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Retrobate Name:
witchfinder
Game Title:
Street Surfer
Released: 1986
Developer/Author Name: Sculptured Software / Binary Design
Publisher: Entertainment USA
Format Reviewed: Commodore 64
Genre: Racing
Game Profile:
Mastertronic were well known for their range of budget games retailing at three quid or less in the UK. Many of these were as crap as their price suggested, but occasionally you would unearth a real bargain. Street Surfer was one such game, and also probably has the distinction of being the first eco-friendly racing game!
The aim of the game is pretty ludicrous - ride your skateboard along a busy highway collecting bottles from the side of the road to recycle at various stops along your journey. You must of course avoid any traffic that comes up from behind you, as well as oil slicks and chickens that cross the road! Contact with any of these will cause you to fall off your board and lose health, but some more thoughtful drivers will offer you a drink from the window of their car, which replenishes health and gives you an extra empty to recycle.
So effectively this is a racing game with an extra twist. It's completely unrealistic but you can actually get your skateboard up to such a speed that you can overtake cars, and the board handles quite realistically so that you have to turn into the bends and so on. The really cool part of the game is the music, a great tune that speeds up or slows down depending on the speed you are travelling at. The graphics are reasonable too, and aside from a bug that frequently sees you getting run over as soon as the game starts before you can get up to speed, this is a nice little cheap and cheerful game.
