Developed and published by Epyx for Atari 400/800, ColecoVision, Coleco ADAM and Commodore 64 in 1983.
Atari 400/800 version designed and written by Action Graphics.
ColecoVision & ADAM version by the Connelley Group and Action Graphics: Programming by Richard Ditton; Sounds by David Thiel; Graphics by Action Graphics.
Commodore 64 version written by Jamie Faye Fenton.
(Credits taken from Colecovision.dk)
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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS
I have to start this entry with a sad note. This comparison was originally written almost two years ago for the 16th issue of Reset64 magazine, which at that time was still in all appearances going strong and healthy. All sorts of real life events for the Reset64 staff were behind the initial delay, but then, a series of more or less unfortunate happenings started ringing the bells of doom for the magazine, with people stepping down from their roles in the magazine and even a death of a beloved member. So, in the end, issue 16 is still to be released, and is in the works by the remaining people. I asked for, and received permission to publish this comparison whenever I felt like (due to my personal scheduling problems) from the original editor of the magazine, who goes by the handle Unkle K at the Lemon64 forum, so I decided to dedicate this entry to all the current and past people at Reset64, and I hope to see the final 16th issue some day soon. Now, onto the comparison itself.
Just about 42 years ago, the happily straight-forward genre of racing games would be disturbed by the release of a game that would introduce something other than driving a car into the mix. The game, Pitstop, was the first to bring in actual pit stops into racing games, but of course, this was received with mixed reviews. In hindsight, the racing part of Pitstop probably could have been better, seeing as Pole Position was still considered the yardstick, but at least it was different, and became successful enough to have a sequel.
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DESCRIPTION & REVIEW
The original Pitstop is an interesting title for a number of reasons. One, it's not nearly as well-known or liked as the sequel. Two, it's story of conception is largely unknown, and it's not even clear, which machine it was developed for primarily. Three, it was released at around a time, which could be called a turning point in Epyx's history of game developing, turning from adventures, strategy games and light RPG's to arcade adventures and hit sport games.
When Pitstop was released, it had some notable competition in 1982's Pole Position, but concerning the release platforms, it didn't have to share all that much of advertising space with similar titles. If anything, Pitstop should have had an advantage, since it was the first racing game ever to feature actual pit stops, necessitated by a depleting tank of fuel and tyres you need to change if you damaged them too much. For its time, Pitstop also had a relatively high number of tracks to race on, and a unique point of view for the racing to be played from. To this day, I'm not sure if I have ever seen another racing game from that era to use the same POV as the first Pitstop.
In hindsight, though, the odd POV might have been part of why Pitstop was so alienating in the first place, and why the second game was so much more successful. Also, it might have been less than helpful to have the game strictly a single-player experience. And as you will undoubtedly find out later in this comparison, the game was a bit boring in terms of sounds and graphics. But in spite of all that, Pitstop did extremely well as a prototype for its own sequel, and as such, it's well worth a try.
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PLAYABILITY
Considering all three versions were primarily cartridge releases, there is no point in dwelling on any possible tape loading times. This makes Pitstop a properly rare example of a game that's on equal footing in this regard on all available platforms - particularly where there's machines with cassette and disk drives involved.
Upon booting up the game, you are instantly taken to the title screen, which lets you wait for an unnecessarily long time before you are taken to the game options, unless you happen to be playing the COLECO version. That's right: the C64 and ATARI versions do not allow you to skip the copyright screen, but the difference is, the C64 version takes 4 seconds before you can get on with it, and the ATARI version 12 seconds.
The game options are chosen in a specific order. First, the number of drivers up to four. It's turn-based, though, so there's nothing to be said about it in actual gameplay. Second, the number of laps for each track selectable from three, six and nine. Third, you choose one of three difficulty levels: Rookie, Semi-Pro and Pro, of which I'm using Semi-Pro for this comparison. The fourth game option is race type, which is either a Single Race, a Mini-Circuit, which consists of three of the available six tracks, and the full Grand Circuit - all six tracks. The Mini-Circuit and Grand Circuit are pre-programmed into the game, so the only way to choose your preferred track to race on is to go with the Single Race option. All the options are selected by moving the joystick up and down, and pushing the fire button. In the COLECO version, any numeric key will do.
