WEC Le Mans

STORY / GAMEPLAY
In this game, you race through a tough and exhausting race, the WEC Le Mans championship! Each race is split into four laps (two during daytime and two after sunset) divided also into three checkpoints. Due to the limitations of the CPC hardware, all cars have the same design and don't correspond to actual models. The Le Mans 24-hour race is the most famous endurance test for both man and machine. Thankfully, you don't have to race around the circuit for 24 hours(!) You only have to complete all four laps. Your super car has only two gears (Low and Hi) but it's fast! And you really need to be fast to reach each of the checkpoints before the time runs out. As you progress, you'll encounter more cars and you'll need to be more careful or you will easily crash rather spectacularly with your car flying in the air. In general it is hard to beat the game's races as the opposing drivers stay most of the time in the middle of the racing track or slide towards your side crashing you and making you lose valuable time. OK, the game is a quite good coin-op conversion and it is quite fun to play!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
Nobody would expect a pixel-perfect 8bit conversion, but the Amstrad features good graphics (although 6 colors are mostly used), with fast background scrolling and nice sprite animation (your car may spin or roll in the air after a serious crash). The opponent cars are nicely drawn too, with excellent pseudo-3D modelling. There a few road signs, lights as well as trees on the track's sides in which you may easily crash onto. Comparably, the CPC's visual details are better than the Commodore and ZX Spectrum versions. The sound is also good featuring a catchy intro tune, and a few nice sound effects like engine throttling, car braking and more.

GAMEPLAY SAMPLE VIDEO
On our video below you may watch the Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum conversions plus the original arcade coin-op version of the game.