What do you think about the "Test Drive" franchise?

[Deean]

Test Drive,if i'm not mistaken is the longest racing game franchise, spawning from the early 90's to recent years and having some transformations from driving sim to arcade racer,offroad racer,destruction derby, open world,etc.

What you guys think about this franchise?
I played the trilogy on PS1 and it's pretty fun, i'm also having fun cruising the huge map in unlimited.
Shame this series gets overshadowed by NFS.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I had been enamoured of the TD4 demo for literally decades, playing what little it allowed with my sister all throughout our formative years... Until I actually got the whole thing and realized I couldn't stand it.

Something didn't carry over from the demo and the game made me feel really empty as a result of burning my expectations down to a crisp and then pissing on the flames to extinguish them.

I LOVE Unlimited, though -- that's just brilliant.

 

[PrismRed]

Have only played Off Road on PS1 and TDU 1 and 2, love them. TDU 1 is the first and only game I went "daym this map HUGE" in my life. Sad to see Solar Crown is online only.

 

[bjork]

Test Drive Unlimited 1 is my favorite 360 title. I used to love to just come home from work, set a GPS point far away, and just zone out driving around. The mission that's just one lap around the island is some of the most fun I've had in a game. TDU 2 I thought less of because I don't care for all the not-car stuff (get plastic surgery, casinos, etc) but having two areas to drive is great. I only tried the demo for Solar Crown but my PC would barely run it, so I have basically no opinion.

Original Test Drive on the C64 was pretty incredible for its time, but these days it's more something you'd play just to see how far car games have come. I may be misremembering, but I think it was in TD1 or TD2? But in one of them, I remember if you had cops behind you but stayed in the left lane, they would never pull you over because they followed traffic rules and won't pass on the right. I think?

 

[BrawlMan]

I remember them being fun, but I have not touched the franchise since the PS1 era.

 

[zacharinolongpants]

I remember playing Test Drive 6 as a kid and it had this trippy opening video sequence with Fear Factory covering Gary Numan lol. Loved that game. One of the first PS1 games I had.

 

[Callist0]

Funny you mention NFS, since the devs for the original NFS also made Test drive 1 & 2. The studio got bought out by EA and subsequently made R&T Presents: The Need For Speed, which was basically an unofficial Test Drive 4.

 

[sysuah]

I really enjoyed TDU2, always revisited 1 when I feel like it and I just foundout that the devs that worked on the TDU games also worked in The Crew 1, or so i've read

 

[rivr]

always felt to me like the kind of racing game you'd see if you visit your friend who had rich parents.
games didnt feel like anything to me. not intimate, not fast or exciting, not cool, or moody.
it feels like franchise is going for luxury feel, but it ends up feeling cheap to me.
in a way thats neat, kinda liminal.