Hard Drivin' (NES, Prototype) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
249A playthrough of a prototype for the unreleased NES game Hard Drivin'. The game was to be published by Tengen, presumably in 1990.
In this video, I start off with a drive around the speed course. Then, at 4:20, I reset and take a couple of laps on the stunt course. Don't worry, I did wreck so that you can see the smashed windshield.
If you've played the SNES version of Race Drivin' (https://youtu.be/CKfkZCvdqqY ), I wouldn't think you'd expect much out any attempt at something similar on the NES. The 16-bit sequel that THQ published in 1992 is one of the console's worst games thanks to its inability to maintain anything higher than 3-4 frames per second. Until the fan-made patch that finally fixed the game was released last week (after 29 long years!), it was an unplayable trainwreck, slathered in poo.
But much to my surprise, even in its incomplete state, this NES conversion of Hard Drivin' is an amazing effort. If you'd like to read more about the game's development, there is an interview posted on The Lost Levels with Mark Morris, a programmer who was working at Domark at the time. You can find the interview and a download link for the rom at http://www.lostlevels.org/hard-drivin/
This cart includes recreations of both tracks from the 1989 arcade game, and they both include 3D track elements. Talk about an impressive-to-see game on the NES! The elevation of the road changes, you can jump ramps and go through loops, there are other 3D cars on the road with you, and the best part - it actually runs at a playable framerate! The technical wizardry holding this together is damned near a miracle for a machine running on a 1.8 Mhz processor.
(Random observation: did anyone else think those tufts of grass look like the Chocobo footprints you have to follow in FF7?)
Apparently it wasn't released because, according to Morris, "the higher-ups at Tengen didn't think it was of publishable quality." The SNES versions of Race Drivin' and Road Riot 4WD were released despite not even being worth the plastic used to make their cartridge shells, but this, even in its unfinished state, wasn't "publishable" by their standards? The mind boggles.
If you want to be impressed by the NES, this is a good way to make that happen. Give it a go!
(Maybe just turn off the sound. That brake noise!)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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