Gosh, the NES version was extremely ambitious. I actually have to commend them for the final product. They did the best they could, and the effort shows.
@@daishi5571 I owned a 48k Spectrum up till '85, and it was great fun, but some of these later arcade conversions are more like parodies than proper playable games.
Only recently I see you on RUclips the amount of people laughing at the Commodore 64 version of the game, but I'm one of the very few who actually BOUGHT the game as a child after being conned by fake screenshots at the back of the game cover. That game broke my heart.
@@Sh-hg8kf the word kid was included in the comment, and also there are many examples of supposedly impossible things being done just fine in the hardware.
I remember playing this at the arcade and playing with the manual transmission and stalling the car out and they made you use the clutch when restarting the car. Probably one of the most accurate of the driving games I played back in the day and probably one of my favorites. I dumped alot of quarters in this machine. Lol
PLEASE NOTE ! Some of these games suffered from terrible frame rate & as a result so did the control. It was extremely difficult controlling these games. The arcade version was difficult in configuring the controls as a result I lost control quite a bit.. But to be fair. This game is notorious for it's bad controls.
About the DOSbox emulation, if you change the amount of cycles from "3000" to "MAX" many games will run much smoother as they do on an original DOS machine. I noticed in another video you made a while ago that some game (I forget which game it was now) that usually runs very smoothly in DOS was chugging along in your video. Changing the amount of maximum CPU cycles in the .conf file to MAX will fix this in most, if not all cases.
I know. I cranked it up one day to see what would happen & it was running so fast everything was a greenish, gray blur. lol Computers have come a long way since those days.
Gaming History Source Indeed. By the way, what did you use to run the NES prototype? I've tried Jnes and Nestopia but neither worked. Jnes didn't support it at all and Nestopia had severe visual glitches.
The C64 version looks like it was coded by someone who'd never actually seen the game, and was basing it on a description he'd received from a deaf and blind man who was in the same room as someone playing it. The Mega Drive version is still my fave by a mile, though Race Drivin' on both the Game Boy and Saturn are both quite brilliant.
Thought of you when I uploaded this video Steve. I thought You would enjoy it. :D I agree about the commodore 64 version... It took me about 6 shoots to get the footage to make that clip. >_
***** I wonder if the C64 graphics had to be compromised due to its relatively slow CPU. (#) This wouldn't have been as big a deal with most 8-bit style games, where the hardware sprite and scrolling facilities et al would have more than offset that disadvantage. However, I'm guessing Hard Drivin' was almost entirely reliant upon 3D vector calculations and polygon fills, which would have been very CPU-centric(?) That might explain why even the lowly Spectrum version has a better draw distance for the road- the CPU itself was faster. (#) Mind you, it doesn't excuse the godawful sound. (#) While the clock speed (1 MHz) of the C64's 6502-derived architecture can't be compared directly to the Z80 in the Spectrum (3.5 MHz), it's still generally held to be slow. The 6502 in the Atari 800 runs at 1.79 MHz (despite being almost three years older), which is probably comparable to the 3.5 MHz Z80.
I loved this as a young lad, it was new tech, you sat down in a curved seat and had a ferrari wheel and the manual shift, it felt special. When you played it, you realised that it took skill and I was so desperate to drive a real car back then, I was pleased to master the controls. Who ever put this together back then was a gaming genius, best driving game from the period.
Ah more great memories. I still reference Hard Drivin in workshops I deliver on simulation in education. I tell a story about how the first time I got in my dads cars, I already knew how to drive manual because of this game. First arcade sim to feature key start, full H-pattern shifter, and all 3 pedals.
Thanks for the time travel trip...I'm 48 and grew up with this game in neighborhood arcade. The arcade version was $17K US in 1989, but it made a profit in less than six months. The feedback steering wheel was a HUGE magnetic generator with a wide rubber belt. Closest thing to a real car kids could use. I got used to manual transmission with this game.
this game handles really well in the arcade cabinet because you have an analog input system, i own the sequal/upgrade Race Drivin and it controls very well.
This isn't a very accurate comparison with this DOS version - For one, that isn't Hard Drivin. It's a followup game from 1993 called RACE DRIVIN which is shown in this video. - The original Hard Drivin came out for DOS. In turn, Race Drivin also came out for the Atari ST and Amiga, Genesis (and SNES). - DOSBox in default is set to emulate a faster CPU speed than the PCs were back when the game was released. Neither is very accurate with CPU speeds at all.
Let me re-phrase my janky old comment. The DOS game shown in this video is not Hard Drivin' . Rather, it is actually a sequel called RACE DRIVIN'. Which also has its own line of ports, by the way. Moreover, the footage (of Race Drivin') shown here is running in DOSBox, with much stronger specs that the typical period PC. while the other (Hard Drivin') ports are running in hardware accurate emulators. So for the people gloating over "how much superior the PC version is", this is why. It's not an accurate comparison.
