Hi, I worked on the SNES version of this! I did all of the front end and menu systems. Tony Pomfret did all of the actual game. They were good times, thanks for reminding me ❤

Peter Johnson of RAGE software deserves some credit for not simply porting MD/SNES Power Drive over to the Jaguar, instead making a real effort on what was his first Jaguar title, Power Drive Rally. He's talked of using the GPU, putting too much code onto the object processor etc, so he admits things could of been done differently, but.. He used the enhanced resolution and colour range of the Jaguar to do Presentation screens in 16 and 24-bit colour. The in game graphics use 256 colour courses, the dashboard overlays are in 16-bit colour. Music has been re-orchestrated and you have the running commentary speech from your Co-driver. It's a nice, hidden gem on the Jaguar, but sadly was never going to have the WOW factor of something like Road Rash on the 3DO.

The headlights effect on the MD version is fairly effective. 3:48

Since i've played the Jaguar version multiple times, i can more or less tell you that the car's control are based on speed (i.e. going slow makes it feel stiff but going fast makes it feel more light). I like the Jaguar version a lot, but it's in second place in terms of the best racing game on the Jaguar (that honor goes to Super Burnout). Oh and fun fact: only 4 (yes i'm not making this shit up) people worked on the Jaguar version (P.S. early previews touted support with the JagLink for LAN play but the final version only supports two players taking alternative turns unfortunately).

Love this game. Was used to the Jaguar game, but recently got the Mega Drive games too, which I also completed. Both are very different, but both are great. To me they control fine...

An addictive racer that stood out from the rest.

For those who are unaware: The flickering in Power Drive for GG is essential to avoid permanent damage in the screen on real hardware (LCD persistence). Space Harrier and Super Monaco GP II also does this as well.

The dos version does run fullscreen, or at least it would on period correct hardware. That's just dosbox being dosbox. The window issue can be fixed in the config settings. On the current build, though, the game exhibits some seizure inducing strobing effects that shouldn't be there. I couldn't ever get rid of those. Maybe it was just the copy I downloaded. Either way, I'm not sure the game is really worth going into too much work trying to fix it. Interesting video. I never knew this game even existed.

I never knew there was a game gear version. Time to break out the everdrive. Owned the jaguar version for a while and absolutely love it. When you get used to the momentum of the turning, it's an excellent game. Love it.

I have a funny memory of seeing the Amiga version in my local Beatties toy shop around 1995/1996 it was on sale from the original price of £19.99 to the bargain price of £19.98 yes you read that right me and friend asked a member of staff who said they were told prices by the head office.

Power Drive is one of the few Jaguar games which had separate PAL and NTSC releases. Could it be possible that the other one runs at 60? I do know someone who complained about the control system while playing at 50hz, but actually liked it at 60.

The soundtrack to this game still plays in my head, luved the Genesis version

Absolutely love this game. Controls on SNES are deliberately designed to give a realistic feel and its possible to master. It's really good on MD too. A must own.

Only played Megadrive one, but runs smoother than any other. GG port looks amazing for the system.

I wonder what kind of shenanigans were going on to keep them from having simultaneous sound effects and music on the Mega Drive. That's almost unheard of.

I can't help but feel the criticisms of controls / screen area ect. are more down to problems setting up emulators correctly rather than a problem with the actual game. It wouldn't be the first time Retro Core has mistaken emulator problems for faults with the real game.

One of my favourite games on the Jaguar (but then, I've only got ten games for it!). Not the most challenging game in the world (although it can get a little tricky to finish the later stages in time), but it does have that addictive quality to it.

Great video, as always.

Whoa! a Jaguar game port! Rare indeed. What a strange trip that console was...

There was also a really cool arcade game called power drive were you raced monster trucks track and field Style

They really dropped the ball on the Amiga version of this. Even the music sounds worse than the SNES original, which is the one area where most Amiga games shine! Actually, it's weird that the SNES version came first, as that's pretty unusual for racing games. Normally they start life on the MD or Amiga, but that isn't the case here. At least they kept the graphics nice on the MD, which is usually the one area where it takes a hit, but it's weird that they couldn't get music and sound effects at the same time. My guess is that it has a sound driver similar to MD Outrun, where sampled sound effects can play but interrupt the music, and rather than use FM percussion to prevent this issue like Road Rash did, they just went "nah, you're gonna have to choose."

Love this game! Used to play it on DOS as a kid, and like the other comment says it did run full screen on original hardware. There is also a Sega Master System version that is converted from Game Gear.

I thought Rally was a sequel to the game, I guess not lol but it is a decent racing game if you can get accustomed to the car's immediate acceleration and drag

The Jaguar version looks great.

