Interstate '76

Back in the good old days of video games, when graphics were primitive and the boom in the 3D market was still a dot on the horizon, gameplay reigned supreme. Without it, your game would flop. And Interstate shined in this area.

The player takes the role of Groove Champion, who's sister has just been murdered (in what I argue is still one of the best opening game credits of all time). It is your job to avenge her death and uncover the conspiracy for which she paid with her life.

To me, it was, and still is a great game. Cruising America's southwest in an Orange Hemi Cuda, fitted with a rocket launcher and a machine gun still sends a thrill through me to this day. The music was sheer brilliance, with funky bass laying on the 70's atmosphere. The story, like many games back then, was also well written and certainly stands up to many games made in the present day. Overall, I rate it 9.

Another one of those games which never got the following it deserved. You're Groove Champion and you inherit your sisters old muscle car with which to avenge her death. Together with a guy called Taurus, you drive across the American southwest fighting against an army which is trying to take over the worlds oil supply, leading you eventually to the murderer of Grooves sister Jade.

As this is a car-combat game you'd fully expect the main focus of the designers would be to create only that, nothing more. When I first played this back in 1997 I realised it wasn't really the combat that won me over to this game, it was the way the vehicles drove, the open terrain in which you play and the atmosphere which made you feel like you were really in a desert and long way from anywhere. I used to enjoy coming along side normal civilians who were minding their own business driving down a stretch of highway and blow them away with my pistol!

The cars are based on actual vehicles, late 60s muscle cars, trucks and helicopters of the era in which the game is based - the mid seventies. And just to make sure you didn't forget, there's the ever funky disco soundtracks on your car radio!

Another great feature I loved at the time was the multi angle views of your car during play. It was a game which really gave you the impression there were no limits. In a time where most car games were severely restricted, Interstate 76 let us explore far from Tarmac to literally anywhere its possible for a car to go.

Conclusion then; this game is a gem, sincerely a one off, I don't think there's been another game quite like it since, and I doubt there ever will be. You can tell this game was personal to its creator/s, it wasn't a huge success like Tomb Raider or Doom, both inferior games, but look at influence it has even today! The sequel 'Interstate 82' is a complete disaster next to 76, and Vigilante 8 probably even worse, but I recommend you to play 76 without judgement of its age.

Interstate '76 is set in an alternate 1976, where the oil crisis hit harder than in our world and lawlessness reigns throughout Texas and New Mexico. Mercenaries and outlaws, called 'Creepers', roam the highways and terrorize the townsfolk.

You are Groove Champion, one of a handful of auto-vigilantes, taking the fight to the streets in your 1972 Picard Piranha, painted in bright orange much like another famous car from the same time...but I digress. With the help of your mentor Taurus and grease-monkey Skeeter, you battle to stop the Creepers and uncover a conspiracy that could send the whole country over the brink.

Interstate '76 has it all: .45s, afros, babes, bell bottoms, CB handles, cool opening credits, a couple of good chase scenes and a funk soundtrack that could have come right out of the mid-70s. There are some problems; Taurus is a more developed character than you and John DeLancie is horribly miscast as the villain - but overall it's a great game and I give it an 8 for artistic content (I only vote on IMDB for that) and a 9 for gameplay.

This is a great driving game, where you can blow the crap out of the "creepers". The graphics are great, except when they show the faces of Groove or Taurus, because they seem to have no mouth. There is so many weapons to choose from, like 35mm Cannons, 7.62mm Machine Guns, Rockets, Land Mines, etc. The missions in the game are great, and very challenging, with a good cut-scene between them. It's a great pro-vigilante game.