Game Review: Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road (Commodore 64, Virgin Games)

I know what you’re thinking. Who is Ivan “Ironman” Stewart? Well, thankfully, the instructions to this game do go into that in more detail. He is a Californian off-road racing specialist, who in the 1980s signed with Toyota and drove their pickup trucks in circuit races, and long-distance events totalling around 250 miles. Ivan Stewart gained the Ironman nickname by his consistently good performances in those, often crossing deserts in the South West of the USA and Mexico. He had also won the Mint 400 race in Las Vegas – the first time that a pickup truck had won.

Off Road Origins

The arcade manufacturer Leland teamed up with him and released the arcade game. This had a cabinet with an illustration of Ivan Stewart on board his Toyota pickup truck at the side, and three steering wheels so that three players could play simultaneously. The controls had pedals to accelerate and a nitro button to use when you needed to for extra acceleration. I had never seen the arcade machine in real life and it seems not the easiest one to track down today, possibly due to attempting to maintain three steering wheels, the pedals and all the mechanics. However, according to the instructions of the conversion, the game did use two Z80 processors with a custom graphics board, hopefully meaning that it may not be too powerful a game to convert.

The conversion tasks for all systems were handed to Graftgold, who of course were behind such Commodore 64 classics such as Uridium and Paradroid, and after a protracted delay, the home conversions of the Rainbow Islands arcade machine, which had gained universal praise. This hopefully would mean they would be in good hands, and with Steve Turner overseeing the whole project, and Jason Page programming the Commodore 64 version, as well as producing the music on all versions, hopes were raised. Yes, it may not be the most well-known arcade machine, but a good conversion would pay dividends as a standalone racing game regardless.

All in One Load

With the trend at the time for most arcade conversions to home systems being multi-load, it was a refreshing change to see that the whole game loaded in one load. There is a nice loading screen that replicates the arcade version well, and once the game has loaded, it goes into a nice attract mode, showing off the first track and your view of the racing. Like the arcade version, this is overhead but at a slight angle so you can get a three-dimensional effect of the tracks, the boundary fences, and the obstacles that line each one. They are all based on indoor arena tracks that were synonymous with Ivan Stewart’s races held in arenas, which made perfect sense. Immediately of course, you are thinking of Super Sprint, and with good reason.

When you press fire, you can then ensure that all your players have pressed their fire button to take part in the series of races. Unlike some of the other versions, there is no opportunity to enter your name or nationality here, but just race as the standard contestants. Player one uses port two, player two uses port one, both standard for Commodore 64 games, and player three uses the keyboard. The layout for that is okay, but it would have been a nice option if you were able to redefine those keys.  It is also worth noting at this point that there is an updated crack from the group Nostalgia, where if you have the Protovision four player adapter attached, you can use a third joystick in port three of that adapter instead of using the keyboard.

Off Road in Circles

Once your players have joined, it is time to go off road racing. There are eight tracks which are run in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, making for sixteen tracks in all.  Player one is the red car, player two is the yellow car, and player three is the blue car. Ivan Stewart himself is the grey car and the Ironman you race against. The yellow computer opponent is Earl Stratton (Hurricane) and the blue computer opponent is John Morgan (Jammin) and they each appear to have their own driving style, but more often than not can serve as a hindrance to you as you attempt to finish first on each of the tracks.

Controls are simple enough: up to accelerate, down to brake, left and right to steer the car in the direction it faces, and fire to use the nitro for a burst of turbo to really speed you up. It makes sense having the control this way with the nitro option on tap as you need. Each player starts with twenty nitros and more can be gained by either collecting the nitro bonuses that appear on the track, or in the shop when a track is completed. The key tactic of course is to use those sensibly, such as on a straight or facing a jump where speed to clear the jump is of the essence. You can bump the other trucks out of your way and each ramp, pile of mud, water and bumps do affect the handling of your truck too.