If anyone, like myself, ever wondered about the tracks in Pitstop, all six tracks are actually based on real-life race circuits. Granted, they are rather approximated, but the circuit maps look close enough to the real things: Monaco Grand Prix, Circuit d'Albi, Circuit de la Sarthe (Le-Mans), Circuito del Jarama, Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit and Circuit Mont-Tremblant - formerly known as Circuit St. Jovite.
As a quick hint, if you happen to dislike the actual pit stop element of the game, you can play the game without ever having to go to a pit stop by selecting Rookie with three laps. Racing in Semi-Pro mode consumes that much more fuel, that you might need to take a pit stop even in a three lap race, depending on how well you drive.
Pitstop is very similar to play on all three versions. Controlling your car is not only simple, but you are also given a couple of simultaneous options for acceleration; it's either up or fire button, or any of the numpad keys on the COLECO controller. Down hits the brakes and left and right do what they are supposed to. There are no gears to worry about, either. However, thanks to its unique point of view, controlling the car's speed also controls its relative location to the bottom of the screen.
The actual pit stops are controlled in two ways. Upon entering the pits, you take control of a cursor, with which you need to choose one of four men by pressing the fire button. Here, the fire button only acts as a toggler between controlling the cursor and one of the pit men. Since the view of the pit is pseudo-isometric, controlling the men therein is diagonal when going up and down, but straight when going left and right. Picking up tyres, changing them and re-installing them happens merely by walking into each designated area of action. Same goes to the refueler, except in the COLECO version, you don't actually need to walk him anywhere - there it's just a simple in-and-out method.
There are several things that would suggest the COLECO version being the primary version Action Graphics were making. First, you can use a steering wheel controller in the Coleco version. Second, the pit personnel animations are more detailed and well-animated. Third, it's notably quicker and scrolls smoother than the other two versions. Fourth, and perhaps most notably, the difficulty level differences are much more notable, and I managed to burn out my tyres many times on Semi-Pro, which I have never managed to do in the C64 and ATARI versions.
Speaking of which, following the tyre condition is a bit different for each version. For the COLECO and C64 versions, the sequence is similar enough, starting with dark blue, then moving on to light blue, green, red on C64 and turqoise on Coleco, and finally, orange, before your car is ready to explode. In the ATARI version, you get six shades of blue from a really dark blue to almost white, before you get pink, which is the last one before explosion. The reason why I mention the tyre condition colours in this section already is, that the ATARI colours are harder to follow, and thus harder to anticipate, whether you will be able to get through another lap, or if you need to change the tyres as soon as you can hit the pits.
In my limited experience, the COLECO version feels overall better to play, even though it is clearly more difficult. The C64 and ATARI versions are perhaps easier to get started with, but offer less of a challenge. The biggest advantage of the C64 version is, that there is practically no waiting time between pit stops and racing, so for anyone who has never played either of the other two versions, the brief pauses might come in as a shock. But in the long run, the COLECO version does have the most replay value.
1. COLECOVISION
2. COMMODORE 64
3. ATARI 400/800
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GRAPHICS
Because Pitstop doesn't exactly offer too much of visuals, the smallest differences can become important in a comparison, so let's try to be thorough this time.
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| Title screens, left to right: Colecovision, Commodore 64, Atari 400/800. |
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| Racing shots from the Colecovision version. |
A notable thing about the rivaling cars is, that they all have different colours, and their tyres are always blue. Your own car is red, and if you happen to be so unfortunate as to explode, your car will turn into randomly flying pixels, with your tyres flying around.
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| Racing shots from the Commodore 64 version. |
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| Racing shots from the Atari 400/800 version. |
The ATARI version has the "Get Ready" screen done with a blue background, and some of the colours in the actual racing part are a bit different than on the C64, but otherwise the graphics look very similar, all the way down to the info panel's design. The rival cars are all yellow, there's a similar variety of road signs and trees, the goal line is three red lines instead of green, and your car's explosion doesn't have tyres flying around.