Loved this game in the arcade when I was a kid. The real appeal was the whole semi-enclosed booth thing, with force feedback, pedals, 3d graphics (at a time when 3d was rare), the crashes/physics/etc. A lot of that can't really be captured by an emulator.
I rented the Genesis/MD version back when it came out and it was the first game that was so disappointing I only played it once the whole weekend. I can remember the cabinet was the only reason to play the arcade version.
I managed to find a sit-down cabinet of this in an old stately home in 2014. I think the monitor sat in the top of the cabinet and was reflexed back in a mirror which you sat and looked at. It made the 'bench' you sat on usable in a tight space, but the machine was a bit taller than most and a little top heavy. I managed to fix all the little problems and it was almost a dream come true to own the machine. For some unknown madness I sold the machine on ebay about 6 months later. One of my biggest regrets.
I had the Amstrad's version in the late 80's, good memories from it. The game was extremelly difficult to control, but the kind of 3D rendering was cool in that time. Other games were only 2D. Greetings
Every time a Spectrum version of a game is featured in one of these vids, I lose a year's worth of eyeball life expectancy. :) Thanks for these vids, I really enjoy them.
This arcade game was amazing (With the cabinet, steering wheel, pedals and even a clutch, and gear stick) back in the day. Hard Drivin' settled the standards for 3D driving games to come; nowadays, driving a car in a 3D environment is nothing out of this world (Even GTA has better driving features than this) but back in 1989-90, this was a whole new experience; coding the physics and behaviour had been a pain in the ass for Doug Milliken, who did an awesome work on this one, having in consideration the technical limitations of the hardwares/software at the time when this was coded. Love your channel, love your vids. BUT Man, I know these games are HARD (no pun intended) to drive, but the DOS one is not as hard; you drove as a drunk, bro. LOL Subscribed!
There's also a PS1 version called Race Drivin A Go Go that possible is the best of the bunch as it has the most updated graphics and much more content than the other versions. Sadly was only released in Japan.
I remember seeing this game back in the day, one thing I remember is the steering wheel used to move on its own while it was on demo mode. I guess the game would play itself since no one else was playing it. lol
One thing that made the arcade version tolerable was the fact that it used 6(!) CPUs including 2 just for the sound (in addition to the actual sound chip). An 8 bit processor running at a few megahertz (or even less than 1mhz on the PAL C64) is REALLY asking a lot to update the screen. Hats off to the programmers who took up the challenge back in the day.
in the arcade the crashes were replayed. I would live to steer off course at the top of the loop...the timer kept running but it was worth the fifty cents to see the car fly
The arcade version runs at about 15 fps at the least. The ZX Spectrum and Amstrad ports run at 5 fps. The Commodore 64, Atari Lynx, and Sega Genesis ports run at 6 fps. The unreleased NES port pulls an impressive 12 fps. The DOS, Atari ST, and Amiga ports run closely to the Arcade as they're faithful ports. You may think the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 version run at 60 fps, but it's an exact one-to-one direct port to keep things faithful.
12:47 That moment an actual 3D bridge appears in a NES game. Polygonal graphics on a 8bit console seems CRAZY ambitious. Too bad they couldn't make it a released game.
This was the first game I ever saw with 3d graphics (was it the first game ever with 3d graphics?). There were games like Battlezone and Star Wars I guess, but those were wireframe graphics. This was the first I ever saw with solid polygonal graphics in 3d space. I was blown away.
Would've been a lot of fun back in the day. I had a game on my old 386 called 'Stunts' which looked similar to this except with crazy tracks that had loops, jumps and other obstacles.
+Sony Kroket I think I was 7...And I knew how to use a clutch after a few dollars worth....As a result I drive nothing but manuals as an adult...lol. Great game
Nope. The genesis was designed with emphasis on home arcade ports. It's Motorola 68000 CPU allowed more sprites onscreen and higher performance with polygons.
@@GoldenGrenadier Atari St and Amiga also have a Motorolla 68000, the Atari St's clocked about %5 higher than the Megadrive, the Amiga about %5 slower. The Amiga however can do blitter assisted polygon fills, so it can do similar work with less. Megadrive is the weakest of the 3 for this style graphics, but it's splitting hairs.
The Megadrive version is basically the same as the Amiga and Atari St versions, but tweaked slightly for a bit more speed at the expense of fluidity. Check them again, you can see it pretty clearly, although personally I remember this from "back in the day"
Man, I though the Genesis version was kind of embarrassing. but no, it stands proudly over most of these other ports Was really blown away when I first saw the arcade version, especially with the Genesis one being my first introduction to the game.
As far as I know there are three DOS games in the series; Hard Drivin', Hard Drivin' II and Race Drivin'. This video for some reason only showed Race Drivin'.
