Rollcage Stage II

Rollcage Stage II
Developer(s)Attention to Detail
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
Release
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Rollcage Stage II, also released as Death Track Racing, is a 2000 racing video game developed by Attention to Detail for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to Rollcage. In addition to basic racing, the game also utilizes combat elements. The game's playable vehicles are equipped with weapons, which are collected along the track as bonus items and can be used against competing cars. The vehicles themselves have wheels that are larger than their bodies, allowing them to still be rendered drivable while flipped upside down.

Development

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The game was originally intended to be released in the U.S. in early March 2000,[3] but was delayed by over seven months.[why?]

For the North American Windows release, game publisher Take-Two Interactive repackaged the original European/Australasian version as Death Track Racing.

Graphics capabilities

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Rollcage Stage II was also among the first titles to feature hardware-accelerated bump mapping upon its release in March 2000, in the form of EMBM (Environment Mapped Bump Mapping). RSII was designed to be best experienced at the time on Matrox Millennium G400 graphics cards, released in mid-1999, which had exclusive support for EMBM until the ATI Radeon was released in late 2000. Matrox's bump mapping technology was much hyped by industry press outlets at the time, with Matrox demoing Rollcage Stage II as a cutting-edge showcase for their cards, as well as dedicating a page on their website to the game.[4][5]

Soundtrack

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The game featured a licensed soundtrack that included various electronic music artists. An official soundtrack album was released on CD and vinyl by Moving Shadow in March 2000.[6]

Reception

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Rollcage Stage II received "favourable" reviews, while Death Track Racing received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[7][8] Daniel Erickson of NextGen said of the former's European version, just over six months before its U.S. release date, "A wonderful surprise, Rollcage Stage II is everything Wipeout 3 should've been but wasn't."[26] Electronic Gaming Monthly, The Electric Playground, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, and Game Informer also gave the same European version average to positive reviews, also over six or seven months before its U.S. release date.[14][15][17][27] GamePro said of the European PlayStation import while it was still in development, "Be warned: This game is tough to tame, even if you have the steady hand/eye coordination of an expert racer. Nevertheless, no other PlayStation racer can deliver the stomach-churning chaos of Rollcage Stage II. If your constitution and nerves can stand it, it's an enjoyably wild ride."[3][c]

Spiritual successors

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While Attention To Detail (ATD) and Psygnosis did not continue on the Rollcage series after Rollcage Stage II, ATD later developed the game Firebugs featuring roughly the same racing concept.

After the end of support by the developers and publishers, a former ATD developer who previously worked on the Rollcage games, Robert Baker, released in 2014 updated builds of the games' Windows versions. These builds, based on the original source code, fix longstanding bugs and update both games for use on modern operating systems: Rollcage Redux for Rollcage and Rollcage Extreme for Rollcage Stage II[28][29]

In 2015, Robert Baker approached former ATD and Rollcage teammate David Perryman to form Caged Element under the impulsion of entrepreneur Chris Mallinson. Caged Element launched a Kickstarter campaign for Grip, a spiritual successor for the Rollcage series. A prototype was completed before the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign using Unreal Engine 4. The development staff has two people who worked on the Rollcage series and the soundtrack has artists Technical Itch and Dom & Roland who were on the soundtrack for Rollcage Stage II. However, the project was canceled after some time.[30] Grip: Combat Racing was released in November 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Notes

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  1. ^ In GameFan's early viewpoint of the European PlayStation version, three critics gave it each a score of 82, 84, and 72.
  2. ^ In GameFan's viewpoint of the U.S. PlayStation version, three critics gave it each a score of 71, 73, and 74.
  3. ^ GamePro gave the European PlayStation import 4.5/5 for graphics, 3.5/5 for sound, and two 4/5 scores for control and fun factor in an early review.

References

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  1. ^ IGN staff (16 October 2000). "Midway Releases Rollcage Stage 2 [sic]". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Take Two Rolls with it". Take-Two Interactive. Archived from the original on 29 February 2000.
  3. ^ a b Dan Elektro (April 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (PS) [Import]" (PDF). GamePro. No. 139. IDG. p. 96. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ^ Gonzo (November 1999). "Comdex Day Two: A doctor of journalism's tale - Wednesday Edition". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Rollcage Stage II Shipping with EMBM". Matrox. 22 March 2000. Archived from the original on 24 August 2000.
  6. ^ "ASHADOW23CD | Rollcage Stage II: The Soundtrack - VGMdb". vgmdb.net. Retrieved 2024-09-07.
  7. ^ a b "Rollcage Stage II [sic] critic reviews (PC)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Rollcage Stage II critic reviews (PS)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ^ Woods, Nick. "Death Track Racing - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  10. ^ Goble, Gordon (31 October 2000). "Death Track Racing". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 6 December 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  11. ^ Hicks, Cliff (27 September 2000). "Rollcage Stage II". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 16 December 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  12. ^ Long, David J. (6 December 2000). "DeathTrack Racing [sic]". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 May 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  13. ^ Edge staff (March 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (PS)" (PDF). Edge. No. 82. Future Publishing. p. 71. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Rollcage Stage 2 [sic] (Import)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 129. Ziff Davis. April 2000. p. 166. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  15. ^ a b Pavlacka, Adam (22 March 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (PSX) [EU Import]". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on 14 July 2002. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  16. ^ Bramwell, Tom (6 April 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (PC)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Rollcage Stage II (Import)". Game Informer. No. 84. FuncoLand. April 2000.
  18. ^ Rodriguez, Tyrone "Cerberus"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (May 2000). "RollCage Stage 2 [sic] (PS; Import)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 5. Shinno Media. p. 13. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. ^ Mosquera, Fernando "Lagi". "Rollcage Stage II (PS)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 12. BPA International. p. 98. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. ^ Van Stone, Matt "Kodomo"; Weitzner, Jason "Fury"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (December 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (PS)". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 12. BPA International. p. 28. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  21. ^ Poole, Stephen (23 October 2000). "Death Track Racing Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on 10 December 2000. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  22. ^ Provo, Frank (16 October 2000). "Rollcage Stage II Review [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on 15 March 2002. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  23. ^ Lafferty, Michael (30 October 2000). "Death Track Racing Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  24. ^ Steinberg, Scott (26 October 2000). "Death Track Racing". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  25. ^ Steinberg, Scott (16 October 2000). "Rollcage Stage 2 [sic]". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  26. ^ a b Erickson, Daniel (April 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (Import)". NextGen. No. 64. Imagine Media. p. 89. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  27. ^ a b Rybicki, Joe (April 2000). "Rollcage Stage II (Import)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 7. Ziff Davis. p. 95. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  28. ^ "Rollcage Redux builds :: Rollcage". Steam. Valve. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Rollcage Redux". CodeMonkey. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  30. ^ "GRIP - An intense futuristic combat racer". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
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