Is there a car out there that you really want to climb behind the wheel of and blow the doors off of other cars in a race? Then odds are that Test Drive 6 will have the car of your dreams. This new Sony PlayStation game from Infogrames has over 40 cars in its garage.

The premise of the game is simple. Pick out a car and put it in a race. If you win, eventually move up to the baddest racecar there is and beat the pants off of the competition. At first you are limited in what you can have for a car. As your racing skills improve, you get a chance to drive the better cars.

There are two game modes: practice and race. In the Practice mode, pick out a track for the race; choose a car and transmission type and just race. In the Race mode, you have a choice of a single race or being part of a Tournament race.

When you are in the Race mode, each win gains you some credits. When you have enough credits, buy a better car. At the start only Class 1 cars are available. As you get into the game and win more races, the other Classes will be opened up.

As you race there are constant obstacles and challenges. There are different options to choose from like driving a cop car and chasing the other drivers, giving out tickets and eventually you are able to stop a mad bomber from blowing up the world.

There are all kinds of obstacles put in the way as you race. There are other racers and regular drivers that get in your way. There is a constant stream of oncoming traffic to watch out for. And the pesky cop that is chasing you would just love to write a speeding ticket. If the police stop you, not only will it cost money, it'll cost some time as well. A two-second lead soon evaporates when you're being written a ticket.

If you just have to race and don't want any distractions, go to the Game Options menu and change the Traffic setting to Off. In this menu, you can also change the speed readout to either kilometers or miles per hour. You can also choose to eliminate the cops from the race. Choose the difficulty level here as well.

There is a two-player option in Test Drive 6. Either compete against each other in a single race or set up a four-race tournament. Try your luck at Pink Slip in which the winner gets to keep both cars.

Make bets on the races. If you are one of the top two finishers, you make money. If you place third or lower, you lose money.

The game also has a pulsing soundtrack with tunes from Eve 6, Q-Burns, Cirrus, Lunatic Calm and others. The theme song is Gary Numan's Cars. This is done by Fear Factory with Numan helping out.

The cars that you can choose from include a '68 GT-40, a '69 Charger, Panoz '99 Esperante and a '99 Dodge Viper GTS.

I had a lot of fun with Test Drive 6. The obstacles were a little much a times but trying to win the race while out-driving the cop was really great gameplay.

Test Drive 6 can be found wherever Sony PlayStation titles are sold. It lists for $ 39.95.

For information about other Infogrames titles, check out their web site at www.infogrames.net.

Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers