Felony 11-79 (PS1) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
122A playthrough of Ascii Entertainment's 1997 action-racing game for the Sony PlayStation, Felony 11-79.
Felony 11-79, or Runabout, as it was known in Japan, was the beginning of a popular trilogy of games made by Climax, whom you may recognize from any of the high profile games (Shining Force, Landstalker, et al) that they contributed to on the Sega Genesis.
Playing a bit like a crossover between Ridge Rager and Grand Theft Auto, Felony 11-79 takes place across three non-linear courses with destructible environments, and each features a specific objective that must be reached within the given time limit. The more things you destroy along the way, the more money you receive, which in turn allows you to unlock several vehicles to play the courses with.
The object of the game is to recover some artifacts for a pompous, more-money-than-brains sort of guy that is pursuing an enormously valuable treasure.
The courses and their objectives (with timestamps):
2:32 Downtown (BMW 318)
The main road has been blocked by the gates of a mansion. You have to pick up five packages of explosives in order to blow it up and escape with the jade statue. You can drive straight through the middle of a couple of shopping arcades in this stage.
8:57 Seaside (Honda Civic)
You've been told to find an artifact, the Golden Wings, from someone cruising around in a limo and then blast your way through a police roadblock. If you get tired of the traffic on the roads, try taking a detour across the beachfront!
14:16 Paris (City Bus)
The silver staff, the final piece needed to reveal the treasure, has been hidden away inside of a stone statue. You must snatch it, find a phone to call in a helicopter for your escape, and meet it for your extraction at the docks behind the local shopping center. There are several shortcuts to be found in this stage, but don't get killed being hit by the subway train!
The game is overall an extremely fast-paced racer that perfectly captures the spirit of mid 90s arcade racing games. There is always something unexpected to uncover around each corner of the densely detailed maps, and vehicles all handle very differently from one another, allowing for multiple ways to approach each of the missions. Unfortunately there are only three missions in total, and since they aren't particularly difficult to finish, the game runs out of gas far sooner than I wanted it to.
Oh, and if you want the best possible experience, you're going to want a NeGcon controller. The Felony 11-79 came out before the PS1's standard analog controller did, but the game does support analog input through the Namco controller. The controller is a bit strange feeling when you're getting used to it, but it's awesome for the early 32-bit racing games.
The graphics are outstanding for a 1997 game - the scenery moves by at an impressive clip, the level of detail in the buildings and car models is high (especially when you take into account the damage modelling system), and the 2D pedestrians that scream as they awkwardly bounce away in terror are absolutely hysterical.
If you're in the mood for some wanton, pre-3D GTA vehicular destruction, Felony 11-79 is an excellent way to scratch that itch. I loved every minute of it.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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