Stunt Car Racer (published as Stunt Track Racer in the US) is a racing video game developed by Geoff Crammond. Versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum were published in 1989 by MicroProse, under their MicroStyle and MicroPlay labels in the UK and in the US, respectively. An Amstrad CPC port followed in 1990. Two player race each other on an elevated track, with ramps they must correctly drive off as the main obstacle.
The game was released to critical acclaim. The Commodore 64 version's use of 3D vector graphics was met with critical enthusiasm, which was unusual for a game for that platform.
Gameplay
thumb|left|250px|Atari ST screenshot of the gameplay. (The Amiga version is graphically identical.)
The game differs from other racing games in that the races take place on an elevated race track, with nothing to stop the player from accidentally driving off the side. Most race tracks in the game have gaps in them, which players can fall into. If this occurs then the player's vehicle is hoisted back onto the track (by a nearby crane), costing valuable time. Turbo can be used to make a car go faster, but it can only be used for a limited amount of time in each race.
Visually, the difference between the 8-bit and Amiga and Atari ST releases is that the latter use a system for plotting polygons instead of a solid fill technique. Another key difference is that besides racing head-to-head on two linked computers, an Amiga can be connected to an Atari ST computer via the same RS-232 serial port on both machines for cross-platform play, owing to Crammond's experience with outputting data for his other game, Aviator, on the BBC Micro. The ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC ports of Stunt Car Racer were programmed by Pete Cooke, and the MS-DOS version was programmed by Tim Ansell.
A long-awaited sequel, Stunt Car Racer Pro, was announced in April 2003, but it never came to fruition.
Reception
The Commodore 64, Amstrad, Amiga, and Atari ST versions of the game received critical acclaim. ACE listed it as one of the five greatest racing games of all time and Top Gear the 45th best racing game. Amiga Power, CU Amiga, and Your Sinclair ranked it respectively the 10th, the 11th, and the 85th best game of all time for the platforms they covered, and Amiga Format likewise named it one of the 15 best Amiga games. Several publications consider it to be one of the greatest video games of all time; Edge listed it as the 54th best game in 2000, Stuff the 77th in 2008, and Polygon the 355th in 2017.