This is Scorcher, a futuristic racing game consiting of deviously designed tracks, heart-pounding music, intuitive control & physics, and more.

The Basics

To start off, the player controls a rider on a bike - a Scorcher bike. The vehicle is wrapped inside a spherical forcefield, allowing it to absorb large falls and collisions, while also keeping the rider upright the entire time. Added mechanisms allow the bike to boost and jump with the given powerups. 

The Scorcher Bike	Boost (Green) Powerup	Jump (Purple) Powerup

The Tracks

In the championship which is simply known as Scorcher, the player's goal is to complete each race to the best of their ability, gaining the lead, and beating the clock.

The player must master each of the six tracks found in Scorcher: The Dump, The Suburbs, Tunnels, Radioactive Waste, Downtown, and the Spiral. Every course is deviously designed, each holding their own twists and perils even seasoned veterans may find difficult.

If there is the need to see some of these tracks in motion, head over to the Multimedia section for a one or two lap run of these courses in .AVI format.

Modes of play

Scorcher offers three modes of play: Championship, Time Attack, and Practice. In Championship, the player attempts to get through all six tracks, winning the championship cup, in first, second, or third place. If the player has a difficult time with each track, practice mode is available. In this mode, the player can practice up on any track they have accessed in the championship game mode, with unlimited boost and jump powerups, without the clock ticking down. When the player has mastered a track, he can test his skills in Time Attack. In this mode, and in Scorcher as a whole, you can never really perfect your driving - you will always find a way to improve your times.

Racing

In the first race, due to it's small size, the driver will face three other bikes - In each thereafter, the player will compete against five. At the start of a race, each bike is allowed through the starting point, one by one, with the player beginning last. He must work his way up the ranks, and into first, second, or third place, through a race of four laps. The driver not only must compete against a number of competitors, but also the clock, which ticks down as the race goes on. When time is up, the game is over. To keep it up, the player must finish each lap before the clock does, and in doing so, will gain more time. If the driver finishes in first, he will gain an extra ten bonus seconds added onto his time at the start of the next race. If placing second, he will be awarded with five. In third, the player receives nothing but an invitation to move on.

Sound

Accompanying the often-heated gameplay is a intense techno/trance soundtrack, one which will keep you listening for a long time to come. Head over to the Multimedia section for some of the songs found in this title.

Versions

Scorcher is available on both the PC and Sega Saturn. Both versions are nearly identical to one another. However, like all games released on multiple platforms, they have their differences :

The PC version has multiple video modes ranging from 320X200 to 640X480, while the Saturn game only supports 320X240. It is comparable, however, to the PC's higher resolution, being the flaws in lower resolutions on a television aren't as easily spotted as they are on a monitor.

The PC version has the options to turn off certain graphical effects, such as the moving 2D and 3D backdrops. There is also the option to play the game with flat-shaded polygons, or completely wire-frame. These are not available in the Saturn version. It is not needed, though, as it is a console title.

In the Saturn's practice mode, the player is given unlimited boosts, jumps, and time, can drive as many laps as he wants, and is free of other drivers. In the PC game, the player drives with the same factors such as in any other play mode - Time ticks down, the player races four laps, etc. It's Time Attack stripped of it's rating of your track time.

The Saturn game features four or more camera angles to view the Scorcher bike while racing, while the PC version features only two.

The Saturn version has considerably steeper physics, making it more difficult in the long run, yet adding to the replay value, forcing the player to practice. On even the most difficult setting, any gamer new to the game can stand a decent chance at winning in the PC version.

The PC game features the use of CD audio tracks, while the Saturn version features sound-chip driven tunes, due to the complications in loading objects and textures during the process of racing each track. The music in each is identical to one another, in composition, and in quality.

Both versions feature different title-screen songs, while the music during the rest of the game is the same.

The PC version has extra objects on certain tracks, making them slightly more difficult than their Saturn counterparts.