What is Kawasaki ATV PowerSports?

Ater burning through Star Wars Episode I: Racer, we were ready for a gritty racing game to satisfy our two-stroke, mud-eating side. Instead, we got frustration and a couple of system crashes — not even a lousy T-shirt.

Kawasaki ATV PowerSports is a console-style racing game that features a large selection of courses, terrain, and weather. Race types include a standard race, a rally, and variations on terrain racing where you claim as many gates as you can in a limited amount of time.

You initially choose one of two ATVs, which look different but feel similar on the track (a close look at the atv.cfg file in the Config folder reveals the characteristics of each). If you choose to race a circuit (and you place in the top three finishers and in the top three points leaders), you can move on to the next race. Move ahead in enough races, and you’ll unlock new ATV styles from which to choose.

This method of ATV selection highlights a major weakness of the game — it doesn’t offer any satisfying way to add power to your ATV. If you could use race winnings for improvements, as in other games, then we’d be talking.

At best, PowerSports is uninspiring. Its main highlight is the decent (but not spectacular) set of graphics. Also, the game limits the controls to left, right, speed up, and slow down, so you can’t do respectable jumps, tricks, or slides. Instead, you’ll race against unimaginative, remorseless computer-controlled ATVs, which follow waypoints to complete the game. If there happens to be a tree in the course, too bad — the ATVs will hit it on each lap. Don’t pity your opponents, though — you’ll rarely beat them. The computer controls them with inhuman accuracy, so it’s nearly impossible to compete with their efficient, tight turns.

Kawasaki ATV is a dead-simple game that will keep you occupied for only a few races before you get bored, frustrated, or both. Had this been a $10 shareware game, it might have merited a higher rating, but at $25, the price is just too high.

Reynolds, David. (August 2000). Kawasaki ATV PowerSports. MacAddict. (pg. 77).

Download Kawasaki ATV PowerSports for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 8.1

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver