Suprallay

Published on Game On 05/90

Have you ever played Codemasters' BMX Simulator? Would you be interested in a game very similar in style but with worse controls? If so, I have the perfect title for you!

This is Super Rally. I mean, SupraRally. No wait, it's Sup... that can't be right... Suprallay? At least that's what it says in the game menu. The loading picture has a different opinion how the game is supposed to be called:

'sup, Rally?

However, both GB64 and the database entry in HVSC refer to it as Suprallay, so I'll go with that. But enough about the name, let's take a moment to appreciate the artwork: Judging by the deformed state of the rally car, I suppose this is representing a player who just achieved a Game Over. The front axle definitely looks broken, with the left front wheel sticking out at an impossible angle. There isn't anyone visible behind the weirdly oversized steering wheel, so I must assume that the driver abandoned the wreck and just left it there. All that's missing is a bunch of smoke coming out of the car's hood.

Now, let me show you the loading screen of the aforementioned BMX Simulator:

Suprallay doesn't try to hide its inspiration, does it? The logo and color scheme are so similar, you might be excused for thinking that both games are related. When it comes to the pixel art itself, BMX Simulator is clearly in the lead. That's simply a great title screen with some cool action poses, and the racers' proportions look more or less accurate.


Anyway, back to Suprallay. The game menu offers the choice between a two player game or a race against the computer. I select the latter, as there are surprisingly few people I know (read: none) who would want to play this game with me. The reason becomes apparent once you see Suprallay in action:

Oh dear...

I'm controlling the gray car, although "controlling" is probably not the right word to describe what I'm doing here. Still using BMX Simulator as its muse, the game employs tank controls. Pressing fire accelerates the vehicle, and pushing left or right turns it. Unfortunately, the car's speed goes from "snail's pace" to "unplayably fast" in split seconds, which is the main reason for my uneven driving style.

If I touch any obstacle, the car immediately turns the opposite way and continues its forward momentum as if its body was made of extremely bouncy rubber. BMX Simulator handles collisions similarly, so I guess that's where this idea came from as well. In theory, this 180° turn allows you to steer forward and get away from the obstacle you just crashed into. In practice, this doesn't always work, because the car might now face another obstacle which results in a series of collisions until you can find the right angle to get out of the narrow space.

In Suprallay this is amplified by the fact that the car doesn't stop, so it very often gets stuck between two obstacles and just rapidly bounces back an forth like an erratic rubber ball trapped in an enclosed space.

The game's author evidently was aware of this issue and thus implemented a helicopter that appears after a number of crashes and resets the player car's position. But even that wasn't done right, because more often than not, the chopper manages to place the vehicle the wrong way around.

The computer AI is a bit of a joke. Your artificial opponent just drives along a set path from which it never deviates. It never slows down, nor does it ever crash into anything. Any collision between the two cars is completely ignored. It's as if the two vehicles were driving on independent planes of existence.

Here's the first track from BMX Simulator. While Suprallay certainly offers a different layout, the graphical elements are evidently very similar. Still, none of the artwork is completely identical, so there's no need to get the pitchforks out.

Funnily enough, when the game tries to visually deviate from its inspiration, it tends to end up with something weird. Case in point, just look at this strange object in the center of the race course. I still have no idea what this is supposed to be. Is it an actual structure on the track? Or is it just a logo with some initials? If so, none of the people who contributed to the game have names that fit the letters C and S. It is likely that this will remain a mystery for the ages. Edit: Somebody in the comments kindly pointed out that this is indeed a logo, namely the one used by Cyberstyle, the game's developlment group. This is also where the initials CS come from.

I can tell you something that isn't a mystery: Me sucking at the game. I gave the first race an honest try. It was a close run, but in the end, the game proclaimed that all players disqualified, even though I was the only real player. I can crash as many times as I like, I just have to be in the lead when the time limit is over.

To be honest, I really don't fancy getting better at the game, but I still want to show off the other race tracks. The dark ways of emulation have revealed to me the fabulous power of deactivating all sprite-background collisions. Now I can drive as recklessly as I want without immediately becoming a bouncing ball.

Since the gameplay stays largely the same (the time limit just gets smaller and the computer opponent faster), there is no point in discussing each stage individually. Instead, I can present you all the game's remaining race tracks in one image:

There, wasn't that exciting? As you can see, there isn't a lot of variation going on.

After the fifth race, the game gets a bit confused. It announces the sixth round, but then it realizes that race five was actually the last one and instead goes to the score screen...

... which turns out to be an unexpected visual treat. Haha, what is going here? As much as I did not enjoy playing Suprallay, this image almost makes up for it. Why exactly is the driver celebrating while stripped down to his underwear? Are those supposed to be muscles, wrinkles, or unnaturally undulating layers of fat? Who forced that poor lady to abandon her aerobics class and pose next to this human-shaped mass of flesh instead?



CONCLUSION

This is a frustrating experience from the very first race. I'm not particularly fond of top-down racing games with tank controls, but I think it's safe to say that even fans of the genre won't find much enjoyment in Suprallay. The reason for this game's existence was most likely the author playing BMX Simulator, thinking "I can make something like that as well!" and then missing the mark quite severly.

The graphics, as derivative as they are, look fine. The cars rotate quite nicely, and the tracks have a three-dimensional feel to them, just like the inspiration. There are some visual mishaps here and there, but I've seen full-priced games that looked worse than this.

The part that stands out the most to me is certainly the music. It was composed by Rudolf Stember whose name we previously encountered in Decton and Tower of Terror. He contributed quite a catchy tune that doesn't grate on the ear after repeated listening. This is quite important here, as the track is the only piece of music in the game.

If you are desperate for a top-down racer on the C64 in the style of BMX Simulator, you could risk giving Suprallay a try. I recommend playing the original instead.