Test Drive Le Mans

Take on the LeMans endurance racing challenge! Join one of the 25 factory teams take one of the over 50 vehicles (designed with assistance of actual teams) on the eight different LeMans circuits. The actual wear and tear are simulated. Tire wear, oil and fuel consumptions... Day and night and back to day driving.

Released: 26 November 1999
Platforms: Arcade Dreamcast Game Boy Color PlayStation PlayStation 2 Windows
Genres: Racing
Developers: Eutechnyx Atari Krome Studios Melbourne
Publishers: Atari
Series: Test Drive
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Country: United Kingdom Australia

About

Le Mans 24 Hours is a video game released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows (in two versions of the latter, one developed by Eutechnyx, like with the PlayStation version and the second version being a port of the Melbourne House version ported by Torus Games). The Dreamcast version was ported and published by Sega in Japan on 15 March 2001, while the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by the same company on 13 June. Based on the famous 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, the player is invited to race the entire 24-hour endurance course or take part in a simpler arcade mode. The game also featured tracks such as Bugatti Circuit, Brno Circuit, Road Atlanta (PlayStation 2 version only), Suzuka Circuit, Donington Park and Circuit de Catalunya, as well as a weather and night system.

Keywords

driving

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

The Dreamcast version received "universal acclaim", and the PlayStation 2 version received "generally favourable reviews", while the PC version of Le Mans 24 Hours received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Chris Charla of NextGen said of the Dreamcast version in its January 2001 issue, "It's no hardcore sim, but it may be the best reproduction of the actual feel of marathon racing ever." Ten issues later, however, Gary Whitta said of the PlayStation 2 version, "While Le Mans 24 Hours has the chops to keep circuit-based racing fans satisfied for more than a few laps, it's nothing new."

Cheat Monkey of GamePro said of the PlayStation version, "You've seen better from the Test Drive series, but hardcore racing fans might want to give Le Mans a try--that is when they've totally played out their copies of Gran Turismo or Need for Speed." Four-Eyed Dragon later said of the PlayStation 2 version, "The visuals and sound are the major sore spots of Le Mans. The graphics are grainy and not very sharp, especially when you're driving at night or in the rain. The soundtrack consists of poor crowd noises and out-of-tune music. Sadly, even the solid controls can't save Le Mans from straying off course."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Arcade	1 February 1998	Worldwide
PlayStation	26 November 1999	Europe · North America 4 May 2000
Dreamcast	31 March 2000	Worldwide · North America 8 November 2000 · Europe 17 November 2000
PlayStation 2	22 June 2001	Europe · North America 21 August 2001