Posted by Super Turrican on Sep 7, 2010 22:00 (Sep 7, 2010 22:00)
In terms of the rest of Europe, Thalion were a late comer to the Amiga gaming world and their best known work from the few years they were in the mainstream would have to be No Second Prize, a motorcycle racing title that tried to get us to play racers a little differently.
Most of the time we’d just be grabbing a joystick, slap our thumb over the fire button and get ourselves prepared for the race to begin. No Second Prize did things in its own way. For a start the joystick was made a mere spectator, as the mouse and its buttons were the flavour of the month in terms of what the player would use.
The strange thing is, like most new control systems, it would turn out to be a very clever idea, but would take a little bit of time to master. Left and right mouse buttons would simulate the handlebar positions of the accelerator and brakes were reduced to the one other remaining button. Once it was learnt it could prove to be an immensely fun racing experience, mainly due to the rather speedy 3D graphics, which we’d never really seen go so fast or smooth in the Amiga’s life, well, certainly not pre AGA or 1200.
Some of the major tracks from around the world, like Paul Ricard were included and it certainly gave a lot of its competitors a run for its money. I don’t think it would have the potential to be remade nowadays, although with the lack of motorbike games out there, with only Moto GP and SBK to mention, that claim could be rubbished, but there was never anything like it on the Amiga, and to be honest, in terms of control, there hasn’t been anything since.
Worth a go just for the experience alone, this could just turn you into a convert.
