San Francisco has been synonymous with action-movie car-chase scenes for decades. The steep hills and winding streets, it seems, were created specifically with the genre in mind. It was only natural for someone to create an arcade racing game built around the city. Based on the original physics model of the meticulously realistic '80s coin-op racer Hard Drivin', San Francisco Rush brings the game up to date, packing a lot more horsepower. The original arcade game - with eight different cars and four distinct handling characteristics (from beginner to full simulation), lush 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics-based visuals, numerous hidden shortcuts (from subterranean sewer runs to over-the-rooftops building jumps), and three fairly hilly tracks - clearly made an impact, even though being a realistic racing simulation clearly took a backseat to arcade-style fun. Midway's Nintendo 64 rendition is a composite of both previous games, including extra cars accessed by acquiring the six to eight keys hidden throughout each course. Want to know how to open all these things and find all the shortcuts? Well, here you go.
| |||||