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Destruction Derby

Revision as of 19:59, 24 December 2011 by DestructionDerby (talk | contribs)
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Destruction Derby
File:DD1.jpg
DD1cover
Developer Reflections
Publisher Psygnosis
Original release MS-DOS
EU: October 1995
NA: 31 October 1995
PlayStation
EU: October 1995
NA: 16 November 1995
Sega Saturn
EU: 1996
NA: 1996
PlayStation Network
EU: 29 November 2007 (PS3/PSP)
NA: 15 February 2007 (PSP)
NA: 3 May 2007 (PS3)
Android
EU: February 2011
NA: February 2011
Ratings ELSPA: 3+
ESRB: K-A
OFLC: G
Successor Destruction Derby 2
Disambig iconThis article is about the original game. For the series, see Destruction Derby series. For the event mode, see Destruction Derby (event).

Destruction Derby is the first video game of the Destruction Derby series. It was released in October 1995 for PlayStation, Sega Saturn and MS-DOS. It was developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis.

It was originally going to be called Demolish 'em Derby, but it was changed in August 1995; just 2 months prior to release.

Though simplistic, the game achieved high popularity and so was added to the PlayStation Platinum Range, being one of the first games to achieve platinum sales.

The popularity of the game resulted in a 1996 follow-up, Destruction Derby 2, released for PlayStation and MS-DOS. In February 2007, the game was available for download in the PlayStation Network for the PS3 and PSP consoles. Later in February 2011, the game was available on Android devices.


Events

1menu

Destruction Derby Main Menu

*Practice mode is found in Wreckin' Racing
**Duel, Team Pairs, Tag, and Seek and Destroy modes are found in Wreckin' Racing. PlayStation only. Two PlayStations with a link cable are needed.

Tracks

*Ruined Monastery is a secret track in the Practice event mode

Bowls

Vehicles

Points

All events uses a points system. The Destruction Derby mode awards points only on the basis of wrecking other players' cars. Stock Car Racing only awards points on race position. Wreckin' Racing is a hybrid of the two (albeit with less points for positions than Stock Car). The maximum number of points available per race in the wrecking modes is 99, whereas Stock Car has a maximum of 50 (the points for first place).

The points system for wrecking is as follows:

  • Spinning an opponent's car 90° - 2 points
  • Spinning an opponent's car 180° - 4 points
  • Spinning an opponent's car 360° - 10 points
  • Spinning a car which is in first place during the Wreckin' race, the points are doubled
  • In Stock Car mode, points are awarded for 1st to 20th place in the following order: 50, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
  • In Wreckin' Racing mode, the race position 1st gets ten points, 2nd gets six and 3rd gets four.
  • Gripping an opponent's car - 10 points
  • In Destruction Derby mode, the last car not "gripped" gets ten points

Damage engine

The game features an engine that simulates what effect collisions have on the vehicles. If a car has been severely damaged its handling will become worse, with the level of damage indicated by a car diagram on the right of the screen. Severe damage to one of the sides of the car will make it pull significantly to that side, and severe damage to both will make it almost impossible to turn at all.

Heavy damage to one side of car's rear will reduce its ability to accelerate and hold speed; severe damage to the back on both sides will result in a the commentator's audio announcement "You've broken the rear axle!" and make the car almost unable to move. Damage to the front will eventually give the car a "blown radiator". If more damage is received by the front, eventually the engine will be blown and the car unable to move (for the player, resulting in the end of the race).

Unlike in sequels, damage could not be repaired during a race, as there is no pit lane functionality in Destruction Derby.

Competitors

In each race, there are 19 CPU drivers (15 in MS-DOS version) who compete along with the main player. Each driver is of differing ability, and each one has a (slightly) different driving style, which initially creates variation for the player but can easily be predicted after playing the game for a while. Some CPU drivers perform better in different modes, with some weak at Stock Car Racing but strong in wrecking-for-points environments.

The fastest raw stock car driver in the game is clearly The Skum in every race, whereas there are several competitors who are better in the Destruction Derby mode. Competitors such as Psycho, Undertaker, Barmy Army and The Taxman are amongst the best drivers in all modes, whereas drivers such as Suicide Squad are good in wrecking modes, but very slow in stock car modes.

In each Championship, the drivers start out in a system of 5 (4 in MS-DOS version) divisions, with the goal for the player being to climb to and win Division 1. The drivers that are in each division remain constant for every new game, but are not ordered by ability (clear by the fact that Learner Driver is in Division 2, despite being the weakest competitor in all game modes, but hardly ever takes damage, meaning he is the best at the longer races).

There is, however, an obvious pattern to who climbs to the top divisions and who doesn't; in stock car modes, only deliberate player intervention would stop The Skum from rising meteorically from his starting Division 3 to the top division.

Most of the drivers also have a voice clip for when points are taken from them by the player in wrecking modes, or for when the player "grips" them in all modes. Also, each driver has their own car design, and a cartoon picture of the character displayed on the race and championship standings screens. The division of each driver can be seen during races by the colour of the roof of their car - Division One is black, Division Two is red, Division Three is cyan, Division Four is yellow and Division Five is white.

The competitors in each starting division, along with their car number are as follows:

Division Five

Division Four

Division Three

Division Two

Division One

Most of the characters were retained for the sequel game, Destruction Derby 2, with new additions The Master, The Chief, The Pro and Rivit to replace The Taxman, The Doctor, Crunch Bunch and The Idol.

Music

The soundtracks were electronica music, composed by Tim Swan and Elliot Sumner.

Improve! The 'Featured in' section in most soundtracks is empty. If you know the right answer, add it on there. Also, there are two 'Aftershow's and two 'Trashers Delight's. If you know any info about these, add or correct it!

Name Featured in Length Link to YouTube
Aftershow 2:39 [1]
Aftershow 4:36 [2]
Indestructable 5:12 [3]
One Against All 5:19 [4]
Beyond All Damage 2:37 [5]
Chaos Overlord 5:14 [6]
Trashers Delight 5:31 [7]
Trashers Delight 5:22 [8]
Hardhitter 5:15 [9]
Crash Boom Bang Ocean Drive 5:25 [10]
Rankings 3:08 [11]
Duellist 5:36 [12]

Cheats

PS1, Saturn and DOS

  • Enter REFLECT! as a name. When the main menu returns, change the event to Practice. Notice that a new track, Ruined Monastery, will be available. This is normally unlocked when finishing first in the Division 1 in Championship.
  • Enter !DAMAGE! as a name to get invulnerability. Your vehicle is now impossible to be damaged.

PS1 only

  • Enter MONKEY as a name in Championship. When the event starts, perform 5 360° spins. A monkey will begin running around the track. Hitting the monkey is worth large amounts of points.
  • Enter CREDITZ! as a name. The credits will be displayed, which will be animated.
  • At the piracy warning screen (before the game itself starts), press L1, Left and Circle for the Reflections team.
  • At the piracy warning screen, press and hold L1 + LEFT + O. An image of the Reflections team will appear.
  • At the beginning of an event, hold X + RIGHT for a few seconds to get 4 points.
  • Select Total Destruction in the main menu. As soon as the game starts, pause and exit. If you had 0 seconds on the clock, your name will appear on the scoreboard with either 599.00 seconds or 566.?? seconds.

PS1 and Saturn only

  • Enter NPLAYERS as a name. From the main menu, go to the track selection screen. After you select a track, you will be able to choose the number of competitors.
  • In multiplayer mode, enter RIDGE as a name for player 1 and RACER as a name for player 2, to unlock Ridge Racer-like track.

PS1 and DOS only

  • Enter DERBYMAN as a name. Select your event and track etc. When the event starts, most of your competitors will start out smoking.

DOS only

  • Enter !SPEEDY! as a name. Select a Championship event, and notice that your car is a lot faster.

Release

MS-DOS

  • EU/NA: October 1995

PlayStation

  • EU: October 1995
  • NA: 16 November 1995

Sega Saturn

  • EU/NA: 1996

PlayStation Network (PSP)

  • NA: 15 February 2007

PlayStation Network (PS3)

  • NA: 3 May 2007
  • EU: 29 November 2007

Android

  • EU: February 2011
  • NA: February 2011

Credits

Design
  • Martin Edmondson
Programming
  • Russell Lazzari, William Musson, Michael Troughton, Robert Troughton
Graphics / Artwork
  • Phil Baxter
3D Modelling
  • Martin Edmondson
Music and sound effects
  • Elliot Sumner, Tim Swan
Voices
  • Steve Cooke, Jessica Martin
Producer
  • Tony Parkes
Product Management
  • Joanne Galvin, Michelle Harris
Marketing / PR (France)
  • Catherine Jaymond
Marketing / PR (UK)
  • Glen O'Connell
Public Relations Germany
  • Ingo Zaborowski
Documentation
  • Huw Thomas
German Manual Translation
  • Ulrich Mühl
Project Lead
  • Clemens Wangerin
Packaging
  • Peter Dyke
Quality Assurance
  • Jonathon Wild
Box and manual design
  • At Work Werbeagentur GmbH; Wiesbaden, Germany
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