Slipstream 5000

What made this game an major eye-catcher when it came out, that it was among the handful of games which worked perfectly well with the LCD stereoglasses back in the 90s, and it did that perfectly well. The same game looks radically different (much better) in 3D. That was the old setup, when the glass was hooked to an interface which plugged into the printer port. I have experimented with a USB-25 pin printerport interface, and although briefly I got it worked, but with significiant loss of switching speed (within DOSBOX), then I gave up on the project not having enough games worth my time to bother. But I think theoretically it is possible and perhaps if the GOG team would experiment with it, perhaps they have more technical expertise. This hardware setup sometimes appear on Ebay for nearly nothing, yet back then provided a still best 3D, which is a mind-bending experience on a PC, if set up correctly. If the GOG team wouldn't find LCDBIOS (which is needed) I would gladly share mine for free.

I remember playing this as a kid and let me tell you, it's just as fun now as it was back then. Flying one of 10 armed, race-ready hovercrafts, you're an a-typical career racer. You're to do whatever you can to win. You have an array of upgrades you can purchase for your hovercraft, from enhanced turbos to scrambler missiles, to disruptors that reverse a pilot's controls when they're hit. And the AI will also use all of these against you, making it a constant challenge to stay ahead. You can ram the AI into other ships for a chance at wedging them together and they will do the same to you on occasion. The only drawback there is you can actually get stuck without hope of escape unless you use a missile on the ship you're attached to, or if someone runs into you, though that can also just wedge them onto you. But all these scenarios can be difficult to pull so they don't happen in high frequency. The AI will make tactical moves in terms of which person to target if you're trying to mix it up amongst others (they'll go for a points leader), use shortcuts in levels when they should be used and duck into the turbo rechargers when their turbo energy is low. Bundle all this with frenetic action in varied environments from Cairo, Egypt to the streets of Tokyo to Norwegian mountains, it's well worth $5.99.

Oh - it is that game! I got it back then as a bonus game on a CD from a magazine. So not knowing what Slipstream 5000 might be, I installed it and got hooked for 3 weeks right away. It was the time I enjoyed games like Hi-Octane, Super Mario Kart (still, back then) and Megarace 2 ... at last for me :) Slipstream 5k is right there with the others titels - You hoover around in the canyon like tracks with something like 10 other pilots. 10 meters up or down and 20 to each side, that's your space. The Tracks are done quite good (if I remember correctly). Weapons aren't there as many as you might be used to nowadays. But one thing transported Slipstream better than other games: the feeling of speeding along a parcour. The other drives are quite small to be targeted and if you reach top speed, you really need to know the track, or you will smash right into the next wall or sharp curve. I prefer Hi-Octane and SMK, but it wasn't a bad game at all.

Ok,it's playable, but it really show its age. Play for a few minutes, will probably never return to it again. I expected it, but bought anyway to support GOG and make future releases possible. :)