Yesterday, the ROM Hacker BillyTime!Games released a promising new fan patch for Accolade's 1994 Mega Drive / Genesis vehicular combat game Combat Cars, which aims to remove some of the frustrations from the challenging Micro Machines-Esque racer.
Combat Cars, in case you've never played it, sees players selecting from one of 8 racers, with each of these individuals having their own special weapon that they can use against their enemies across the game's 24 courses. At the time of its release, it received some pretty average reviews from outlets like Computer and Video Games, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Mean Machines Sega, with publications generally praising its music and its multiplayer mode while criticizing "its slidey control system", "bland" graphics, and the "unfair advantage" some racers have over others (namely the alien Andrew with his ridiculously accurate homing missiles).
The new patch, which is being called Combat Cars Redux, doesn't feature any visual overhaul to address the criticism of the game's graphics but tries to make some alterations to the general gameplay to finetune the experience and make it more fun to play. This includes lowering the criteria for progressing to the next course from a 3rd place finish to 4th, removing the acceleration debuff from the rough terrain, nerfing the difficulty of the AI across the board, and increasing the bonus that is given to your respective weapon with each lap completed.
Here's full list of features included in the patch:
- Nerfed difficulty for AI racers across all modes
- Increased weaponry when completing a lap
- Driving on terrain won’t affect acceleration
- Ranking 4th place and higher gets you to the next race
- Can continue after losing a race. (Start new game by resetting console or by Soft Reset.)
- Soft Reset by pressing A+B+C+START while race timer is active (Clears current 1P progress.)
If you want to give it a try, you can download it here.