THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE

TURBO ESPRIT

PUBLISHER
Durrell

AUTHOR
Mike ....

YEAR
1985

DESCRIPTION
Turbo Esprit is a forward view driving game.

CONTROLS:
The keys are redefinable, or a joystick can be used.  The player
must choose accelerate/decelerate, left/right, shoot and map. 
To change lane during the game, simply select left or right, but
to do a 90 degree turn, you must press fire and left or right. 
This does mean that you cannot shoot while turning.

INSTRUCTIONS
As soon as the game has loaded, the player is prompted as to
which map they would prefer to use, from 1-4.  The higher the
number, the more complicated the map is and the thinner the roads
are.  Once this choice is made, the game must be reloaded to make
another choice.

The idea of the game is to catch the criminals AFTER they have
made the drugs exchange, but before they leave the map (at which
time they have escaped and it is too late).  If you make your
presence known before the exchange then they will simply leave
as soon as they can.  You must try and position yurself ready to
strike.  Periodically, you will be given messages at the bottom
of the screen which will tell you which road number a criminal
is on.

The exchange is made between a bullet-proof van (blue) and
several cars (red).  You will be told at the bottom of the screen
when the exchange has been made.  The criminals will also send
out hit cars (magenta) to try and destroy you.  The cars can be
destroyed either by ramming them (unless they are in a traffic
jam) or shooting them.  Ramming them will get you more points,
and it is not possible to destroy the bullet proof van by
shooting.

On your dashboard, as well as a steering wheel, indicator lights,
speed and revs, you will also see a fuel guage.  If your fuel
should run out then it will be game over.  You can refuel your
car by parking outside of a petrol station (which are marked on
the map) and waiting.  Your fuel level will then go up
automatically.

The map of the game shows your car and all the criminals cars,
as well as petrol stations and all the roads.  It shows the
number of lanes of the roads, and if it is one way, it shows
which direction the flow of traffic is in.

It is possible to gain and lose points in the game.  You can gain
them by catching/destroying the criminals.  You can lose them by
running over padestrians and destroying innocent civilians.

Once the criminals have either been caught or escaped, the game
will end, and you will be prompted to enter your name in a table.


CHEATS

SEQUELS/PREQUELS
Turbo Esprit apeared on the compilation Durrel Big 4, along with
Critical Mass, Saboteur and Combat Lynx.

INLAY CARD TEXT

SCORES RECEIVED
When released on Budget, around 1990, it received 93% in Sinclair
User. 

URL
ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/t/esprit.zip

GENERAL FACTS
The author has also written Combat Lynx.

One of the best features of Turbo Esprit is how much attention
to detail their is when driving.  You can see other car's
indicators flashing depending which way they are turning, traffic
lights work realistically, padestrians cross the roads at zebra
crossings, there are roadworks etc...   All the other road users
follow the highway code and drive realistically.

NOTES
The game design of Turbo Esprit is very similar to the game Chase
H.Q. (Ocean/Taito), which did not appear until about 4 years
afterwards.  However, Chase HQ is a much simpler, more arcade
orientated game, and contains none of the strategy required in
Turbo Esprit.