There is music from the game like Hard Drivin' along with the DOS version of this game, too, but why Race Drivin' for MS-DOS, along with the music from that version of the game?
Fun game IN the arcade. The sit-down-cabinet was ground breaking and should've been the basis for all future drivers education! The lynx port is nearly as good as the genesis, which isn't saying much.... As you mentioned Stunts on PC really borrowed a lot from this, plus it added track design and real cars.
Oh I tried this video Game at the arcade and it was hard at first then I tried again and again. Even though I tried several times it was still hard. Including home version of this game.
Any idea why the MSDOS version's track was -nothing- like the original track? licensing issues? It has some of the best speed and graphics of its time (next to arcade) but a flat track with 6 curves does not make a hard drivin' track.
This game was good, I think, sure there's no music yet this game was the earliest attempt to simulate controlling a car in real life. A lot of racing games don't go up on a hill, just flat road, this one has the car going up a hill, down a slope, and flying through the air, with attempted realistic controls.
Shame I can't get the controls working properly in the MAME version, but really enjoyed both Hard & Race Drivin' on the PS2 Midway collections. Yes the C64 version stinks, especially when you see what the C64 did with Stunt Car Racer.
Bad coding or not (it definitely is), this game just wasn't meant for 8-bits. Even 16-bit systems suffered with it. On the other hand the Gameboy version of Race Drivin is an exceptional wonder.
Wait. There where only 11 cockpit machines ever made!? Holy cow, I'm lucky then. There was one at my local restaurant and one at the mall in the nearby town where I grew up.
I remember playing this in the arcade and thinking it was soooo amazing.. The home versions were horrible. The framerates were unplayable. They had to know that, but released it anyway because they knew people would buy it. U know, like my dumb ass. I remember the Sega Genesis version being the best. Dat Blast Processing. Nice vid, although it was painfully obvious you were using keyboard/gamepad to play the arcade version when it should have been a steering wheel. Just sayin'.
I remember when this game was all the rage, and I wanted a good home port so bad. Unfortunately at that time I didn't know the Genesis had a port of it because I didn't have one. After pretty much forgetting about the game, years later I saw it on that Midway collection for PS2. However that version sucks as it's glitchy as can be. I later discovered the Genesis version in 2013. I couldn't believe how good it actually was and played it all the way through. The frame rate isn't the greatest, but the game plays very smooth surprisingly.
I have all of the controls working perfect with a steering wheel in MAME. Even the stick shift is working with the clutch and all... The only issue is no force feedback on the wheel since it isn't emulated.
I always found Hard Drivin' interesting.Sadly the game hasn't aged particularly well.Still it was pretty advanced for its time, as 3D polygonal games were something new back then.
The arcade version was the best way to play it, you have to remember this was a simulation so therefore the steering was like that of a real car. It doesn't work at all in MAME as a result, and while the MAT 2 ports are a little better, it still doesn't feel right.
Loved Hard Driving in the arcade. Was chuffed when I got in on the Spectrum, 130mph and it looks like you’re only doing 5mph. What was going on with the C64? That looked completely unplayable. PlayStation era and its arcade perfect.
a dsp or svp chip version woulda been interesting on snes or megadrive although even the arcade game was frustrating albeit bewildering back in the day..saying that, the megadrive version looks pretty good..did any other games use this polygonal style on the system apart from virtua racing?
Yes, there were a few more polygonal games on Mega Drive. First we have a sequel to Hard Drivin' of course, Race Drivin', which was almost the same but with more cars, more tracks and a basic track editor, which also got a SNES release. Then there were a handful of flight sims (F-15 Strike Eagle II, F-22 Interceptor, F-117 Night Storm and Mig-29 Fighter Pilot), a helicopter arcade action game (Steel Talons) that also had a SNES version, a tank sim (M-1 Abrams Battle Tank), an unreleased platformer with StarWing/StarFox-esque mini levels (ResQ), a first person RPG with space and land vehicle-combat scenes only released in Japan (Star Cruiser) and finally a top down 3D perspective helicopter/on-foot shooter with some minor polygonal elements (Red Zone). Then there were some first person shooters like Duke Nukem 3D, Bloodshot, Cyber-Cop and Zero Tolerance, but they weren't technically polygonal.
cheers, i'll have a look at all those. I'd thought about the early fps iterations but aren't familiar with any of the flight sims on the system.i've remembered star cruiser because of the artwork on the cover but can't remember the game at all.I remember red zone from the intro haha!..thanks!