I like how 90s were all into next gen consoles, and taking advantages of new graphic possibilities, but the devs still had to make new 8-bit games for Game Gear, and Gameboy, and then for Gameboy Colour even after 2000. And while dozens of such games were a mess, there were actually a few good efforts. Power Drive is clearly one of those examples.

Always was curious about this game in the day....but never bothered. I guess i didn't miss much?

Your info on the Jaguar port is most likely wrong. Jaguar games run 60Hz on NTSC machines and 50Hz on PAL machines. Unless Power Drive was only released in PAL regions, but it was not. All Jag games are region free. 50 FPS on PAL machines is correct, but it should run 60FPS on NTSC. The gfx are completely redone, with much more color&detail. Iam impressed how different the Jag version looks! The devs also stated that the number of tracks was reduced, but they are 4x bigger than the SNES counterparts. Update: I have a Jaguar with a 60Hz/50Hz switch and the game runs 60 Hz on NTSC.

The following argument comes complete with the obvious drawbacks, but here we go 😅... PDR on Jag is a decent arcade style isometric racer and is easily better than its predecessor/source material/etc. An age old argument but it plays spot on via a Jag at 60hz and, honestly, the only detracting comments ive encountered are centred around the difficulty of the interim challenges (remember that opening CarPark stage on Driver for PS1? 😂). Personally, although i still enjoyed them, it was actually the SNES & MD versions I felt had the most wonky controls but were fun nonetheless. The arcade versions of Neo Drift Out and Gaelco WRC series are the pinnacle of this game style imo, but PDR was a more subtle, grounded take and did a decent job of it imo 👍

Had it on the Amiga. It was hard but I don't remember any input lag.

Great video! I agree with you about the Amiga version. That is an unplayable mess.

Did they just re use the snes sprites tor the MD version? They look too tall, which makes sense as the MD has a lower aspect ratio if it's the same sprites.

What a coincidence! I just discovered this game this week, I had been eyeing the MD version but you've talked me out of it here.

The water looks weird in the Jag version, wherever driving past rivers its like you're driving on an island in the sky

I remember playing the amiga version back in the day and don't remember the controls being as bad as u say. I'll have to try again on real hardware see if it controls like u say The jag version deff the nicest looking out of all the versions Peter Johnson did the awful amiga version of robocop which was just a direct atari st port

Never played this but it always looked impressive. Friend of mine worked at Rage during the Dreamcast era after moving from Psygnosis. He told me then how they were working on their "Incoming" port ready for the DC launch.

A decent battle here thanks Mark, it's alway remarkable how a simple isometric rally game with unremarkable graphics and sound could be so different across many formats, Sadly we are in the a similar situation nowadays with the Series xb consoles and the upcoming mid gen refresh. Im finding this generation to be a complete drag with boring and over hyped games being the norm. Dunno what you feel about this gen Mark but I've found myself sat in the garage playing Ps2 and saturn games on a 55 inch samsung plasma and a 28 inch crt.

I had only played the mega drive port and didn't realize there were this many ports! I also just wish the controls were better on this one too...

These graphics are designed to run on 16:9 aspect ratio

It doesn't fit within the 'battle of the ports' series because I guess some were sequels and others were rebranding, but have you considered a retrospective on Psycho Fox, Decap Attack, Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure, and whatever other names it had, Kid Kool(?) I had a look through your past videos and I don't think you've covered them, but apologies if so :) I think there were four or five games in total over NES, SMS and Megadrive. I bought decap in the UK, but also rented MFHTA through one of those mail order services that you subscribe to, I was surprised to find it was the same as Decap but completely different graphics.

The mega drive does have music and sound effects together!

Never forgave Denton Designs for their travesty Batman Returns on the Amiga. Nice to see them keep their unblemished record of only releasing shite on the platform.

It's ironic that strict deadlines and an antipathy towards the game hurt your review's quality. You and Ocean have more in common than expected.

Glad I never went out of my way to play this, back in the 90s when it was being promoted. US Gold = save your valuable time and money for something else.

What is wrong with that map of France on the Game Gear port?? 😅

Weird, I have a boxed copy of the Amiga version and I don't have an issue with the controls. Well certainly not to the extent you do. I have no idea what you're doing to just slam into the walls like that.

You said the Jaguar being 50 FPS was nothing special, but the SNES and Game Gear versions are 30 FPS while the Mega Drive version is the only one that's at 60 FPS! (The Amiga version seems to run at an unstable 60 in comparison) Edit: As another person pointed out... it's actually just that the SNES port was a PAL only release while the MD port got an NTSC release, so the SNES port actually runs at 50 FPS. My bad

Mega Drive wins… FLAWLESS VICTORY!

Make Another Battle of the ports, but this time with Hudson Soft's classic, Bomberman!💣🎈

I've only ever played the Mega Drive version (rental), and while I liked the concept (and the rendering of the music), I couldn't pass a certain stage because of the view in front of the car : it was too short and turning in the right direction at the right moment was getting too hard for me with the faster cars. I was getting anxiety by not knowing what was in front of me and eventually quit playing out of frustration. The Jaguar version seems to be better to handle in that regard with the larger view.

Oh I'm sad.. Denton Designs was a good studio in 1980's.. they make so many good games like Great Escape, Where time sttod still, Fox fights back etc.. I never heard they working on game like this..eh, you live you learn right:)

Night racing on the mega drive looks great but those engine sounds are grating.

Cex will give u 1k for a game gear version 🤯

Weren't the controls meant to represent 'real' driving? I normally like this style of game but got absolutely nowhere with it on my Amiga.

Request: Battle Of The Ports: Sky Kid ( 1985 )

the game gear version's flickering hud is super jarring. at least it was meant to be on a small screen lol

I played SNES and DOS version, never known there were other ports 😅 SNES was the best version imo

Do you know how to drive in straight line ?

The Jaguar crowd must be struggling for top picks because Power Drive recently made someone's. I'll say I'm pretty sure it is an actual sequel, too. Different tracks and physics. The DOS version is surprisingly bad. Rage maybe weren't up to all those ports. This is one of my fave top down racing games on the Mega Drive where it's controls are arguably flawless. At least in terms or responsiveness. But oversteer is a real problem and not getting stuck in ditches is what the game ultimately amounts to. I just wanted Mega Drive game with more levels and upgrades and a save. Also a level editor. Also music and sound.

You have done a superb gameplay video here. Mind if I share it in a Gaming leaderboards discord I created with some friends?

Seems like you'd be better of playing an other racing game that starts with "Power Dri" then? Dunno though, missed this at the time and have never played it. Looks alright.

He certainly did moved up in the corporate world. He quit Ocean Software to join U.S. GOLD😆

After playing Street Fighter 2 on my ST in the 1990s and being outraged by how awful it was, I came to see U.S. Gold more as U.S. Shite. Not surprised to see the Amiga version of Power Drive was crap...

U S. Gold? More like fools gold!

You would think with that many ports ONE of the dev teams would have realized the controls sucked and tried to improve them. Sounds like that was just baked into the game no matter what. And the Game Gear's into music cracked me up for some reason. Sounded like a cheap Apple II educational title they'd have you play in school.

I still own the Jag version...I never liked it

unko drive! 🤣

Ah Power Drive! Last Year I revisited this on my MD. The big difference of this Game in comparison to other similar Isometric Racing games was that you dont turn the car itself, you just steer the Front wheels and it takes some time and practice to get into this. After I played it on my MD I gave it a shot an my Retron5 just to see if how it would look via HDMI, well of course it looked better but I couldn´t drive anymore! Crashed left to right like if I never played it before. It was the same Cartridge and also the same Controller but in the Emulation of the Retron5 it feeled like a whole different Game. Since then I avoid Emulation wherever I can and use only original Hardware. Even when that means that I have to deal with sh**ty graphics.

I've never been a fan of this style of racing game. The bird's eye view makes me feel so disconnected to what is going on.

Jaguar WINS

I remember this game being blasted on all magazines back in the day, reviews said it was really bad. The Mega Driva, Snes and Amiga versions were really bad games. The Amiga version played like shit indeed, even worse than the console versions which were already pretty bad. Denton Designs didn't make one single good game on Amiga I was surprised when I saw the Jaguar version looking so good. I have never played it, I thought it would play well... erm,, Didn't know the Game Gear version. The music is awful and the SFX sounds like an Atari 2600 game. Great, Heh.

MD

U.S. Gold? That explains it all. They were never known for putting quality in anything they did nor ported to any console nor on PC.

What an ugly game! Don't think I'm missing much not playing this one. Also, the games original developer rang a bell for me. Rage Studios, don’t know why but they sounded familiar. Turns out all they’ve done is shovelware like some Revolution X console ports and Saturn Doom.

ohhh, nooo...not U.S. gold! Now i know this game is going to be bad.

Never played the game, but seems more like a drunk driving simulator. Seriously do not drink and drive please.

Can you do a BOTP for SEGA Super Masters (not sure if the home versions are really ports of the Super Masters arcade) / Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf / Tournament Golf Amiga / ST? Use Amiga 1200 or upgraded A500 w/ 68020 or 68030 as the platform.