Tranz Am- An American Journey
Everybody goes on a road trip at least once in their life, at least that's what pop music had led me to believe by the time I played Tranz Am ( which wasn't until about 1986 ish). I suppose I could have played it sooner, I could have argued that the geography angle was educational , but as the game is set in 3742 I don't think I could have got away with that excuse. I could have claimed that it was educational as you had to use cunning to outwit the other cars and manage your petrol until you could fill up. But as it was it took me a little while to find Tranz Am - by Ultimate that was actually published in 1983.
Let us pause for a brief moment just to take in that loading screen, the cyan , red and magenta of that title. Another clever use of white to hi-light the car and the lovely Ultimate logo itself. Ultimate were masters of the loading screen back in the day. However none of these things would have impacted on the teenage Julie playing this game , she would have been far more interested in what awaited her past the loading screen.
A quick question, what did you use the loading time on the ZX Spectrum for? Did you use it to read the cassette inlay? To put an album on to provide music? To read a magazine article on the game? To grab snacks and a drink? Or were you transfixed by the blue and yellow stripes , they always fascinated me , the interchanging between the cyan and red and then the blue and yellow. But I have ambled off topic , let's drive
A quick question, what did you use the loading time on the ZX Spectrum for? Did you use it to read the cassette inlay? To put an album on to provide music? To read a magazine article on the game? To grab snacks and a drink? Or were you transfixed by the blue and yellow stripes , they always fascinated me , the interchanging between the cyan and red and then the blue and yellow. But I have ambled off topic , let's drive
This is a lovely arcade driving game that is set in a futuristic time , when all that remains is one large continent , that just happens to have areas named after American cities and also looks vaguely American in shape as well. Cup collection is the goal and other nasty cars are going to hamper you, as is your fuel gauge. The good news is that you can refuel, the bad news is that those other cars will not give up . The other piece of bad news is that pieces of scenery are not very forgiving when you run into them . Even with the simple control method of this game I spent a lot of time getting acquainted with trees, boulders, flowers and signposts. Not so much time getting acquainted with the cups I was supposed to be seeking though.
The other brilliant part of this game was that it also would give you a level in night mode, this is really helpful on the eyes when the 'day time' screen is the very cheerful and bright Spectrum yellow!
The other brilliant part of this game was that it also would give you a level in night mode, this is really helpful on the eyes when the 'day time' screen is the very cheerful and bright Spectrum yellow!
So as I tended to drive around in this game bashing headfirst into the first piece of scenery that I could find every-time an enemy car came near me . Why is it here , in my little collection of games that touched my heart? I'll give you a clue....
It was exploration and music. At the time I was playing this game , 1986, I was obsessed with music, just about every-type of music. Within the lyrics of all these songs were places, the ones in America particularly fascinated me , these were new and exciting places. I longed to see the places that Paul Simon wrote and sung about, that Michael Jackson and Madonna created in their videos, the America that Bruce Hornsby sang about, that had shaped Buddy Holly , Eddie Cochran and Weird Al Yankovic . In this game you are driving around America ( regardless of what the cassette inlay told you) , and the names of these wonderful places flashed up on the bottom of the screen.
I may have been meant to be searching for cups in a futuristic landscape , but I was chasing those dots on the map, those names on the bottom of the screen. I was looking for (to quote one of my songwriting heroes ,Paul Simon ) , the roots of rhythm. This game brought the ZX Spectrum and music together for me far more than Wham! The Music Box, or the wonderful BASIC programming 'beep' command.
As the years have passed I must admit it's not a game I have craved to revisit , not in the same way that AticAtac and Sabrewulf have impacted on me. But the times I have re-played this , the magic is still the same, those place names conjuring up memories of listening to Radio One , the American Chart Show , on a Saturday afternoon.
Sat in rural Somerset in reality ,but mentally ..
"Countin' the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
They've all come to look for America"
I may have been meant to be searching for cups in a futuristic landscape , but I was chasing those dots on the map, those names on the bottom of the screen. I was looking for (to quote one of my songwriting heroes ,Paul Simon ) , the roots of rhythm. This game brought the ZX Spectrum and music together for me far more than Wham! The Music Box, or the wonderful BASIC programming 'beep' command.
As the years have passed I must admit it's not a game I have craved to revisit , not in the same way that AticAtac and Sabrewulf have impacted on me. But the times I have re-played this , the magic is still the same, those place names conjuring up memories of listening to Radio One , the American Chart Show , on a Saturday afternoon.
Sat in rural Somerset in reality ,but mentally ..
"Countin' the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
They've all come to look for America"