Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 31st Genre Rank: (Driving) 1st Awards: None Mmmmmm....Minty Fresh Menu Pros: Solid Challenge/ 4 Unique Tracks Cons: Sluggish Controls Eat My Milk Dud-Sponsored Dust!

Overview: Pole Position II is the game that came packed in with the US 7800 back in the day...so needless to say, most of the people caring enough to look at an Atari 7800 page in the new millennium has already played this one. It's pointless to explain that this is an arcade conversion of an Indy-car racing game of the same name...so I won't do it. I will say that Pole Position II is a game that looks sharp and can be fun depending on what you think a good time consists of. If you enjoy wrestling a mid-80's video game joystick and cussing, you'll be in for a treat.

Graphics: PP II was the first home video game experience that I had outside of Atari 2600. So needless to say, I was blown away. I also was wearing a ridiculous black Indiana Jones-style hat at the time. Times change. But still, all things considered, this game looks pretty darn good. The backgrounds and race track selection menu is snazzy, as well as the cars in the race. The cars don't look like their arcade cousins, in fact, I think they look more three dimensional. The strangest thing about the car you control is the odd color scheme for it: tan on brown. Maybe we are sponsored by UPS, or milk duds....whatever the case, we look like flying poo on the raceway. My only complaint in the graphics department is that even though the race tracks and billboards fly by you at glorious and convincing speeds, the ground looks as stoic as a calm sea. The illusion of movement is hindered badly by this, but overall the graphics are good.

Sound: Once again, the tunes and engine noises on a 7800 game are more irritating than believable, but this game does better than most of its Atari brethren. The race ditties are in tact, and the engine sound effects are somewhat impressive. The engine noise alerts when you should shift gears, and squealing tires alert you when you are about to lose it in a turn. The thing that makes me sad is that the lady's voice that says "Prepare to Qualify" is gone. I heard that she and Jack Tramil had a big dispute over money, so she refused to lend her voice to the game.....either that or it would have sounded like "Mumair muh kwalimi" on this technology. One of those stories are true....I'm sure of it.

Gameplay: The game is basically a race against the clock, with the computer cars acting as moving obstacles. Though there is a fake competition to determine the starting positions, the main goal of the game is to finish the race with the most points possible. The game can be tricky, and there are four tracks to choose from. The final 3 tracks themselves are difficult to maneuver through without the gameplay issues that plague this game which make it harder. For starters, the controls are a bit sluggish, but not so much that it destroys the experience. The thing that kills me are the mysterious and constantly unpredictable contact points between cars. Bumping slightly into a car with blow us up like a successful mob hit...but sometimes "phantom" explosions happen...where I swear my car never touches the other cars nearby...but I blow up anyway. Sure....we were really really really close...but I know I didn't hit him! Playing games like BC Racers, Mario Kart, and Rush have made me enjoy "physical" racing...That type of shenanigan is not allowed here in Pole Position II, young lady.

Interpretation: It's hard for an arcade game that features a nice big cabinet to sit in and has a wheel that allows you to spin it like a fool to feel right on an awkward joystick, but the 7800 PP II does the best it can. The graphics are very good, the driving is fierce, and there are the four tracks replicated nicely on the 7800 version.

Value: I prefer my racing where it is possible to get first, second, or more often than not for me, sixth...as opposed to point accumulating races against the clock. But, this game is extremely challenging. Finishing the 3rd and 4th tracks gives me more satisfaction than winning a race on most games.

Overall: This game gets slammed often, but I honestly don't see why it gets ragged so hard. Maybe NASCAR fans are doing the reviews and they are irritated by having to turn right. Whatever the case, sluggish controls keep this title from winning the checkered flag in everyone's book, but I think it's a fairly solid title regardless. Even though racing games like this are not as exciting as modern racers, fans of the arcade version should be all smiles.



Other Reviews:
The Atari Times: 7 out of 10
CV's Panoramic Froo-Froo: 3.0 out of 5.0 (Fair)
Video Game Critic: D



Additional Info: I would like to take this time to thank Mitch Orman, owner of The Atari 7800 Page for allowing the use of his screenshots for this review.

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