Leading Lap MPV AGA (Amiga) - A Playguide and Review - by LemonAmiga.com
47Continuing our look at lesser known title, here's a game which was never actually 'published'. Its Leading Lap MPV AGA, which was available if you happened to buy the May 1996 issue of C.U. Amiga magazine, and noticed the mail order form on page 44, and sent off for the full game. Lets see if its any fun.
Production Notes:
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Ripped: 31st July 2016
Edited: 22nd-23rd Jan 2018
I'd heard about, and played this game, as I worshipped CU Amiga and Amiga Power back in the day. CU and AP were better than anything else, mainly due to the humour, and the way they just made me feel very happy about the scene. I must have played the SE demo at the time, and forgot about it. Until I happened to be looking through the archives, and noticed this game available. The WHDownload site has a pretty comprehensive set of downloads, although I may have got this from the EAB file server, as mentioned in the review. I thought his was an AGA game, but the Non-AGA version seems to be the one on the cover disk, and is also available for download.
Perhaps I found it hard to put into words, but something about Leading Lap felt slightly odd. It doesnt have an accurate speedo, and the brakes seemed weak on the car I tried, but then the driver is also bad with brakes, and other hidden factors like tyre wear may have been the issue. The 'one mistake and you're 2nd' scenario, coupled with the car reset mechanics, dont help. This was my first try, recorded live, but sometimes making a game look too easy by mastering it would mean a lot of the weaker areas of this game wouldnt be apparent.
If I had more time, I would have added more captions to jog this review along, but while editing I thought it would be too much to comment on every single off or bump. Instead I let the footage speak for itself, and when there is something funny happening, I can point it out. Rather than a running commentary, this one is more spread out, and 'letting the game breath/speak' is something I want to do more of in these reviews. I can be fun talking at 100 miles an hour, but always the game comes first, and is the star. If I mock and slam into games, it becomes all about me, and thats the last thing I want on a channel dedicated to the Amiga.
Still playing around with the audio setup, and in this one it doesnt help that the sound of the game is very quiet except for the crashes. I increased the volume of the intro up to max, and gave the music a slight nudge to make it sound better. It cuts into the song rather than fades in, and it kinda works as intended. Hopefully the volume sounds ok just below full volume on your computer, but each setup is different.