''5th Gear'' is a

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

, released on the Rack-It budget label. The original Commodore 64 version was programmed by Jeroen Leijten, with music by Theo and Renier Hongens. It was largely inspired by previous arcade games '' Steer and Go'' and ''

Spy Hunter ''Spy Hunter'' is a vehicular combat game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is t ...

''.

Gameplay

The player controls a white car that travels up (and then down) a tricky landscape filled with water, bumps, trees, and enemy vehicles. Cash is earned by completing levels, with an initial $10,000 available. These funds are spent at garages to buy extra fuel, repair the car's armour, and put add-ons for the car. These include a turbo-jump (allowing the car to get airborne unassisted, rather than relying on jumps) and waterproofing.

Sources

1988 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Hewson Consultants games Single-player video games Vehicular combat games Video games developed in the Netherlands Video games scored by Jochen Hippel {{vehicle-simulation-game-stub