Revisting the Lotus Trilogy

The "Lotus Trilogy" box set

I was perusing ebay one day, looking at reto software for Amiga and Atari ST, looking at some favourites of mine, and I stumbled across the Lotus Trilogy box set on floppy disk for the Atari ST - it was CHEAP, but that was for a reason, it was missing the floppy disk for Lotus 3 (but had the manual) - however, this was not an issue for me, I already had a loose floppy disk (original) of Lotus 3 (but missing manual, so couldn't play it due to the "manual" copy protection) - this was my opportunity, so I pulled the trigger and spent £20 on this - both Lotus 1 and 2 had been tested, there was even photos of them running, and the whole thing was complete (even had the Lotus 3 "poster" in the box too) - a few days later it turned up. Turns out my Lotus 3 disk also works perfectly, so now I have the complete set on ST (yeah, it's the Atari ST versions, they're not the best, but it is what it is) - I knew this existed on the ST though, I'd seen this box sex advertised before.

Now, I wasn't aware of this collection ever arriving on floppy disk on the Amiga, but looking in to it further, it appears that is was, however, listings for this on ebay are expensive, so I will bide my time getting the Amiga version of this box set, I'm sure a cheaper set will appear in time

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge - the first game

I remember having a copy of this on my Amiga back in the day (ssssshhhh, everyone had copies), me and my brother played this 2-player a lot.

Revisting it now? Well, the cars feel really "heavy" and the CPU opponents are cheating gits (you can literally see them "clip" through the obstacles that would slow you down/stop you) but, it's got a great soundtrack, addictive gameplay and the whole "challenge" of it, racing a proper season on this game is brilliant.

You have to get to position 10 or later to get through to the next race - sounds easy, right? Hell no, especially on later tracks where there's barriers in the road, rocks, road works/signs, mounds of snow, water patches, oil patches etc. etc. and that's before we get on the CPU cars that just swerve in front of you at the last second.

But you think that's it? No, you've also got to manage your fuel levels, and make sure you hit the pits to fuel up.

The biggest downside for me is, even in one-player, this game is split screen.

Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 - my favourite for many years

Dum, dum, dum-dum, da dum ...... you know it, when you hear those opening bars of that music, you know it's awesome from the start. It's kind of ironic though, I also had a "copy" of this game, and even remember back in the day hearing the quiet subliminal message in the opening of the music that whispers "You will not copy this game!" ....... urm, about that 😉

The second instalment did improve in a lot of ways from the first, namely in the following ways:

• full screen in single-player

• you can race the Lotus Elan SE as well as the Lotus Esprit (although, you don't choose, it's Elan SE on odd levels, Esprit on even levels)

• better weather effects

• slightly better / less "cheaty" CPU opponents

• tracks based on "scenarios" like night driving, motorway, storms etc.

But, the game has gone more "Outrun-esque" and is now beating the timer from checkpoint to checkpoint. This didn't bother me, I played this solo more anyway, as when playing with my brother, we preferred the more "championship" or competitive nature of the previous game. This game is a more leisurely drive.

BUT, Lotus 2 holds a trick up it's sleeve - if you have a Null-Modem cable, you can link two Amigas, two Atari STs or even, an Amiga and an ST ......... this allows for 2 players (a screen each, instead of split on one screen if you do it on one machine), 3 players (one machine full screen, another split screen) or even 4 players (both machines split screen) - I often had this set up at Revival events with an ST and an Amiga linked up together.

I think the reason I preferred this game the most, was more the presentation and the music, but, having no music whilst racing, it lost out in this deparment, something the first game did, and the next one does.

Lotus 3: The Ultimate Challenge

Now, I didn't have this game back in the day, I remember seeing pics of it in the mags and wanted it, but, it was 1. too expensive for my young teen pockets, and 2. whilst I was obsessed with the Lotus games, I was struggling to see what was new here, and I soon forgot about Lotus 3 and instead focused on other titles.

What they did here, was take the best of the other two games (well, mostly) and what we have is a game jam packed with lots of features, to the extent that it completely overwhelms in places, and that might be why this one didn't do as well.

