to eliminate his competition, then play against all the hardest characters first on the easy tracks so they are eliminated sooner.
Sound, graphics and controls are all excellent for this kind of game, though you must get used to the top-down, fixed camera view. The one novelty (excluding the fact we are driving around, miniaturised on tables) of this game is when playing two player; drive too slow and go off screen, you loose a point! This makes for high-speed, hard-hitting, action-filled racing!
Unless you just drive casually side by side for the whole race...