POLL: Which is the best Black and White Driving Game?

Which is the best early driving game?

  • Atari Lemans

    Votes: 2 5.3%
  • Atari Monte Carlo

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Atari Night Driver (Sit Down)

    Votes: 11 28.9%
  • Atari Sprint 2

    Votes: 15 39.5%
  • Atari Stunt Cycle

    Votes: 6 15.8%
  • Exidy Death Race

    Votes: 6 15.8%
  • Midway Wheels

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Midway Wheels II

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 6 15.8%

  • Total voters
    38

cwilkson

Well-known member

Donor 5 years: 2021-2025
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
8,888
Reaction score
6,875
Location
Detroit, Michigan
I have too many driving games. I'm out of space and need to thin the field.
Some are projects that I've never played, so I'm asking for opinions from KLOVers.

Which games are the best for 1 player? How about for 2 players?
Vote for up to 3 games! Write-ins are welcome ("other").
And feel free to justify your opinions in the discussion.

Notes:
I'm grouping Monte Carlo in here as well. I know it's color, but it's an early driver and I need to consider it with the B&W games.
Stunt Cycle is grouped in as well. Because...driving a motorcycle.
 
#1 all time B&W bronze aged driving game is none other than:


not even sure why you excluded Super Bug from your voting list. tsk tsk shame shame
 
What about Fire Truck!!
Great game! But I don't have one. I'm looking for thoughts on the games that I already have, some of which I've never played (projects).
I need to let some of them go but I don't want let a keeper out the door by mistake.
 
You know...it would have helped if i read that post...ha! Sorry! Ill vote :)
 
Pole Position on the Vectrex :p
Was playing it today on my Vectrex! Finally, after a lot of years of not playing it.. too many, I completed the race, no crashes, and at least met if not topped my previous high score, 77,000 + something. Btw: I also own the Atari UR Pole Position too.. though it's obviously a color monitor.

I voted for Night Driver on the Poll but only have seen / played the UR not the sit down

HAPPY GAMING!

Mike.

1637979885426.png
Posted by a collector of:
ATARI, INC.
A Warner Communications Company
 
My votes are Death Race, Fire Truck and Indy 800.... And if motorcycle games are in here, is Subs in here? You are driving the subs with the same steering wheel...
 
My votes are Death Race, Fire Truck and Indy 800.... And if motorcycle games are in here, is Subs in here? You are driving the subs with the same steering wheel...
Subs would count as a driver, sure. But again....I don't have that one.
 
I think the title is confusing people. lol Its like, which is the best black and white, with a "other" option. Then we learn its to help you decide what to keep, so its only applicable to what you have.. so the "other" wouldn't really help ! lol Then there are more color games listed there than B&W ! haha

Anyway, so this is a 2 part answer. To stick to true B&W and what you got, IMO Atari Sprint 2. Also, its still my favorite out of that list. So yea, keep that one.
 
I think the title is confusing people. lol Its like, which is the best black and white, with a "other" option. Then we learn its to help you decide what to keep, so its only applicable to what you have.. so the "other" wouldn't really help ! lol Then there are more color games listed there than B&W ! haha

Anyway, so this is a 2 part answer. To stick to true B&W and what you got, IMO Atari Sprint 2. Also, its still my favorite out of that list. So yea, keep that one.

Yeah, maybe. I really want to know which of the games I already have I should keep.
But I did have a 2nd secret motive. Which B&W game that I don't have already should I be looking for? :)

There's actually only 1 color game = Monte Carlo. Did I miss something there?

I would add Subs, Fire Truck, Super Bug, and 280-ZZZAP to the poll list, but I don't know how to change it.
Same for Indy 800 and other "Others" that people suggest.
 
Oh, my bad, I guess technically B&W, but imo, when I see color overlay, I consider the game to "have color" on the screen, so... yea guess its a opinionated thing. But to me, in that case, a couple more games there have more color on the screen than Sprint 2. B&W is B&W.. But yea the technology was B&W, I see what you're saying. Sorry - haha, now I got confused.

SuperBug is just awesome for sure (yellow vehicle though). But FireTruck beats it (and is totally B&W). Kill me, but I never was a fan of Subs. 280-ZZZap -- ehhh, I guess. Indy800 ?? Sprint 2 is better, and Indy800 is full of color overlays.

Did you ever like Space Race ? One could argue it isn't a driving game, but imo, your driving a space ship, and its like a course, so.. yes it is ! lol
 
You can debate if a game is Bronze Age or Golden Age, whether Vectors can/cannot be Bronze Age, if a game with a single-chip CPU is Bronze or not, but the B&W or color question is easy and definitive: Is the game PCB producing a color image natively or only monochrome? The latter is a B&W game. Period.

