''Powerband'' is a

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

-style

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...

for the

Acorn Archimedes Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems are based on Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and the proprietary operating systems Arthur and RISC OS. The first models ...

published in 1990. It was written by

Gordon J. Key Gordon J. Key authored video game software for the Acorn Computers, Acorn BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Electron and platforms in the 1980s and 1990s. His most well-known works were published by The Fourth Dimension (Games publisher), The Fourth Dime ...

and published by The Fourth Dimension. The game was released on a single 3.5"

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined ...

Gameplay

The game involves racing against 11 AI cars around circuits for a set number of laps (between 1 and 99), aiming to finish ahead of as many as possible. All cars are of the same generic design but feature differing simple colour schemes. As the game was unlicensed driver names were created for the game, based on puns ( Ali Rimms, Terbie Blower, Cruncher

Gears A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic ...

, Torson Barrs, Eeza

Weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

, Wilson Phyre), though actual circuits were used. The game has three modes - Fun, Race and Championship. The former allows racing with any permutation of laps, car modifications, invincibility etc., while the latter has a set series of races with a points-scoring system. Race mode effectively creates a non-championship race. Colliding with another car will penalise the player in that his car will stand still for a few seconds and the rival will continue; colliding with a barrier head-on on either Race or Championship modes will result in the destruction of the player's car. Limited mechanical failures are also incorporated into the game, as is tyre wear - while the game features no pit stops choosing soft compound tyres for a long race will result in a loss of grip. The car has a limited number of modification options, including engine size, tyre type, gearbox type, steering ratio, wing positioning etc. Some of these options - such as "Va-Voom" engines,

Pythonesque Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

steering (which makes the car do the opposite to the gamer's mouse movements) and limpet tyres are only available on Fun mode. The game features no testing/practice option, with grid positions chosen at random and the Fun mode intended for learning of circuits. The game's pause screen features a track map informing the player of his position and those of the other cars. While the game was unlicensed it featured primitive recreations of numerous circuits used for Formula 1 races, including

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz ...

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Suzuka Suzuka may refer to: * ''Suzuka'' (beetle), a genus of beetles in the family Carabidae * ''Suzuka'' (manga), a Japanese manga and anime series *Suzuka Mountains *Suzuka, Mie, a city in Mie Prefecture, Japan **Suzuka Circuit, a race track ***1000km S ...

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

, the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings, built in the early 20th century ...

- plus

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

in New Zealand. Twelve of the sixteen featured circuits will be chosen at random and in a random order for a championship season.

Controls

As with '' E-Type'' the player controls the car using the

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. The three Acorn mouse buttons represent (from left) the

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts ...

Brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

and

Accelerator Accelerator may refer to: In science and technology In computing *Download accelerator, or download manager, software dedicated to downloading *Hardware acceleration, the use of dedicated hardware to perform functions faster than a CPU **Gra ...

. This adds to the "realism" of the game as this corresponds to the typical layout of the car's foot pedals. Keyboard keys are used for gear changes (in Manual or Electronic gearbox mode).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powerband (Video Game) Acorn Archimedes games The Fourth Dimension (company) games Racing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Acorn Archimedes-only games