1998 · Eutechnyx · Racing

Total Drivin

PlayStation exclusive

Total Drivin is a racing game with five different classes of cars (4x4 Buggies, Dakar Rally, Sports, Indy and Rally) in six different locations (Moscow, Easter Island, Scotland, Hong Kong, Egypt and Switzerland). Each location has six different tracks to master with a total of 36 tracks. The different tracks actually are variations of the same track only slightly different. For example drive with different car type, reverse direction, ramps added or safety rails removed, different weather conditions etc.

Released: 6 October 1998
Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Racing
Developers: Eutechnyx
Publishers: —

About

Total Drivin, known as Car & Driver Presents: Grand Tour Racing '98 in North America, Gekisou!!! Grand Racing in Japan and as M6 Turbo Racing in France (as a tie-in to the M6 motoring show), is a 1997 racing video game developed by British company Eutechnyx exclusively for PlayStation, their first release under this name having previously been named Merit Studios. The game saw highly mixed reactions from critics due to its broad stylistic approach and unusual steering controls. It was followed up by C3 Racing released in Europe in 1998 and 1999.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Total Drivin is a racing game that features six courses set in different locations across the world, each with different weather variations. The game supports the Dual Analog Controller. Multiplayer is available via both split screen and the PlayStation Link Cable.

Development

Total Drivin was developed by the UK-based company Eutechnyx. The developers created a zoom-capable, 360 degree camera for use as a programming tool, but later decided to leave it in so that players could look over the track landscapes while the game is paused.

The game's North American publisher, Activision, acquired a Car and Driver sponsorship for the game, leading to "Car and Driver Presents" being added to the game's title in that region.

Reception

The game received above-average reviews. In Japan, where the game was ported and published by Atlus under the name Gekisō!! Grand Racing: Total Drivin' (激走!! グランドレーシング Total Drivin', Gekisō!! Gurando Rēshingu Totaru Doraibin) on 23 April 1998, Famitsu gave it a score of 23 out of 40.

While Edge praised the game for successfully combining the realism of a racing simulator with the style of an arcade racing game, most reviews assessed that by taking on every single racing style in one game, Total Drivin failed to excel at any one style and came out highly inconsistent. Next Generation, for example, stated that "It's a nice idea, but for the most part, it's neither well-executed nor well-integrated into gameplay, and comes across like more of a gimmick than anything else." Both Next Generation and IGN remarked that most of the tracks are too easy, while the buggy tracks feature extremely difficult handling, making the challenge too uneven.