A few things of note here... - I noticed you had the same control issues I always had when playing it from MAME. The controls are not analog, and therefore it's impossible to steer correctly. A lot of good racers on MAME are like that (Rad Racer is another). - The DOS version looks like Hard Drivin' 2, based on the track selection & background. - Why did they even make Spectrum & Amstrad (maybe C64, too) versions? They were so awful and weren't made to do scaling let alone polygons. It just seems stupid. - I had the Atari Lynx version & looks much better on a small screen than it does blown up, but controls were tight despite the crap frame rate. I crashed much easier than other versions. - The Genesis one I also had. Much more tolerable, and even tried to explore some of the buildings. When there was no time limit, it was fun to play on the stunt track.
Genesis version is the best and does a good job of recreating the arcade. Lynx version is surprisingly solid once you learn to tap the d-pad and let your thumb off the gas when making turns. ST and Amiga versions look pretty decent but are a step behind Genesis. The NES version is interesting and works well for the hardware, although it has been significantly cut down. The other 8-bit ports are just a mess, best avoided.
Kind of a shame you excluded Race Drivin' from this list as it's the exact same game with two more tracks and two more cars, but it was available on some other systems, such as the SNES and GameBoy.
Actually, the MSDOS version shown in this version was Race Drivin'. It has the original Hard Drivin' track plus others, so it's a pity that wasn't shown for a more direct comparison.
In all honesty, Hard Drivin' was one arcade game that should've never been ported anywhere - the smooth 3D polygon graphics and realistic physics were far too advanced for any home computer systems back then. Plus, the sit down arcade cabinet with force feedback and gear shifter is what made the experience. I'll give the developers some credit for trying though, expect for possibly the C64 version - that abomination should have never been attempted!!
that screeching...DEAR GOD MY EARS! This is the reason I can't play any of the "drivin'" games..except for the sequel "Drive Harder' for dos where you didn't have ear raping screeching!.
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Gosh, the NES version was extremely ambitious. I actually have to commend them for the final product. They did the best they could, and the effort shows.
xX760Xx woah what the hell are you doing here lol
Yes, but it was unreleased
I love watching these videos just to see what a trainwreck the ZX spectrum version is going to be... and it never disappoints.
For such limited hardware there were some great games for it.
@@daishi5571 I owned a 48k Spectrum up till '85, and it was great fun, but some of these later arcade conversions are more like parodies than proper playable games.
@@Vargon7 I owned a Dragon until I replaced it with an Amiga in 88.
Much better than c64 version...
Would this have put the "D'oh!" in Domark ?
Only recently I see you on RUclips the amount of people laughing at the Commodore 64 version of the game, but I'm one of the very few who actually BOUGHT the game as a child after being conned by fake screenshots at the back of the game cover.
That game broke my heart.
i can imagine! sad history, man :/
"Screenshots may be from a different version of the game" was the old "not actual gameplay footage"
@Marion Hinzman I think that may have been the sequel "Race Drivin'". I don't think the original Hard Drivin existed on the SNES.
Didn't it ever occur to you that the screenshot would be false, judging by how the c64 could never display those colors?
@@Sh-hg8kf the word kid was included in the comment, and also there are many examples of supposedly impossible things being done just fine in the hardware.
The only "port" worth playing was Stunts (a.k.a. 4D Sports Driving) - technically not a port but its natural computer successor.
Bangin' game right there. Played it for HOURS AND HOURS.
Someone should do a video just comparing what happens in each version when you hit the cow.
BradTheProducer I second that!
I remember playing this at the arcade and playing with the manual transmission and stalling the car out and they made you use the clutch when restarting the car. Probably one of the most accurate of the driving games I played back in the day and probably one of my favorites. I dumped alot of quarters in this machine. Lol
PLEASE NOTE ! Some of these games suffered from terrible frame rate & as a result so did the control. It was extremely difficult controlling these games. The arcade version was difficult in configuring the controls as a result I lost control quite a bit.. But to be fair. This game is notorious for it's bad controls.
About the DOSbox emulation, if you change the amount of cycles from "3000" to "MAX" many games will run much smoother as they do on an original DOS machine.
I noticed in another video you made a while ago that some game (I forget which game it was now) that usually runs very smoothly in DOS was chugging along in your video.
Changing the amount of maximum CPU cycles in the .conf file to MAX will fix this in most, if not all cases.
I know. I cranked it up one day to see what would happen & it was running so fast everything was a greenish, gray blur. lol Computers have come a long way since those days.
Gaming History Source Indeed.
By the way, what did you use to run the NES prototype?
I've tried Jnes and Nestopia but neither worked. Jnes didn't support it at all and Nestopia had severe visual glitches.
I guess that's why they called it " Hard Drivin' " :)
ArmoredCoreRaven NEstopia version 1.39
filetrip.net/oldies-downloads/nes/download-nestopia-1-39-f7992.html
The C64 version looks like it was coded by someone who'd never actually seen the game, and was basing it on a description he'd received from a deaf and blind man who was in the same room as someone playing it.
The Mega Drive version is still my fave by a mile, though Race Drivin' on both the Game Boy and Saturn are both quite brilliant.
hahahaha! love it Steve.
