Lotus Esprit - what it means to me

[Adropac2]

Iv'e recently been thinking back to games i spent rather a lot of time on when gaming heavily on the Amiga, and this has caused me to get quite passionate about this one game

The first Lotus game i saw at a computer show - Earls court or Olympia i think and i remember being impressed pretty much straight away- as others were too i guess.When finally i was able to buy and play Lotus, i was left staggered how truly amazing racing games could be on Amiga.That was just the casual reaction of course

The reason i bring this up as a thread is i guess because i'm wondering if people that have played this game, those of you that TRULY lived in Lotus1 to the point that it's tracks almost become as familiar as your room, have maybe forgotten how truly excellent it really is - i had

I mean Lotus2 was and is still a very well done racer that still retains the great control from the first game, but it was actually a bit disapointing in that it also lacked the charm of the first game due it being check point based.

I know there must be a clear divide of people anyway that prefer this sequel and those that also that prefer L3, but i'd really like to hear from those of you here that played L1 long enough to know what i'm blabbing on about

L1 felt so great at the time(though now i believe it to be incredible) and that was largely to to with it's perfect controlling of the cars - this aspect truly is an important part of why all the Lotus games were good but there was more to why L1 worked better

The other reason then why i think L1 remains better in the one sense at least, is because of a personality that simply can't be gained by the use of checkpoints in L2.The tracks become very familiar in L1 after so long because you're going around the same circuit the whole time in a race.Perhaps in L3 this could also be the case seeing as i think you can set up races in this way? but my time with it hasn't always felt as warm

The track design in L1 was also interesting enough what with the roadworks section etc, that it burned into your minds map like in a way a town also does.It just felt so much more personal than what we got from the sequels and although some of that can be down to what game you play first, i rather think that's not the case here.MF just got it very very right and really there wasn't any chance of them repeating quite the same magic again a 2nd or 3rd time

I've recently been playing it again you see and i quickly discovered it's one of those very rare games that will always simply be very good at what it does.It's easy to think that it may have aged a little or that better games have come about but providing you take the time to adjust back to it again, it's still as stunning to play as it's always been

I remember loving Outrun arcade at the time also and being chuffed i had something i felt was as good as possible on the Amiga, but now that i think of it, L1 tops Outrun in a way that in fairness it is unable to match

I know there will be plenty that wont consider L1 the best game but is there anyone else here that shares this same view as mine here

I think back then i took it for granted that a racing game this good would get released often on Amiga but in truth i think it's actually the best racing game of it's type

I suppose i just wanted to mention the game in a light i think it deserves

[john4p]

I fully agree with everything you said.

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge is the best.
Lotus 2 and 3 are still awesome.

Btw., on the Amiga 500 Lotus 2 is better than Lotus 3 because Lotus 3 doesn't run smooth.
Under WinUAE I prefer Lotus 3 over Lotus 2 because with enabled JIT Lotus 3 runs silky-smooth. And with its 3 billion courses it then beats Lotus 2's eight tracks...

Still Lotus I is my favorite.

[Mad-Matt]

I like the entire Lotus trilogy, but I do play the first one more, I guess just as much for its music as anything else. Jaguae XJ220 was a good/Similar game but I prefure the music in lotus 1,3 - makes me come back for more

[laffer]

I love Lotus 1 as well, awesome game! Really nice music, too... quite different from the music in the sequels.

The only negative I can think of is how it's always splitscreen, even when playing alone.

[Retro1234]

For me its got to be Lotus 2 - Play in NTSC for a nice full screen.

[tomcat666]

The 2nd installment is my favorite, by far, altough I did enjoy #1 a lot too... Couldn't really see much improvement in #3.

The biggest minus point of all Lotus games is the lame AI of the opponent cars. Always moving in the same go to left, then go to right fashion made it the only flaw of the game(s) for me.

[TCD]

Played the second one first, so it's that one for me. Still Lotus 1 is a great game and maybe if I had played it before 2...

[skan]

And don't forget this!

[dlfrsilver]

the equivalent of Lotus Turbo challenge on amiga on motorbikes side is Prime Mover
This shows how super-hangon could have been on our dear computer.

PS : And don't forget Crazy Cars III, which is really good too as racing game, with a nice plot

[john4p]

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

the equivalent of Lotus Turbo challenge on amiga on motorbikes side is Prime Mover

Never heard of Prime Mover before.

Hmmm...the ratings at http://hol.abime.net/1148/review range from 22% to 93%!

[tomcat666]

Whats wrong with Super Hang-On on amiga ? I think it is one of the best arcade conversions and definetly the best motorbike sim ever... Prime mover is ok, but doesn't even come to close to S.Hang-On.

[extralife]

back in the day i used to loove the lotus series and the other series where u saw the cars from top down view (yea cant remember the name now), anyways its funny that i stumpled on this thread, coz a few weeks ago i dusted off lotus 2 and took it for a test run and yea it holds up today. I mean even after being pushed to the end of the seat with fast games like ridge racer series, I still got the rush when i was going down hill for the next check point in lotus 2 and the fact that the settings change after a set number of tracks and makes the challenge different with stuff like snow and fog, thats just awesome still and it makes it that more fun. yea thats it, its still just plain fun and it still looks pretty damn smooth i think. The only problem i had with it, is that i have now got used to play my arcade style games with a sony pad, but that's hardly the games fault .
Is it better than outrun (not the amiga port lol) ? maybe not imho, but it certainly is one of the best arcade racers of that time for any home system and i think it has stood the test of time very well, something i think is pretty rare for a racing game.

btw be sure to check out stingray's little lotus jewel, size do matter (she said) :P

[dlfrsilver]

Super-hang on is an ST port. Prime Mover runs at 50 frames per sec.

[Adropac2]

Thanks for the comments everyone

Yeah there are some great racers on Amiga to the point that we're spoilt really for choice

Lotus1 is obviously very special to me but i do have others i really like as well like

Prime mover came quite a bit later in Amiga's life and it's very impressive technically and in how it handles - can't really say how good it is as iv'e not played to to death.I might do just that

Crazy Cars3 is great concept for a race game and i think it works beautifully

I quite like Team17's F17 racer as well - plays better in NTSC i find as does Lotus1 i think i'm correct in thinking.Stunt Car and F1GP definitely work better in NTSC

And yes Laffer full screen would surely have been nice - i wonder if that's another part of why it feels the way it does though?

[7-Zark-7]

Funny how games you'd long forgotten about quickly get remembered all over again!
Lotus 1,(& super hang on to a slightly lesser degree),though not really the most in-depth racing game,was memorable (for me at least), as one of the first sprite-based racing games that felt like it was an amiga game.
Big cars,smooth scrolling racing up/down hills etc.
Not so hot was the collision detection when opponent cars could run through barriers without any dramas,but do the same & you'd suddenly find you were being flung back to last in a hurry.

Best enjoyed with 2 players, a tad repetitive,but a blast while it lasted.

[Bamiga2002]

Lotus for the first time meant to me a super-smooth racer and i got hooked instantly! How could they do such slick scrolling, just like in the arcades ? It's still a very good game.

[s2325]

and here is Lotus for Amstrad [ Show youtube player ] I really like this machine but this version is abomination (same as Nigel Mansell's World Championship)

[viddi]

Originally Posted by s2325

and here is Lotus for Amstrad [ Show youtube player ] I really like this machine but this version is abomination (same as Nigel Mansell's World Championship)

It´s quite okay. But yes...you´re right.
It´s a bad Speccy port.
Play Chase HQ on the CPC and you can see how Lotus should look like on the Amstrad.