Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Lotus Turbo Challenge 2, and Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge were pseudo-3D racing games developed by Magnetic Fields and published by Gremlin Graphics in the early 1990s. The first was released for most popular 8-bit and 16-bit systems, while the later 2 were 16-bit only. Both were developed for the Commodore Amiga and then converted for Atari ST, Sega Mega Drive, Acorn Archimedes and also for PC. As the title suggests, the main car model featured in these games is the Lotus Esprit.
The Genesis port of Lotus 2 was called simply Lotus Turbo Challenge, while PC and Genesis versions of Lotus III were called Lotus: The Ultimate Challenge and Lotus 2: RECS (referring to the game's Racing Environment Construction Set course creation system), respectively.
Lotus 1 features racing against other cars, with a field of drivers whose names are based on real life racers of the time (Ayrton Sendup, Nijel Mainsail and Alain Phosphate for example), while Lotus 2 features racing against the clock. Lotus III combines both modes. Their enduring legacy is Patrick Phelan's soundtrack to Lotus III, which has spawned many modern remixes, and Barry Leitch's intro music for Lotus 2, which is often found on playlists of retro computer music webradio stations.
Lotus 1 on Amiga was very well received. Lotus 2 was considered as a technically most impressing game in its own genre. The game's Genesis port lacks the smoothly running graphics of the original version. Lotus III is not so highly regarded, due to its slower running speed (although this time the Genesis port is faster) and lack of new features. Many found the lap-based races against the clock to be comparatively boring.
In 1994, the three games were released for Amiga CD32 in one package, as Lotus Trilogy.
There is a touch of humour on level 6 (the motorway level) of Lotus 2 for the Amiga. If you manage to successfully drive under the trailer of one of the lorries that cross the road, you are rewarded with the sample "Yeehaa!" being played, however this sample was used as a taunt on the Genesis port.
The intro music for Lotus 2 contains a sampled voice at around the 12-second mark saying the words "you will not copy this game". The sample is played very quietly during the first few bars, and can be easily accessed in any MOD tracker program. In Lotus 2 there is also a hidden game accessible with the password DUX,and with TURPENTINE it is possible to play the entire game without time limits.
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