TNN Hardcore Heat, CRI, and Power Drift?

I snagged TNN Hardcore Heat mint for $8 recently. Having previously rented it at the Dreamcast's launch, for some reason or another I discounted it as a trashy Akklaim throw away title (it's not even published by Akklaim), in favor of Hydro Thunder. Upon playing it before I bought it I began to wonder how I got this impression at all. Multiple camera angles, with the first person ones having camera jostle and an in the cab angle showing the driver shift and steer (like Rally races on TV do), an AI mode which learns how you drive and seems rather progressive for a '99 racer, and not to mention full usage of the DC's PVR shadow casting effect in a launch game with no pop-up and no framerate dips, and far more polygon detail in the vehicles (not in the hills though) than the ever popular ATV games on PS2.
After all of that I was rather stunned that I shunned it, then I realized that the CRI splash screen wasn't just for MPEG Sofdec, but they actually made it, and it all came together. Why they didn't call this Power Drift I have no idea, I'd have thought that the Sega fans would have recognized it much better with that title rather than a licensed one. Either way it's an incredibly decent yet dirt track racer, with some nice examples of the PVR's custom hardware effects. Here's to the rare gem formerly dismissed, I should have gone ahead and given it a better chance when I saw Gamespot's 4.3 rating, that's usually a good sign that it's a good game they just felt like utterly bashing.


--
Scott

http://www.gamepilgrimage.com
.

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