Lamborghini American Challenge (SNES) Playthrough
209A playthrough of Titus's 1994 license-based racing game for the Super Nintendo, Lamborghini American Challenge.
This video shows the entire championship mode played though as Sly.
Lamborghini American Challenge is a conversion of Crazy Cars III, the final entry in a trilogy of behind-the-car sprite-scaling racing games originally created for the Amiga.
The aim of the game is to become king of the illegal American street-racing scene as you race a Lamborghini Diablo through a series of three leagues. As you move up through the ranks, you'll use your winnings to upgrade your car's performance and buy your way into higher-stakes races.
Gremlin and Magnetic Fields' Lotus and Jaguar games were top dog when Crazy Cars III came out in 1992, and Titus's Lamborghini-licensed effort was clearly intended to challenge the pecking order. To that end, it failed, but it was a good effort that introduced some fun new ideas.
At the start of each race you can bet against the competition to increase your potential winnings (or losses), and the risk-versus-reward style gameplay does a nice job of making every race feel meaningful. In a nod to Test Drive, the game also features police units that attempt to hinder your progress by boxing you in and fining you for traffic infractions.
The SNES version tosses in a few new ideas of its own, including a bizarre mode that has you shooting anyone in your way with the SuperScope, but it's largely the same game as it was on the computers.
The graphics are less detailed and there's a huge black bar filling the bottom of the screen, but the game runs at a smoother framerate than it did on the Amiga.
The SNES game also has a new soundtrack and music now plays during the races, but I really could've done without that addition. Lamborghini American Challenge's audio is the worst I've ever heard from a Super Nintendo game. That buzzsaw guitar sample so intolerably harsh and grating that I have to outright mute the audio to play the game.
The controls feel terrible at the beginning, but they improve as you upgrade your car's handling, and after awhile the driving starts to feel pretty good.
I know that it has its fans, but I'm not particularly enamored with Lamborghini American Challenge. It's not bad, but this style of racing game had already been done far better on the SNES with Top Gear 1 and 2.
Sorry Titus, but Gremlin wins again.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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