Also, Lotus had competition - fairly close to the release of Lotus 3 was also the release of Jaguar XJ220 which offered a slightly different, but mostly similar experience, and I was also obsessed with that game (which I also didn't have) - Jaguar XJ220 felt more premium, Lotus 3 felt like the old faithful.

However, we lose the link-up option, and the cheating CPU cars are back (and worse than ever) - also, the framerate feels like it can chug a little when the game gets overwhelmed, but I'm not sure.

So, we get new tracks, a choice of "time trial" or "championship" modes, the "music selection" (and music during the race) is back, fuel management is back (in championship mode) and we can choose to race in the Lotus M200 concept car, the Lotus Elan SE or the Lotus Esprit, and we can choose it, rather than the choice being made for us.

BUT, we also have ......... RECS .......... the new track customiser, check it out below

RECS: Race Environment Construction System

So, what is RECS? Well, in Lotus 3, they introduced this "track designer" system, I use the term designer quite loosely though, you just specify a set of parameters and it makes a track of it, but, this adds a lot of replayability. There's even a mode that allows you to put up to 9 of these codes in a list and play them as a competition, which adds a lot in a two-player environment.

Now, the competing game, Jaguar XJ220, offered a much more substantial track designer, but I like the simplicity of RECS in Lotus 3, I can get a customised race up and running in about 30 seconds, I don't need to invest lots of time learning a system.

Conclusion

Well, it's been a blast to revisit my favourite racing games of the 1990s, on my favourite computers of the era too, and to me, despite showing signs of their age, they still hold up as an enjoyable experience, so here I'll say what my verdict is on the games.

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (aka. Lotus 1)

It's where the franchise started, it's a great game, hampered by some limitations of the time (like the forced split-screen, even in single player) and it all "feels" a little old in comparison to the other two games - I still love playing this, but the obstacles on the courses, even in "easy" level feel a bit too harsh, it's a shame really, it's a superb game, but far from being "the best" in the series

Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (aka. Lotus 2)

They took the previous games, looked at the complaints people had, made some improvements here and there, but changed the gameplay for a more "arcade" feel (as we were told at the time, not sure if it really is more arcadey or not)

Great music on the title screen, and the loading screens for each track, but no in-game music means it looses a little bit of soul in places. 

The weather effects are a lot better than the previous offerings, the courses are more vaired and the CPU opponent is at least a bit more "fair" here.

We've also got that link up option for some added gameplay options.

This was always my favourite back in the day, and it still holds up as a decent game, but there's less courses and far less content than both of the other two games, so it's replay value is quite a bit less than the other offerings in the franchise.

Lotus 3: The Ultimate Challenge

Well, they took the other two games, stuck them together, and dialled it up to eleven.

I never really gave it much time until recently, dismissing this as "more of the same" until I actually gave it a try.

We've got multiple game modes, the RECS editor thingy, more course types, choice of car, we've got the in-race music back (if we want it, or can go sound effects like Lotus 2) we have the choice of timed races or championship races, we have laps and point-to-point races, it's all here, it's the kitchen sink in 90s racing game form.

BUUUUUUUUT, the Amiga version feels like it's struggling in places, like it's holding on for dear life, and the cheating bastard computer opponent cars are worse in this game than the others, I swear, they annoy me so much. We lost the link-up play as well - can you imagine have link-up AND the RECS designer? that'd be superb.

OK, cut to the chase, which is the better game?

Alright, alright, if you put a gun to my head and asked me to make a decision? Depends on if you ask old me or today's me ............. old me would go Lotus 2 all day long, but, let's be honest, it's severely lacking in content next to 1 & 3. Lotus 1 feels wrong - it's a good game, but feels a bit unfinished and very unrefined in places, so today's me would say, it has to be Lotus 3 - I know, many don't like it next to the other two, it's not as iconic, it's not as nostalgic, but it has the most content and it's executed very well. So, my new favourite Lotus game, is Lotus 3 (plus, I've been having a lot of fun with the RECS course editor)