Holy shit balls you're right too. I thought you were just making fun but have now watched it :-| how did it get messed up THAT badly?
Thought of you when I uploaded this video Steve. I thought You would enjoy it. :D I agree about the commodore 64 version... It took me about 6 shoots to get the footage to make that clip. >_
Agreed. I thought the Spectrum version was bad. The C64 one is scrotastic.
***** I wonder if the C64 graphics had to be compromised due to its relatively slow CPU. (#) This wouldn't have been as big a deal with most 8-bit style games, where the hardware sprite and scrolling facilities et al would have more than offset that disadvantage. However, I'm guessing Hard Drivin' was almost entirely reliant upon 3D vector calculations and polygon fills, which would have been very CPU-centric(?)
That might explain why even the lowly Spectrum version has a better draw distance for the road- the CPU itself was faster. (#)
Mind you, it doesn't excuse the godawful sound.
(#) While the clock speed (1 MHz) of the C64's 6502-derived architecture can't be compared directly to the Z80 in the Spectrum (3.5 MHz), it's still generally held to be slow. The 6502 in the Atari 800 runs at 1.79 MHz (despite being almost three years older), which is probably comparable to the 3.5 MHz Z80.
This game is nothing without the sit down arcade cabinet.
I loved this as a young lad, it was new tech, you sat down in a curved seat and had a ferrari wheel and the manual shift, it felt special. When you played it, you realised that it took skill and I was so desperate to drive a real car back then, I was pleased to master the controls. Who ever put this together back then was a gaming genius, best driving game from the period.
Ah more great memories. I still reference Hard Drivin in workshops I deliver on simulation in education. I tell a story about how the first time I got in my dads cars, I already knew how to drive manual because of this game. First arcade sim to feature key start, full H-pattern shifter, and all 3 pedals.
same here!
Thanks for the time travel trip...I'm 48 and grew up with this game in neighborhood arcade. The arcade version was $17K US in 1989, but it made a profit in less than six months. The feedback steering wheel was a HUGE magnetic generator with a wide rubber belt. Closest thing to a real car kids could use. I got used to manual transmission with this game.
this game handles really well in the arcade cabinet because you have an analog input system, i own the sequal/upgrade Race Drivin and it controls very well.
This isn't a very accurate comparison with this DOS version
- For one, that isn't Hard Drivin. It's a followup game from 1993 called RACE DRIVIN which is shown in this video.
- The original Hard Drivin came out for DOS. In turn, Race Drivin also came out for the Atari ST and Amiga, Genesis (and SNES).
- DOSBox in default is set to emulate a faster CPU speed than the PCs were back when the game was released. Neither is very accurate with CPU speeds at all.
Hard drivin also came out for the genesis
Let me re-phrase my janky old comment.
The DOS game shown in this video is not Hard Drivin' . Rather, it is actually a sequel called RACE DRIVIN'. Which also has its own line of ports, by the way.
Moreover, the footage (of Race Drivin') shown here is running in DOSBox, with much stronger specs that the typical period PC. while the other (Hard Drivin') ports are running in hardware accurate emulators.
So for the people gloating over "how much superior the PC version is", this is why. It's not an accurate comparison.
Loved this game in the arcade when I was a kid. The real appeal was the whole semi-enclosed booth thing, with force feedback, pedals, 3d graphics (at a time when 3d was rare), the crashes/physics/etc. A lot of that can't really be captured by an emulator.
I rented the Genesis/MD version back when it came out and it was the first game that was so disappointing I only played it once the whole weekend. I can remember the cabinet was the only reason to play the arcade version.
How could you resist turning right onto the Stunt Track? I don't think I ever once took the Speed Track.
I managed to find a sit-down cabinet of this in an old stately home in 2014. I think the monitor sat in the top of the cabinet and was reflexed back in a mirror which you sat and looked at. It made the 'bench' you sat on usable in a tight space, but the machine was a bit taller than most and a little top heavy. I managed to fix all the little problems and it was almost a dream come true to own the machine. For some unknown madness I sold the machine on ebay about 6 months later. One of my biggest regrets.
To be fair, Race Drivin', shown at 13:56 was the sequel to Hard Drivin' and I think was released on SNES as well.
I had the Amstrad's version in the late 80's, good memories from it. The game was extremelly difficult to control, but the kind of 3D rendering was cool in that time. Other games were only 2D. Greetings
Every time a Spectrum version of a game is featured in one of these vids, I lose a year's worth of eyeball life expectancy.
:)
Thanks for these vids, I really enjoy them.
Oh my, I spoke too soon--the C64 version is actually the worst of the bunch! That never happens, lol!
10:02 atari lyxn version is impressive !
Never could drive the car on the Amstrad version! Ever!
This arcade game was amazing (With the cabinet, steering wheel, pedals and even a clutch, and gear stick) back in the day.
