Racing With The Duke Boys

Bruce Von Stiers .

An era or two back, there was a show on CBS called The Dukes of Hazzard. It was about two cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who got into all kinds of trouble with the sheriff of Hazzard County. Along with the boys, there was their Uncle Jesse and a hot, steamy cousin named Daisy. Together the family tried to keep out of trouble from Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane and the man who controlled Hazzard County, Boss Hogg.

In this current phase of bringing back old shows, the folks at Warner Brothers Interactive came up with a cool idea. They would put together a game based on the Dukes of Hazzard series. They got together with Southpeak Interactive and the result was a Sony PlayStation game. The title of the game is The Dukes of Hazzard Racing For Home.

The game features voices from some of the actors that had been in the television show. Tom Wopat lends his voice to the character he played in the show, Luke Duke. James Best does the voice of his character from the show, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane. The voice of Enos Strate is done by Sonny Shroyer and Cooter is once again done by Ben Jones. Bringing the story all together is the narrator, which in the show and the game is known as the Balladeer. Waylon Jennings once again steps up to the microphone as the Balladeer.

The game is set up just like episodes from the TV show. There are a total of nine episodes to play through. Most of the episodes have three scenes and one even has four of them. Each scene is basically a mission that needs to be accomplished in order to proceed in the game.

Most of the episodes have Bo and Luke driving the General Lee, a souped up car that the boys just love to race. During a few scenes the boys drive Daisy's jeep, Cooter's truck or even Boss Hogg's car.

The game starts out with Uncle Jesse getting kidnapped while on his way to pay the mortgage. Bo and Luke have to first find the kidnappers. The next scene has them trying to stop Jesse's truck (which the kidnappers stole). The final scene in Episode I has Bo and Luke trying to avoid Sheriff Coltrane and get to the bank before it closes to pay the mortgage.

At various points during the game, you'll have a chance to grab power-ups. These power-ups include an oil slick, Nitro, a toolbox, an arrow and a dynamite arrow. Drop an oil slick behind the General Lee and watch the car chasing you spin out. Luke is good with a bow, so make sure you grab plenty of arrows along the road.

There are certain places where you'll need an extra boost to get over water or an object. A little bit of Nitro will be needed for this. Don't pass up an opportunity to grab a Nitro power-up. The toolbox will help repair damage to the vehicle. It seems that somebody is always smashing into whatever you're driving. Or maybe you just couldn't handle that curve back there very well.

Two things to watch for on the screen are the clock and the power-up overlay. Certain scenes are timed so be mindful of that dern old clock. The power-up overlay lets you know what kinds of things are available to use.

There is a two-player option. There are three two-player games available. The first is a Time Trial. Compete against each other to see who has the best time on a racetrack. The second game is a pure and (maybe not quite so) simple race. The third game is called Run the Jug. Players try to hold onto a jug as the race down the road. Either grab a Jug power-up or tag the other car to grab its jug. The player who's held the jug the longest by the end of the race wins.

The Dukes Of Hazzard Racing For Home is a fun and exciting racing game. It has funny moments and a whole lot of crashes. See how many times the boys can jump the General Lee over Roscoe's Sheriff's car.

The Dukes Of Hazzard Racing For Home can be found at most stores where Sony PlayStation games are sold. It has a list price $ 39.95.

For more exciting titles from Southpeak Interactive, check out their web site at www.southpeak.com.


Back


Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers