Grand Prix - Your Computer - BBC Micro - Emulated, BeebEm - 12,300 points

Grand Prix is an arcade racing game for the BBC Micro. It appeared as a type-in listing in the April 1985 edition of Your Computer magazine. The program was written by Michael Barter.
This game is a road-race game similar to many of its style, all inspired by Sega's arcade game Turbo. You have to race down a track (always straight) against the clock and need to pass 70 cars before you can progress to the next stage (the number of cars passed is indicated by the Bonus display at the top right of the screen). Your only obstacles are other cars, but in this game, they are not easy to pass at a speed that is fast enough to get you passed the required number before the time runs out. If you do manage to meet the target (I failed at this every time) you are rewarded with a change of scenery. As well as the initial countryside scene, there are snow, desert, night and riverside landscapes.
Your movement at the bottom of the screen is restricted to just left and right. You can throttle and brake to control your forward momentum. The graphics are only a little bit flickery and the game is otherwise smooth and fast paced. For a type-in program, this is a decent achievement, and the game does feature quite a chunk of machine code - not something I would have wanted to type in myself!
Another game that is worth a look to see what can be achieved from a magazine listing. It is a pity that the game is just a little bit too hard on the first level. The enemy cars are quite difficult to avoid as you don't seem to move left or right fast enough to be able to avoid them. They also appear in pairs, and it is not clear until quite late if they will stay together (meaning you have to go around them) or split (meaning you have to go through the gap they create). Still if you like a challenge, this game will supply that. Crashing does not cost you a life, but you do lose time and you do not get an overly large amount to start with. Balancing high enough speed to make progress while giving yourself enough time and space to dodge the other cars is the key to progress in this one.
This run was made on the 23rd June 2024 using the BeebEm emulator on PC. The final score was 12,300.
Time stamps:
00:30 Ready to start another game.
00:33 Game start
00:37 Example of a bump and loss of all speed.
01:28 Time up. Only 58 cars passed so Game Over! Final score 12,300 points.
Intro Music:
Music by: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
Title: Legend
/ @whitebataudio