''Rollcage'' is a 1999

racing video 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 raci ...

developed by

Attention to Detail Attention to Detail Ltd (ATD) was a British video game developer based in Hatton, Warwickshire, Hatton. Founded by University of Birmingham graduates in September 1988, it was acquired by Kaboom Studios in January 1997. The studio shut down in ...

and published by

Psygnosis Psygnosis Limited (; known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Het ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It was followed by a sequel titled ''

Rollcage Stage II ''Rollcage Stage II'', also released as ''Death Track Racing,'' is a 2000 racing video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to ''Rollcage''; ...

''.

Gameplay

The game's selling point was its unique

physics engine A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, typically classical dynamics, including rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics. I ...

, in which cars could drive on walls or ceilings due to the airflow passing over them at extreme

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

Soundtrack

The game featured an original soundtrack by various artists, including the

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

song "Love Island" from the album ''

You've Come A Long Way, Baby ''You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' is the second studio album by English electronic music producer Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook). It was first released on 19 October 1998 in the United Kingdom by Skint Records and a day later in the United States by A ...

''. Psygnosis also released a limited edition

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the '' Red Book'' technical specifications, which is why t ...

soundtrack in the US.

Reception

The PlayStation version of ''Rollcage'' received "favorable" reviews, while the PC version received "average" reviews, according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

. ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' said of the former console version, "Anyone with a hankering for fast cars and pretty explosions should be sure to give ''Rollcage'' a chance." Joshua Romero of ''

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

'' gave the PC version four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "If you have a 3D accelerator and have any taking to a great game, you shouldn't pass up ''Rollcage''. True, PC players don't have the convenience that console players have and can rent the game, but ''Rollcage'' is worth the cash, no matter what system." He also gave the PlayStation version four stars, saying, "If you're into futuristic auto-combat/racing games and looking for something aside from '' Wipeout'', give ''Rollcage'' a try. I'm guessing you won't be disappointed."

Updates and sequels

A sequel, ''

'', was released in 2000 for PlayStation and Windows. In 2014 one of the former developers, Robert Baker released an unofficial update to address remaining bugs and support newer hardware under the name "Rollcage Redux". Baker and former tradesman, Chris Mallinson, later in 2018, under the company name Caged Element, along with the publisher

Wired Productions Wired Productions is a video game publisher company based in Watford, United Kingdom. The company publishes games on all main gaming platforms ( PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch) working on international projects, founded by Jason Harman, ...

, released Rollcage's spiritual successor: '' Grip: Combat Racing''.

References

External links

* {{Attention to Detail 1999 video games Attention to Detail games Science fiction racing games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation (console) games Psygnosis games Windows games Video games developed in the United Kingdom