Death Rally

Each car can be equipped with a number of upgrades that increase defensive capabilities (armor), handling (tires) and speed (engine). While the default chain gun cannot be upgraded on any car, better cars are available for purchase, with default guns that have stronger firepower. The six cars available, from weakest to strongest, are the Vagabond (the starting car), Dervish, Sentinel (which is the best car available in the shareware version), Shrieker, Wraith, and Deliverator. Additional power-ups can be purchased in the Black Market.

These include bumper spikes, land mines and rocket fuel. Before each race, the player can also ask for a loan and/or bribe a mechanic to tamper with the car of the highest-ranked opponent in the race (with the exception of the Adversary's car); this causes a random amount of damage from 25% to 49%. Reaching 1st place on the leaderboard allows players to take on the game's final racer, the Adversary, who drives a souped-up Deliverator with very powerful miniguns. Defeating the Adversary means that players become the new champion of Death Rally.

Both the original game and the remake have received a generally positive response. The iOS version holds aggregate scores of 77 out of 100 based on 19 reviews on Metacritic. The 2012 Windows port of the remake was not as well received, holding aggregate scores of 62 out of 100 based on 11 reviews.

GameSpot's Chris Hudak called the original game "simply the best top-down racer to come along in years, maybe even ever." A Next Generation critic commented, "Once again Apogee reminds us shareware can be fun. Death Rally is a simple, playable, enjoyable combat racing game with a retro top-down perspective and a whole lot of action." He particularly praised the numerous ways of destroying opponents and the many humorous touches.