Hard Drivin' settled the standards for 3D driving games to come; nowadays, driving a car in a 3D environment is nothing out of this world (Even GTA has better driving features than this) but back in 1989-90, this was a whole new experience; coding the physics and behaviour had been a pain in the ass for Doug Milliken, who did an awesome work on this one, having in consideration the technical limitations of the hardwares/software at the time when this was coded.
Love your channel, love your vids.
BUT
Man, I know these games are HARD (no pun intended) to drive, but the DOS one is not as hard; you drove as a drunk, bro. LOL
Subscribed!
I never knew Hard Drivin' had a reverse gear before.
The only fun thing to do in this game was deliberately crashing your car.
"If you're not careful, this game will PWN you!"
The NES prototype looked like an improved version of the C64 port.
I loved this game when I was a kid. There was a cockpit version in amusement park near me. And boy that disapointment when I got this on C64.... :/
There's also a PS1 version called Race Drivin A Go Go that possible is the best of the bunch as it has the most updated graphics and much more content than the other versions. Sadly was only released in Japan.
Tires for video game cars sure have come a long ways.
I remember seeing this game back in the day, one thing I remember is the steering wheel used to move on its own while it was on demo mode. I guess the game would play itself since no one else was playing it. lol
One thing that made the arcade version tolerable was the fact that it used 6(!) CPUs including 2 just for the sound (in addition to the actual sound chip). An 8 bit processor running at a few megahertz (or even less than 1mhz on the PAL C64) is REALLY asking a lot to update the screen. Hats off to the programmers who took up the challenge back in the day.
in the arcade the crashes were replayed. I would live to steer off course at the top of the loop...the timer kept running but it was worth the fifty cents to see the car fly
The arcade version runs at about 15 fps at the least. The ZX Spectrum and Amstrad ports run at 5 fps. The Commodore 64, Atari Lynx, and Sega Genesis ports run at 6 fps. The unreleased NES port pulls an impressive 12 fps. The DOS, Atari ST, and Amiga ports run closely to the Arcade as they're faithful ports. You may think the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 version run at 60 fps, but it's an exact one-to-one direct port to keep things faithful.
12:47 That moment an actual 3D bridge appears in a NES game. Polygonal graphics on a 8bit console seems CRAZY ambitious. Too bad they couldn't make it a released game.
Loved the C64 version, still have the tape.
Lynx version actually looks very good.
I don't think they even finished making the road in the ZX Spectrum or Amstrad versions. :P
One of my favorite games ever! Very interesting channel 🤔😎🍺🇩🇪
This was the first game I ever saw with 3d graphics (was it the first game ever with 3d graphics?). There were games like Battlezone and Star Wars I guess, but those were wireframe graphics. This was the first I ever saw with solid polygonal graphics in 3d space. I was blown away.
Wow ... and to think I struggled with the ZX Spectrum version, my thoughts go out to all those that bought the C64 copy!
BvS Batman to Ears while playing Spectrum or C64 version: "Do you bleed? You will."
Would've been a lot of fun back in the day. I had a game on my old 386 called 'Stunts' which looked similar to this except with crazy tracks that had loops, jumps and other obstacles.
do you mean Stunt Car Racer?
ruclips.net/video/Kn32IgQGrOQ/видео.html
damn. PC master race (no pun intended) existed even back then.
Texas Instruments' TMS34010 really owned those micros.
This game taught me how to drive a car when I was13 or something.
Gotta love the arcade.
+Sony Kroket I think I was 7...And I knew how to use a clutch after a few dollars worth....As a result I drive nothing but manuals as an adult...lol. Great game
And the non-arcade winner (that existed in 1989) is...the Genesis?! That isn't simply a fluke of emulation, is it?
Nope. The genesis was designed with emphasis on home arcade ports. It's Motorola 68000 CPU allowed more sprites onscreen and higher performance with polygons.
they're selling the game at gamers etc in stockton. 24.99 for a monumentally bad game
@@GoldenGrenadier Atari St and Amiga also have a Motorolla 68000, the Atari St's clocked about %5 higher than the Megadrive, the Amiga about %5 slower. The Amiga however can do blitter assisted polygon fills, so it can do similar work with less.
Megadrive is the weakest of the 3 for this style graphics, but it's splitting hairs.
The Megadrive version is basically the same as the Amiga and Atari St versions, but tweaked slightly for a bit more speed at the expense of fluidity.
Check them again, you can see it pretty clearly, although personally I remember this from "back in the day"
Man, I though the Genesis version was kind of embarrassing.
but no, it stands proudly over most of these other ports
Was really blown away when I first saw the arcade version, especially with the Genesis one being my first introduction to the game.
You're nuts to say the genesis is better.Amiga was definitely the best home port
I could swear I had a Game Boy version at one point. May have been Race Drivin'.
Choosing an automatic gearbox on the arcade version? That's got to be certifiable!
The Lynx version, blown up this big, looks more like it belongs on the 5200.
Interesting to see there was yet another DOS version of this game. I only had the one that looked like the arcade version.
As far as I know there are three DOS games in the series; Hard Drivin', Hard Drivin' II and Race Drivin'. This video for some reason only showed Race Drivin'.
ArmoredCoreRaven Yeah, going by the information on Mobygames that's indeed the case.
I'm surprised no 1 has mad a modern version of this classic
There is music from the game like Hard Drivin' along with the DOS version of this game, too, but why Race Drivin' for MS-DOS, along with the music from that version of the game?
I do enjoy these vid's and i so confident, i'm commenting before i have even seen it...:)
Fun game IN the arcade. The sit-down-cabinet was ground breaking and should've been the basis for all future drivers education! The lynx port is nearly as good as the genesis, which isn't saying much.... As you mentioned Stunts on PC really borrowed a lot from this, plus it added track design and real cars.
11:59 God damn that bass!
You know you have good framerates when you almost can't count them out. About four FPS on the ZX Spectrum.
Like Virtua Racing, Race Drivin' also supports the Sega Saturn Arcade Racing Joystick (Racing Wheel). Do they benefit from that controller?
Oh I tried this video Game at the arcade and it was hard at first then I tried again and again.
Even though I tried several times it was still hard. Including home version of this game.
Any idea why the MSDOS version's track was -nothing- like the original track? licensing issues? It has some of the best speed and graphics of its time (next to arcade) but a flat track with 6 curves does not make a hard drivin' track.
UrokLizard The MSDOS version is actually its sequel, Race Drivin'.
I know you said the controls were terrible but the Spectrum version ran very well
Excellent work as always. Frame rate of HD was about 3 fps in some yeah?
MS DOS Version looks like a 1972''old scraped Chevy Nova
This game was good, I think, sure there's no music yet this game was the earliest attempt to simulate controlling a car in real life. A lot of racing games don't go up on a hill, just flat road, this one has the car going up a hill, down a slope, and flying through the air, with attempted realistic controls.
太陽よりも熱い情熱、海よりも深い愛
開発者の皆さん、ありがとう
そして、紹介してくれてありがとう^^
I don't know how you got the game to run so well on Sega Genesis, my copy of the game runs like molasses.
heh...the NES prototype didn't look half bad for it's time/hardware available.
Rauka Wolf it was a Tengen title so I bet it was not released because it did not get developed before the NES Atari lawsuit
Shame I can't get the controls working properly in the MAME version, but really enjoyed both Hard & Race Drivin' on the PS2 Midway collections. Yes the C64 version stinks, especially when you see what the C64 did with Stunt Car Racer.
Bad coding or not (it definitely is), this game just wasn't meant for 8-bits. Even 16-bit systems suffered with it.
On the other hand the Gameboy version of Race Drivin is an exceptional wonder.
Are the MAT2 and Arcade versions the same?
Wait. There where only 11 cockpit machines ever made!? Holy cow, I'm lucky then. There was one at my local restaurant and one at the mall in the nearby town where I grew up.
Versions. This included revisions in the program.
xiaochicash there had to be more. can't imagine you and I both had one leaving nine for the test of the world
I remember playing this in the arcade and thinking it was soooo amazing.. The home versions were horrible. The framerates were unplayable. They had to know that, but released it anyway because they knew people would buy it. U know, like my dumb ass. I remember the Sega Genesis version being the best. Dat Blast Processing. Nice vid, although it was painfully obvious you were using keyboard/gamepad to play the arcade version when it should have been a steering wheel. Just sayin'.
Talk about an annoying tire squeal.
I remember when this game was all the rage, and I wanted a good home port so bad. Unfortunately at that time I didn't know the Genesis had a port of it because I didn't have one. After pretty much forgetting about the game, years later I saw it on that Midway collection for PS2. However that version sucks as it's glitchy as can be. I later discovered the Genesis version in 2013. I couldn't believe how good it actually was and played it all the way through. The frame rate isn't the greatest, but the game plays very smooth surprisingly.
Aw, you don't have the gameboy port on here.
How come you used the Spectrum 128 version for this, but the 48k versions for other videos? Just wondering. I'm assuming this is all emulated.
I used to play the crap out of this in a nearby arcade back in the day, I could never get it to control properly in Mame.
I have all of the controls working perfect with a steering wheel in MAME. Even the stick shift is working with the clutch and all... The only issue is no force feedback on the wheel since it isn't emulated.
Please change the notation to instead of so that it is better readable. Time is 4 digits (fixed width), whereas the title length varies. Thanks.
I always found Hard Drivin' interesting.Sadly the game hasn't aged particularly well.Still it was pretty advanced for its time, as 3D polygonal games were something new back then.
