Supercar will feature fast-paced arcade-style gameplay. Fans of arcade-style racers will have something new to drive around the block this fall when Activision releases Supercar Street Challenge for the PC. It's clear from the build we recently checked out that the game has been seriously polished and aims to offer an arcade-style experience in a number of high-profile locations. And a licensing deal with respected car manufacturer and modifier Steve Saleen adds a dose of authenticity to the game. Not only has he had some design input, but his touch will also be seen in the game's slick create-a-car design studio feature.

　　The game's goal, like that of every other arcade racer ever made, is simple: Make it to the finish line before your opponents, reaping accolades and glory as you win races. Supercar Street Challenge's single-player mode offers the standard championship, quick-race, and time-attack modes for you to tool around in. Championship will let you, upon winning races, unlock other options in the game. You'll also be able to earn money or points to upgrade your cars. You'll have a wide variety of options to spend your money and points on--everything from cosmetic additions like decals and mirrors to performance enhancements such as engine, brake, and suspension upgrades. Quick race, as the name indicates, will give you the ability to just jump in and drive after a few button presses. Time-attack mode challenges you to beat a course's best time--even if that best time is your own.

　　The game's multiplayer mode will let you race head-to-head. The game's multiplayer options look like they'll be fairly standard as well. Supercar Street Challenge's head-to-head mode will let you drive against a friend in a split-screen race. There is also a LAN multiplayer mode that supports up to six players. To help you race your best, SSC will offer a selection of nine licensed supercars: the Lotus M220, the Callaway C12, the Fioravanti F100, the Pagani Zonda C12s, the Vision CTEK K/2, the Bertone Pixster, the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket, Saleen's own S7, and the Pontiac Concept GTO. In addition to the standard versions of these vehicles, six of them (including the S7) will come with an alternate "race" version, bumping the roster up to 15. It should come as no surprise that the race versions are significantly speedier than their plain-Jane brethren, making for some insanely fast competition.

　　A fleet of licensed supercars would be useless without some choice tracks to burn rubber on, though, and SSC is looking to deliver on that score as well. You'll have your pick of 23 courses set in London, Paris, Monaco, Los Angeles, Munich, and Rome. These will only be the basic tracks, however, as each location's course will have a number of variations based on track length. Thanks to Exakt's eye for detail, each city will sport recognizable landmarks. For instance, our run through the LA track found us roaring by the Staples Center on our way to the freeway. The courses are well designed and will offer you a variety of ways to the finish line. Each track possesses alternate paths and shortcuts, but, unlike in other racers, the shortcuts are actually pretty easy to spot, even when in the midst of 200mph racing. However, that old saying about the shortcut being the longest way to go can come true in SSC. These shortcuts, while shorter in length, will put your driving skills to the test--so only the best drivers will be able to shave precious seconds off the clock by using them.

　　You'll be able to build and tweak your own custom racer. While Supercar Street Challenge's basic modes are typical of a racer, the game's "styling studio" is a feature that hasn't been seen very often in PC games. Chalk this feature up to the Steve Saleen license--tweaking cars is what he does best, after all. More than just a stock "build your own car" feature, the styling studio lets you choose from a selection of basic front and rear shapes to use on a car. You can then mix, match, and tweak them, which results in a real-time morphing effect on the cars. Aside from looking cool, the feature lets you affect the car's aerodynamics, which should prove a hefty temptation to armchair engineers, and as you work through the championship mode, you unlock a greater selection of basic shapes. In addition, you'll be able to tweak the standard assortment of car stats--engine, brakes, handling, and suspension, among others. To keep things as user-friendly as possible, the game will use a set of sliders in the interface for tweaking various aspects of your ride. You can save your creations and trade them with other players over the Internet.

　　We had the chance to put the game through its paces, and it seems to be coming along, having improved significantly since last year's E3. Exakt has continued to work toward optimizing the game's graphics, which are extremely detailed. The various tracks offer wide, recognizable views of the cities they're set in, and the detail is clear and crisp. Though there will be only six cars in view at any time during play, they're extremely clean, sporting smooth graphics and a generous polygon count. In addition, the game will offer graphical touches such as weather effects, motion blur, volumetric fog, and lens flares. Exakt also mentioned that the overall texture quality and polygon models will be better than their PlayStation 2 counterparts.

　　Lens flares are just one of the game's many special effects. Control in the game was solid, with a notable amount of twitchiness. We had the most success using an analog stick-equipped gamepad--using the analog stick to steer and the face buttons for acceleration and braking. Also, while the game is very playable, we had to adjust a bit for its physics and collision model, as those two areas still need some work. The action did get a bit choppy in the alpha build we played, but Exakt has said it is currently aiming for a constant 60fps frame rate by the game's fall 2001 release.