Apple II enthusiasts now have the opportunity to relive the thrill of old school high-speed racing with the port of the Commodore 64 classic, Stunt Car Racer. This technical feat, executed by Patai Gergely, brings the adrenaline-pumping action of the original game to the Apple II platform. The machine requirement is any Apple II computer with at least 48K of RAM.
Streamlined for Performance
Adapting Stunt Car Racer for the Apple II required strategic choices to fit within the hardware constraints of these vintage machines. To ensure smooth gameplay on systems with 48K RAM, non-essential features from the original were omitted, including:
- Graphical Menu: The elaborate graphical menu has been removed in favor of a text based menu for memory usage efficiency.
- Hot-seat Multiplayer Championship: Multiplayer capabilities have been sacrificed to focus on the single-player game experience.
- Disk-Based Saves: Due to space limitations, saving seasons or track records on disk is not supported.
- Player Name Entry: Players will not be able to enter their names, making for a more streamlined default player experience.
- Visible Wheels: The in-game representation of wheels has not been included.
Despite these necessary sacrifices, the heart of Stunt Car Racer remains intact, offering a completely immersive single-player experience. Players can still enjoy seasons and face AI drivers, maintaining the competitive spirit originally included in the C64 version. Furthermore, all major graphical elements from the original have been faithfully recreated to the fullest extent allowed by the Apple II platform, allowing players to immerse themselves in the high-speed world of Stunt Car Racer.
Playability and Controls
Stunt Car Racer for the Apple II fully embraces the joystick as the primary input method. This ensures that players can navigate the challenging tracks with ease and precision. In emulated Apple II platforms such as Virtual II and Applewin, the emulated keyboard based joystick replacement can be used in lieu of the joystick. For convenience, the game offers the following additional control options:
- Game Pause: Players can pause the race at any time using the Esc key.
- Performance Enhancement: The S key allows players to disable the rendering of the sky, potentially increasing the frame rate used for a bit smoother gameplay.
- Direct Selection: In the menu, players can use number keys to directly choose their desired options.
For comprehensive instructions and additional details on gameplay, players can consult the original Stunt Car Racer game manual, providing a nostalgic link to the classic C64 game experience.
The port of Stunt Car Racer for Apple II is another real world example that showcases the ingenuity of some members of the retro gaming community. Patai Gergely’s technical achievement brings a piece of gaming history to a new audience while paying homage to the original C64 masterpiece.
If you would like to try out Patai’s port of Stunt Car Racer, you can download the latest version of the game from http://cobbpg.github.io/assets/media/StuntCarRacer-AppleII.zip
In the meantime, you can enjoy a run through of Stunt Car Racer with Patai’s video on YouTube below:
Patai Gergely is on X (Twitter) at https://twitter.com/cobbpg
