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Not that retro, but still over 20 years ago:

I'm looking for the name of a game that was around in 1995, 1996 (Windows 95 era, although I think it was a DOS game) which I played on my 120MHz Pentium (later overclocked to a whopping 133MHz, yay!).

Anyways, here are some details I remember:

  • Basically a racing game with hovering vehicles
  • The vehicles are armed and you could shoot down your opponents
  • The tracks are of circular style in different terrains (I remember dirt tracks and snow tracks, but there were more)
  • You get rescued by aircraft in case you are totaled (or if you run out of fuel if I remember correctly)
  • Very nice graphics for the era (it was praised for raphics quality as well as overall gameplay)
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  • Where was it praised for graphics quality as well as overall gameplay? Do you remember (or was it just by your acquaintances)?
    – wizzwizz4 ♦
    Oct 31, 2017 at 21:55
  • First or third person camera? Or both? There was a bit of a boom in floating vehicle games, as I recall. It's probably Wipeout as already suggested, but if it isn't then this might eliminate a few possibilities either way.
    – Tommy
    Nov 1, 2017 at 3:10
  • Hover! was shipped with Windows 95, involved hovering vehicles, and definitely had impressive graphics quality for its day. Not sure it qualifies for your other points, though, and probably isn't the game you're thinking of.
    – Cody Gray - on strike
    Nov 1, 2017 at 8:29
  • @ wizzwizz4: I was a PC newbie back then so I read a lot of PC magazines and PC Games magazines. I think the game rated well among those.
    – Nassbirne
    Nov 1, 2017 at 19:06
  • @ Cody Gray: Yes, I should have mentioned that I'm not looking for Hover. I enjoyed playing that one too, though.
    – Nassbirne
    Nov 1, 2017 at 19:19

3 Answers 3

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8

It could be Hi-Octane. It was released in 1995 on PC, Playstation and Saturn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-Octane

Probably quite a similar style to Wipeout, though not as popular. It was a racing game with hovering vehicles. You could shoot at your opponents. You had to pick up fuel, ammo and shields around the course to keep going. There was a few different courses, including one with snow/ice, where you had less grip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS4SNvJBVPE

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1
  • Yep, it's indeed Hi-Octane! That YouTube vid sure brings back memories. Thanks!
    – Nassbirne
    Nov 1, 2017 at 19:11
3

This game might have been Wipeout 2097. My brother and I used to play it on the Playstation 1, but it was available on Windows too. It came out in 1996.

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3
  • It's Wipeout XL to Americans, should Nassbirne be one of those. @Nassbirne: check out youtube.com/watch?v=vSMX-Ne5xRY ; if you don't remember the vehicle being able to scrape the side of the track, check out the original Wipeout; if you recall the main menu being a lot more boring, check out Wip3out. But you're rescued only if you drive off the course. The original doesn't have energy, but in the others if you're totalled then game over. None has limited fuel.
    – Tommy
    Oct 31, 2017 at 23:14
  • I never played Wipeout but it seems to be somewhat similar to Hi-Octane.
    – Nassbirne
    Nov 1, 2017 at 19:14
  • @Nassbirne although correct, that reverses the relationship between the two. Wipeout was a huge title back in the day, being a prominent Playstation launch title in the west with a demo on the original pack-in demo disc and having appeared previously in the movie Hackers by way of its SGI-powered prototype. Hi-Octane came out a few months later than Wipeout and was an eight-week hack of the Magic Carpet engine, inspired by revenue requirements placed upon Bullfrog by its recent acquirer, Electronic Arts per its author (source: gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13676 ).
    – Tommy
    Nov 2, 2017 at 13:52
1

Was it Zone Raiders? It came out in 1995 for DOS and Macintosh.

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