ManiaDrive 45.2Mb
ManiaDrive was completed in 2006 as an excellent freeware clone of TrackMania for Windows and Linux. It doesn’t perhaps, as it were, have all the 'bells and whistles' of TrackMania, and has also been over-shadowed by the release of a free TrackMania version alongside the paid-for versions of TrackMania.
That said, it’s still a good fun game, and has a respectable following, with quite a number of user-made race tracks available for online and offline play.
You can race for instance a oilc from tluaner - the logos are reversed to avoid trademark infringement!
When a race track has been played online, it has also been downloaded to the game for offline play. Most of the race tracks are quite short, usually under 60 seconds per lap. There are user-made custom soundtracks available for download. There’s also an online high score table, if you make the grade! It comes complete with an easy to use track editor if you want to make race tracks to your own design. As you can build in overhead loops, tunnels and similar, it reminds me of some of the build your own model car racetracks you can buy!
It doesn’t have hundreds of tracks, and longer tracks that you can find on TrackMania, nor the huge fan base of the same, but there are Internet race tracks and you can play multiplayer on a LAN with friends. It’s very much a beat the clock game though you fare best if you also drive ‘cleanly’. It has complex car physics and a challenging "story mode". Graphics and sound effects are excellent. The game now features a solo mode, as well, with 12 levels. You can switch camera views, and use a joystick or gamepad to play.
This degree of realism is precisely what makes the car quite difficult to control, especially at the beginning. But I’m sure most players will love the driving sensation provided by ManiaDrive and the game’s philosophy, where completing a clean race is as important as being the fastest driver.
Expect to practice for at least 20 minutes to start to get to grip with the car's controls and handling!
ManiaDrive includes a series of training races that are used as a tutorial to teach you the basics of the game. After that, you’ll be ready to start your own championship in Story mode or compete online against other players. . .
It's an excellent game in its own right, and ManiaDrive would have been enormously popular had Trackmania not released a free version.
ManiaDrive is a fun game with tutorial sessions, quick races, online competitions and highly realistic physics!
A Custom Track
Home Page Here
Download HERE