''Super Trucks'' (known in North America as ''Super Trucks Racing'') is a

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 and published by

Jester Interactive Jester Interactive is a video game developer based in Flintshire, Wales in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1997 as a trading arm of Morgan Computing Limited. It would later trade under the name Jester Interactive Limited, and after going ...

exclusively for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

. All drivers and sponsor information are based on the 2001 season of the '' Super Trucks'' racing series. According to the European box art, the game compares itself to ''

TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the ...

'' on

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

, but the North American box art is considered to be a simplified version of the box art seen in Europe. All visual effects and reviews are absent in the North American release and the ''ESRB'' rating is shown instead of the ''ELSPA'' rating. The theme song used at the opening title is " Bug" and is sung in a heavy metal-style by the band Feeder. Most of the other songs in the game are considered to be

techno music Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

done to the tune of the souped up engines at more than . This makes the trucks slightly faster than their real-life counterparts who are restricted to a maximum speed limit of for safety reasons.

Gameplay

While the player's truck has unlimited gasoline, the player must maintain the temperature of the truck's brakes by cooling them with water. An option in the menu can be toggled so this task can either be done manually or automatically by the game. Since there is a limited amount of water available to cool the brakes, even automatic brake cooling does not guarantee that the brakes will remain cool in longer races or practice sessions. These specialized trucks are eighteen wheelers that are modified for racing on

road courses Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

; a large majority of these courses are located in Europe (including the

Circuit Paul Armagnac Circuit Paul Armagnac, also known as Circuit de Nogaro, is a motorsport race track located in the commune of Nogaro in the Gers department in southwestern France. The track is named in honor of Nogaro-born racing driver Paul Armagnac, who died ...

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

-like physics and turning dominate the tracks.

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

(referred to in-game as "Darlington Autodrome" for no apparent reason) is considered to be one of the few North American courses in the game, but it uses right as well as left turns like a road course instead of the standard oval used for

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

racing. All the real-world drivers included in the game are European in origin. Although the pit lane can be seen while driving through the start/finish line, the entrance to the pit lane is blocked and pit stops are not permitted in any mode of the game. All manufacturers which competed in the 2001 European Truck Racing Championship are represented, apart from

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

, whose drivers appear in the game as part of an unlicensed "Moto LKW" racing team. This is due to Mercedes-Benz's then-ongoing relationship with game developer

Synetic GmbH Synetic GmbH was a German video game company specialising in racing games. The company was founded in 1996, in Gütersloh by five former members of Ascaron. All five original members were still working for the company until the company was liqui ...

, who produced '' Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing'' in 2000, and would later produce '' Mercedes-Benz World Racing'' in 2003.

Gameplay modes

Reception

The game 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

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. In Japan, where the game was ported and published by

Success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mi ...

on 18 December 2003, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of three sixes and one seven for a total of 25 out of 40.

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/35953/super-trucks-racing/ 2002 video games Jester Interactive games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Racing video games set in the United States Sports video games set in France Sports video games set in Germany Success (company) games Truck racing video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom XS Games games