To Finish First, First You Must Finish

The first thing you will notice is that you feel like you are just bouncing all over the place over the ramps and bumps, but that may be because you are just accelerating all the time. The key is to slow down for the corners, take them at a good speed, then speed up in the straights. The controls are really responsive, and any acceleration or nitro burst, complete with little clouds of dust as you do so, are nicely done. I always felt in good control of the truck and once you master when to accelerate or slow down, the game comes into its own well. The display at the top right it also unobtrusive, and shows the number of laps each coloured truck has completed, along with how many nitros are remaining, and the time taken on the course. There are four laps required to win a race and crossing the line at the end does show the winner’s counter on lap five, with the chequered flag out.

During each circuit a number of bonuses appear on the track which can be collected. This is mainly the extra nitros which can prove to be very handy, sometimes up to six in one go, and money which you can spend in the shop on upgrades between tracks. Collecting those as you play can occasionally put you off the goal of finishing first, as the temptation is there to go off the racing line and collect them. However, the good thing is that you are able to recoup those gains if you do win the race by having more money, so the risk and reward elements have been replicated very well here.

Confessions of an Off-Road Shopaholic

After each race, provided that you either finish first or have used a continue (you do get three continues which does ease frustration if you do not win) you will go to the shop and be able to buy suitable upgrades for your off road truck. This includes extra nitro fuel units, tyres so you skid less and have more control, shock absorbers so you bounce less off the road, acceleration and top speed maximum increases. For me, getting some good tyres and shock absorbers on there with the money did help in later tracks because you will need to corner tightly, then add the top speed later. This does at least mean you have a good upgrade path, as the arcade game did, and mirrors that very well.

You can also use your extra continue credits to further upgrade the car, but at the risk of not doing well in one race and losing that continue option, so it is very much a case of risk versus reward here. Once you have made your selections you can then exit the shop, and it is off to the next track to go racing once again. Later tracks include a narrow lane that has to be taken with accuracy to get through, and a four-sided ramp with water where you take it from two different angles to get across to the other side, forming a figure of eight around that ramp. The courses are well laid out and thought has been given so that hitting the sides of the course does not mean you get stuck in the background (yes, Super Stock Car, I am looking at you) and makes the game much more playable as a result.

Multiplayer Mayhem

Of course, the game is all very well and playable in one player mode as you take on the computer opponents over the tracks, but adding a second or even better, a third player, into the mix really does bring a new dimension to the game as well. You will be battling for all those extra nitros and cash to try and improve your truck, and the fight to win really does come to the fore, as you attempt to bump your opponents off their racing line, taking a nice tight inside turn to do so at the same time. The satisfaction of snatching a win on virtually the final corner cannot be underestimated, and it certainly becomes a fast and frenetic experience as you battle it out. Thoroughly good fun, and certainly where the game even comes more into its own.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road are very good – although the truck sprites are small, they do have a number of frames of animation, and the way that they react to the surfaces with their effects, such as the dust cloud when using the nitro is welcomed. The tracks themselves are well defined with clear borders around so you know the boundaries, and of course the Commodore 64’s brown with the orange is used to good effect here for the tracks. Although a remnant of the arcade original, having the ladies present the trophies and prizes is very outdated now, especially when you have three on screen in the player select screen – and they are the least well drawn of all the graphics. Jason Page handled the sound himself and the tunes are all faithful renditions of the arcade version themes – even down to the circuit music that sounds like it should be from an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. There are reasonable sound effects too which interact well enough with the music, and it certainly does add to the overall package.

Final Thoughts

Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road may not be the easiest to track down arcade game to play the original of, but the addictive and fun gameplay it appeared to represent translates very well here to the Commodore 64. The key elements of playability have remained intact, so the controls feel responsive, and achieving the win on the track does feel like it should. All the main aspects are replicated very well. Although it would have been nice to have the name and country as well as small national anthem jingles when you won, that the arcade version did, everything fits nicely into one load and so that means the pick up and play element has been retained. Having this in two or three player mode really does come into its own with some frantic racing and a real battle to get the extra nitros and cash. And do check out the improved version with support for three joysticks, which is a nice addition to have. A winner, especially if you purchased the re-release on Tronix on budget too.

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