Space Race is interesting one. It doesn't feel like a driver to me. I've played it several times. Seems too easy and gets boring quickly for 1-player. 2-player seems better IIRC. I don't think I could call it a driver. YMMV.


So what makes Sprint 2 better than Indy 800?

Why is 208-ZZZAP better than Night Driver?

Why is Super Bug better than Gran Trak 10?

Why is Fire Truck better than Death Race?

Why is Death Race better than Sprint 2?

Why does Wheels suck? (apparently it does....nobody voted for that one. Or Wheels II.)

What's wrong with Monte Carlo? (no love for this one either!)

Why has nobody mentioned Tank?

Is Space Race a driver?

How about Lunar Lander? Asteroids?



Those are the interesting questions! I like to hear why people believe what they believe.
 
but the B&W or color question is easy and definitive: Is the game PCB producing a color image natively or only monochrome? The latter is a B&W game. Period.
Ok, Thats from the technical under the hood side, and fair enough, I give you that - but another way of looking at it from a players perspective is.. do my eyes see any color ? If so, my brain and myself don't care about how it got there or the technical mumbo jumbo under the hood. I see color in my game, so.. its color from a players perspective.

Kinda like this. A photo or movie was taken/made in black and white originally. Someone then "colorized it". As the viewer or looking at the photo, the mf is in color to me. If someone tells me it originally was B&W, I'd say, "ok, thank you for the history lesson, but its color now". lol So what am I looking at ? Color ? Do I see any other color than black or white ? Then guess what, it has *became* color. Regardless how it started.

Agreed the technical term would be B&W with Color Overlay. But the color overlay just made it color, so.. yea. Don't want to leave out a ingredient just cause how the base started. Right ?

Agreed those are very interesting questions. Hard for me to answer cause, its so opinionated. Astroids, that's not a driving game for sure. More of a shooter. I qualify Space Race as a driver cause you are on a course and driving a ship. In astroids you are controlling a ship yes, but no course. I agree though, Space Race is like pong.. kinda doesn't last long. But I see the beginning of Frogger in it ! lol

Who sees the beginning of Spy Hunter in Wheels ? I do. Maybe its nostalgia, but I just like Sprint 2 better than them all. Night Driver never did it for me. How convenient for the developers to make it night, so they don't need to make any graphics ! lol Never liked that.

Fire Truck is just so innovative of a idea as far as it being a fire truck and the rear part of your vehicle having a effect on the inertia of the driving. Its just cool man.

Death Race ? ehh, sorry, (truly cause I know I'll be bashed") but I never liked it enough to keep playing it like Sprint 2. Gran Trak - dude that's just Grand Daddy ! So it holds respect.

Monte Carlo.. well, of course its cool. But its so colorized (and '79 I believe) I don't feel fair to compare to the others. If you gonna do that, get a Pole Position and call it quits ! haha

SuperBug just had a cooler feel to it than GranTrak.. The sound and stuff was cool and I think got people going cause it was a little different than the others. he perceptive was also closer up overhead, which I believe made it feel different than the others again. Being a yellow bug helped ! And the little graphics to the side of the track was cool at times. GranTrack didn't have that. Gran Trak needs to be compared to Sprint 2, as they are similar.
 
@Infa Red, I like that reply. We need more posts like ^this^.

[EDIT]
PS. I agree. Asteroids is not a driver. It's a shooter.
But I kind of feel that Lunar Lander *is* a driver. The goal is to get from point A to point B. Fast! Without crashing or running out of gas.

Hmm....what defines a driver? Vehicle with steering and throttle. (Brakes are cool too...for wimps only!)
 
Last edited:
Stunt Cycle is grouped in as well. Because...driving a motorcycle.

It's difficult to categorize Stunt Cycle as a driving game when you don't even steer the handlebars.

Also, I know this next statement is subjective but....

Stunt Cycle is a neat game and I love the vintage look of the cabinet. Cool game theme too. However, it might literally be the arcade easiest game to master. It probably takes less than 10 plays to complete all 27 jumps. Hell, the first time I played it, I obviously had ZERO experience and still completed 22 jumps.

The only thing challenging about Stunt Cycle is the 2-player mode because it forces you to "reset" your throttle position between players.

Again, neat game, just wished they had made it more challenging. Just too easy to be considered "the best" IMO.
 
Back
Top Bottom