Power Drive Rally is a 1995 racing video game developed by Rage Software and published by Time Warner Interactive for the Atari Jaguar.
Johnson and artist Phillip Nixon joined Rage and were offered the opportunity to port the SNES version of Power Drive to the Jaguar.
Power Drive Rally garnered average reception from critics; praise was given to the graphics, variety of tracks, diverse weather conditions, and multiple vehicles, but others expressed mixed opinions regarding the controls and gameplay.
[1][2][3][4][5] The player participates in a season of rallying on multiple tracks spread across eight locations around the world: England, Finland, Italy, Arizona, France, Sweden, Kenya and Corsica.
[2][5][6][7] There are also items to collect placed at predetermined points on the tracks, including money, a stopwatch that freezes time for five seconds, and nitrous to give the player a speed boost.
[9] As the game progresses, the player can purchase a higher class vehicle with the money saved, such as a Renault Clio, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Escort RS Cosworth or Toyota Celica GT-Four.
[6][9] Failing to qualify for the next racing event results in paying a re-entry fee to try again and the game is over after running out of funds, though the player can resume their progress via a save function.
[13][14][17] Nixon created all of the landscapes, pre-rended vehicles, and user interface from scratch, while reusing and updating some of the original SNES artwork to take advantage of the Jaguar's color palette and produce detailed scenery.
[21][22] The game made appearances at other tradeshows such as the 1995 Winter CES, the 1995 ECTS Spring event and E3 1995 under its final title, Power Drive Rally.
[38] CD Consoles' David Msika found the game very fun, citing the diversity of tracks and weather conditions, but felt that its simple graphics did not take advantage of the Jaguar's capabilities.
[33] An editor for the German publication ST-Computer noted the game's attention to detail in the graphics and convincing driving characteristics of the vehicles, but criticized its poor audio quality.
[7] GamesMaster's Les Ellis considered it a disappointing racing game for Jaguar and criticized the weary engine noise, unimaginative tracks and gameplay.
[2] Marc Abramson of the French ST Magazine lauded the game's colorful graphical presentation but lamented that the multiplayer mode consisted of taking turns.
[50] Brett Daly of Jaguar Front Page News (a part of the GameSpy network) considered it a substantial improvement over the Mega Drive version, praising its colorful and detailed graphics, sound department, and controls.