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| At the pits during a race, left to right: Colecovision, Commodore 64, Atari 400/800. |
The pit stop itself takes place at the very spot of the title screen. Of course here, you get the pit crew and two stacks of new tyres as new elements. The crew in the COLECO version look a bit stiff and unnatural in their posture, but their animations are wonderfully slick and rich - particularly the flag man. The crew's postures were changed to be a bit more natural looking for the C64 and ATARI versions, but the animations are less... well, animated.
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| Race results, left to right: Colecovision, Commodore 64, Atari 400/800. |
1. COLECOVISION
2. COMMODORE 64 / ATARI 400/800
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SOUNDS
The soundscape in Pitstop is not exactly impressive, but it is adequate. Basically, the three versions share a very similar set of sound effects, and barely anything categorizable as music. In fact, the only bit of music is the fanfare played after crossing the finishing line, which is just a brief single-pitch simulated horn toots with harmonics, and the ATARI version doesn't even have that - the fanfare has been changed to audience cheering and whistling, which is cut abruptly.
While racing, you can hear your car's engine noise, which on the COLECO version is ugly and noisy - kind of nasal, even. Continuing with the same version, bumping into other cars and road barriers makes two different sorts of bumping sounds, and busting a tyre will play an impressive explosion. At the pits, you have one sound for passing cars, one for anyone walking around, one "ding-ding" for pumping fuel, one for taking off a tyre from the car, one for putting one back in, and one for swapping a new tyre from a pile of spares. Basically, it's a very reality-oriented soundscape, with no nonsense music to be heard.
In the C64 version, you do get all the same sound effects, but it's all much more muffled, of which the car's engine noise's difference is the most notable. The engine noise sounds a bit cleaner, as well, but I'm not sure it's a good thing - probably a matter of preference. On the long run, though, the C64 version is less grating on the ears, even if it doesn't sound quite as realistic, which in my book is a good thing.
The ATARI version sits somewhere between the other two. The engine noise is the most multi- layered here, and the rev pitch is the least audible here. Like on the C64, bumping into things is very muffled, perhaps even more so than on the C64. Similarly, all the pit stop sounds are just about as muffled, although the passing cars make more noise.
I'm really not sure, which one I prefer the most - or even the least, but I am perhaps a bit biased towards the C64 version. The muffled sounds makes it more tolerable than the others, but then again, it also lacks the sense of speed and noise that you connect to real racing. Each of the three versions have their own pros and cons, so I'm going to have to give them all a shared spot.
1. COLECOVISION / COMMODORE 64 / ATARI 400/800
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OVERALL
For all its apparent worth, the original Pitstop is just a bit too bland and unattractive to have had any real chance of making an impact back in the day, much less now. But then, although there is no certainty about this, perhaps it was designed for the Colecovision, and therefore, it couldn't have been much different from what it became, and the C64 and Atari versions were made as a necessary commercial reach-out. Whatever the truth is, here are the results:
1. COLECOVISION: Playability 3, Graphics 2, Sounds 1 = TOTAL 6
2. COMMODORE 64: Playability 2, Graphics 1, Sounds 1 = TOTAL 4
3. ATARI 400/800: Playability 1, Graphics 1, Sounds 1 = TOTAL 3
Not one of C64's finest hours, but a good incentive for Dennis Caswell and Stephen Landrum to work on the sequel, a much more quintessential C64 classic. Still, it's a solid enough racer worth checking out, if only to compare the two Pitstop games against each other.
On that note, I will be including a video accompaniment for this comparison later on, because I'm working on a comparison of Pitstop II to be released later this month, which will be accompanied by a two-for-one video, because that's what I was originally trying to make of these two, but ended up separating the two, because otherwise it would have become too long. Anyway, when that time comes, this section will be edited accordingly, so keep your eyes open. Thanks to the Reset64 team for giving me a printed outlet for some of these comparisons all these years. All the best to everyone involved! And of course, thanks to the rest of you for reading, keep your eyes open!
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