Cro-Mag Rally
Developer(s)Pangea Software
Publisher(s)Aspyr
Designer(s)Brian Greenstone
Composer(s)Mike Beckett
Platform(s)Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, iOS, Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360, Android
Release
  • NA: October 2000
(Mac)
  • NA: July 10, 2008
  • EU: August 24, 2008
(iOS)
Genre(s)Kart racing game
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Cro-Mag Rally is a kart racing game developed by Pangea Software and published by Aspyr, which takes place in caveman times. It was originally released for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, and was later ported to iOS, Xbox 360, Android, and Windows Phone 7.[1]

Gameplay

Inspired by Mario Kart,[2][3] the game centers around two caveman racers, Brog and Grag in vehicles made out of materials associated with cavemen, as they race through stages of ancient history.[4] The goal is to guide the caveman through different sets of tracks that include hazards, such as pits or tornado.[5] Each course is unlocked from the start, and are made of 3 laps each with several difficulty options.[6] During the race, the players can pick up power ups (including bombs, nitro, tire traction, and oil slicks) that can be used against the opponents.[5][6] Every one of them will last 15 seconds.[6] At the beginning, only a few vehicles are available. They all behave diversely,[5] making a distinction in control, speed, suspension and traction attributes.[6][7] However, as the progress is made, all eleven vehicles[6] can be unlocked.

The iOS version uses the accelerometer for steering left and right, with specific touch-screen buttons for driving forwards/backwards and weapons.[5] A variety of options can be adjusted separately, like steering sensitivity.[6] It has two game modes: Race, with a focus on beating the others to the finish line, and Gather, which relies on picking up arrowheads on the track as fast as possible.[5][6][8]

In the Mac version, the single player part consists of a Practice Mode, where the players can test the cars and tracks, and a Tournament Mode with nine stages divided between three periods: the Bronze Age, the Stone Age, and the Iron Age.[9] To make a progress, the player has to finish the race in third position or higher, while collecting eight arrowheads across the level at the same time.[9] There is a Physics Editor, which allows the player to alter elements of play such as speed, acceleration, suspension, and traction of each car, as well as gravity.[10]

Cro-Mag Rally has multiple multiplayer variants. On the Mac version, the game allows up to six players to compete via local area network.[9] A number of modes are available, such as Race, Tag, Survive, and Quest For Fire.[9] Race is the usual mode with the players having a battle for the first place.[9] There are two versions of Tag, both being each other's opposites: Keep-Away and Stampede.[9] Keep-Away begins with one player being "it", with the goal of being the last man standing by avoiding the elimination by staying the "it" for a long time. and ends when all but one of the players has been eliminated from the game by being "it" far too long.[9] Meanwhile, in Stampede, the winner is the one to stay as the "it" for two minutes.[9] Survive allows the players to slam karts and fire weapons at the opponents, until only one vehicle is left.[9] Similar to Capture The Flag, Quest For Fire splits the players into two teams, trying to seize five torches from the enemies and move them to their base.[9] The iOS version offered a four-player online multiplayer via Game Center.[11]

Release

Cro-Mag Rally initially released for Mac OS 9 in October 2000 as the third in Pangea Software's line of 3D games.[1] Following the developer's transition to focus on iOS development, a port was released for iOS in 2008, and 3 years later in 2011 a port for Windows Phone 7 was produced by Citizen 12 Studio.[12] The same studio released Cro-Mag Rally for Xbox 360 in January 2012, and an updated "Extreme!" version was released the following month.[13] These various ports were advertised to allow for cross-platform multiplayer via Game Center.[11]

In 2022, game developer Iliyas Jorio released a free updated port of the game on Itch.io for Windows, Linux, and macOS with the permission of Pangea Games.[14] In keeping with the original release order of Pangea Software's games, Cro-Mag Rally was the third game rewritten to be playable on modern operating systems, following Bugdom and Nanosaur.[15][16]

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020)

References

  1. ^ a b "Cro-Mag Rally®". Pangea Software. Archived from the original on 2011-08-21.
  2. ^ a b Spencer, Spanner (July 15, 2008). "Cro-Mag Rally". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Nicholson, Brad (August 25, 2008). "iPhone review blitzkrieg: Pangea edition". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  4. ^ Tuinman, Jaap (January 18, 2001). "Hands on with Pangea Software's Cro-Mag Rally". Macworld. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Cohen, Peter (July 24, 2008). "Cro-Mag Rally for IPhone". PC World. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Roush, George (August 18, 2008). "Cro-Mag Rally Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Broida, Rick (July 17, 2008). "Cro-Mag Rally". MacLife. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  8. ^ Patterson, Blake (August 4, 2008). "Kart to Kart: Cro-Mag Rally vs. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Leyden, Patrick (January 3, 2001). "Cro-Mag Rally". Inside Mac Games. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Allen, Toby (November 20, 2000). "Cro-Mag Rally Editor Coming Soon". Inside Mac Games. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Jordan, Jon (September 9, 2010). "Pangea goes big with Game Center multiplayer modes for Nanosaur 2, Cro-Mag Rally, and Enigmo". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  12. ^ Acevedo, Paul (November 20, 2018). "Cro-Mag Rally - Review". Windows Central.
  13. ^ "Cro-Mag Rally Extreme!". Metacritic. February 21, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "Cro-Mag Rally Downloads". Pangea Software. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  15. ^ Peterson, Jake (June 8, 2022). "You Thought 'Bugdom' and 'Nanosaur' Were Lost Forever". Lifehacker.
  16. ^ Dandumont, Pierre (January 25, 2024). "Nanosaur, Bugdom, Cro-Mag Rally : les jeux Pangea portés sur les Mac modernes". MacGeneration (in French).

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