NES Game Reviews #23 – Eliminator Boat Duel

The NES has a wide library of racing games. Some go for the realistic driving sim others aim more at fantasy. Either way the most important thing is whether it’s fun! Thankfully Eliminator Boat Duel is packed full of charm and lots of fun to play.

Each race is a head to head battle boasting different visual perspectives. The first; a birds eye view very similar to micro machines. The second is third person, psuedo-3D view, with the camera behind the boats. I find this to be the less enjoyable of the two, you can never really outrun the opposition as both boats must remain on screen. You can gain a slight advantage but nothing substantial.
On the contrary in the birds eye view you can gain a significant lead if your boat and skills are superior to the opponents.

Turbo boosters are collectable throughout races, you can use them whenever though I’d advsie saving a few as potential match winning boosts! You’ll have a fight on your hands with the computer for boosts, whoever collects the most generally wins!

Winning races pits you against more difficult opponents. The spotty nerd who’s there to teach you the basics, then on through a progressively harder run of jive talking macho types. In a similar fashion to RC Pro AM, you upgrade your boat between races using the winnings. The game is pretty fair with its difficulty curve, However if certain stats aren’t upgraded in time, you won’t win certain races! For example there’s a drag race early on. If your acceleration isn’t up to scratch, you won’t be winning. Equally, your boats strength better be at the top level when you reach the final rounds, cos the endurance you’ll be put through is no joke. Your only granted one extra live. Lose your 2nd race and its game over!

As the difficulty progresses so does the length of the races, with races broken into segments jumping between the overhead and third person perspectives. My biggest gripe is that any advantage gained in the prior segment is lost as both boats start side by side for the following one.

This is a very fun racer though it’s certainly not easy. You’ll need to learn what to upgrade and when through trial and error. Still I highly recommend!

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