The arcade version was the best way to play it, you have to remember this was a simulation so therefore the steering was like that of a real car. It doesn't work at all in MAME as a result, and while the MAT 2 ports are a little better, it still doesn't feel right.
What is the framerate in the Spectrum version!? Haha!
Makes sense
I drive a Testarossa and it is hard drivin
Loved Hard Driving in the arcade. Was chuffed when I got in on the Spectrum, 130mph and it looks like you’re only doing 5mph. What was going on with the C64? That looked completely unplayable. PlayStation era and its arcade perfect.
Wait. The Genesis version I have does not run that smooth. What magic is this?
The MS-DOS version is the best port of this game. The Arcade version and the Midway Treasures are both the original versions.
a dsp or svp chip version woulda been interesting on snes or megadrive although even the arcade game was frustrating albeit bewildering back in the day..saying that, the megadrive version looks pretty good..did any other games use this polygonal style on the system apart from virtua racing?
Yes, there were a few more polygonal games on Mega Drive.
First we have a sequel to Hard Drivin' of course, Race Drivin', which was almost the same but with more cars, more tracks and a basic track editor, which also got a SNES release.
Then there were a handful of flight sims (F-15 Strike Eagle II, F-22 Interceptor, F-117 Night Storm and Mig-29 Fighter Pilot), a helicopter arcade action game (Steel Talons) that also had a SNES version, a tank sim (M-1 Abrams Battle Tank), an unreleased platformer with StarWing/StarFox-esque mini levels (ResQ), a first person RPG with space and land vehicle-combat scenes only released in Japan (Star Cruiser) and finally a top down 3D perspective helicopter/on-foot shooter with some minor polygonal elements (Red Zone).
Then there were some first person shooters like Duke Nukem 3D, Bloodshot, Cyber-Cop and Zero Tolerance, but they weren't technically polygonal.
cheers, i'll have a look at all those. I'd thought about the early fps iterations but aren't familiar with any of the flight sims on the system.i've remembered star cruiser because of the artwork on the cover but can't remember the game at all.I remember red zone from the intro haha!..thanks!
does 4D sport driving was a sequel to this game?
Good God all they did for the CPC version was port the Speccy and slap paint on the non-in-game and HUD visuals.
The nes version looks like it was made in ms paint
Looks incomplete the nes proto version, but the control is better
All the home versions do an amazing job of making an engine sound like Satan's Washing Machine on full cycle.....
Sometimes I wonder why they even bothered making ports for the 8-bit home computers of the time.
A few things of note here...
- I noticed you had the same control issues I always had when playing it from MAME. The controls are not analog, and therefore it's impossible to steer correctly. A lot of good racers on MAME are like that (Rad Racer is another).
- The DOS version looks like Hard Drivin' 2, based on the track selection & background.
- Why did they even make Spectrum & Amstrad (maybe C64, too) versions? They were so awful and weren't made to do scaling let alone polygons. It just seems stupid.
- I had the Atari Lynx version & looks much better on a small screen than it does blown up, but controls were tight despite the crap frame rate. I crashed much easier than other versions.
- The Genesis one I also had. Much more tolerable, and even tried to explore some of the buildings. When there was no time limit, it was fun to play on the stunt track.
Genesis version is the best and does a good job of recreating the arcade. Lynx version is surprisingly solid once you learn to tap the d-pad and let your thumb off the gas when making turns. ST and Amiga versions look pretty decent but are a step behind Genesis. The NES version is interesting and works well for the hardware, although it has been significantly cut down. The other 8-bit ports are just a mess, best avoided.
Kind of a shame you excluded Race Drivin' from this list as it's the exact same game with two more tracks and two more cars, but it was available on some other systems, such as the SNES and GameBoy.
Another video for the near future ;)
Cool, can't wait!
Actually, the MSDOS version shown in this version was Race Drivin'. It has the original Hard Drivin' track plus others, so it's a pity that wasn't shown for a more direct comparison.
Lol at the snes version.
@@GamingHistorySource If you do the Race Drivin panorama game then there is 3 more tracks :)
In all honesty, Hard Drivin' was one arcade game that should've never been ported anywhere - the smooth 3D polygon graphics and realistic physics were far too advanced for any home computer systems back then. Plus, the sit down arcade cabinet with force feedback and gear shifter is what made the experience. I'll give the developers some credit for trying though, expect for possibly the C64 version - that abomination should have never been attempted!!
This game was so slow on my ST it should've been called Hardly Drivin'
Never noticed the PS2 version had reverse lol
that screeching...DEAR GOD MY EARS! This is the reason I can't play any of the "drivin'" games..except for the sequel "Drive Harder' for dos where you didn't have ear raping screeching!.
STUNTS for DOS is the clear winner, even though it's not REALLY Hard Drivin!