Felony 11-79

Felony 11-79 is a video game developed by Climax and published by ASCII for the PlayStation. It was part of a late 1990s wave of driving games which encourage the player to create chaos and destruction, being preceded by Die Hard Trilogy and Carmageddon.[1][2]

Felony 11–79 (Runabout)
Developer(s)Climax Entertainment
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Yanoman
  • NA: ASCII Entertainment
  • EU: ASCII Entertainment
Director(s)Kazushige Inaba
Designer(s)Kan Naitō
SeriesRunabout
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: May 23, 1997
  • NA: August 31, 1997
  • EU: December 1997
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single Player

Gameplay

Felony 11-79 is a racing game with some elements of adventure games.[3]

The first game in the Runabout series was known outside Asia as Felony 11–79 and was designed and produced by Kan Naito. It features three separate environments (Down Town, Sea Side, Metro City) and a test course as opposed to the later games' use of one city. Most of the player's time is spent unlocking the game's many bonus vehicles. Players can set the car's performance, including steering, front suspension, rear suspension, grip balance, acceleration and brake. Each car has a different performance rate (horsepower, torque, length, weight, fuel). Players may need to refill the tank.

Development

Though Climax were primarily developing games for the Sega Saturn at the time, they concluded Runabout would be easier to produce on the PlayStation.[4]

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM6.5/10[1]
GameSpot6.2/10[2]
Next Generation[3]

Critics almost unanimously commented that while Felony 11-79 has an enjoyable concept,[1][2][3][5] the game is too lacking in longevity to be worth buying.[1][2][3][5] Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly argued that the game has plenty of replay value in the form of numerous unlockable cars, two unlockable tracks, and hidden routes,[1] but the vast majority of reviewers (including all three of Smith's co-reviewers) pointed out that one can unlock all the tracks, play through the entire game with all the basic vehicle types, and explore all the routes in just two to five hours, and said they would rather have more tracks than the 20 unlockable cars.[1][2][3][5] GamePro summarized the game as "a must-rent".[5]

Some reviewers also complained at the fact that it is impossible to run over pedestrians,[1][2][3] and Next Generation criticized that the story's ending is disappointingly brief and trite, given that Climax were known for their involved and original storylines.[3] GameSpot and GamePro both praised the surf-rock soundtrack.[2][5]

Reviews

References
  1. "Review Crew: Felony 11-79". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 98. Ziff Davis. September 1997. p. 56.
  2. Fielder, Joe. "Felony 11-79 Review". GameSpot.
  3. "Finals". Next Generation. No. 34. Imagine Media. October 1997. pp. 170–1.
  4. "NG Alphas: Runabout". Next Generation. No. 29. Imagine Media. May 1997. pp. 115–6.
  5. Bad Hare (October 1997). "PlayStation ProReview: Felony 11-79". GamePro. No. 109. IDG. p. 138.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.