0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Ayrton Senna Kart Duel 2

 

Ayrton Senna Kart Duel is a kart racing simulation game named after the legendary racing driver Ayrton Senna who sadly passed away in 1994 after a crash at Imola, as with the previous entry in the Ayrton Senna Kart Racing series a memorial to the late Senna can be found on the menu which contains pictures of the racer.

The games was developed by GAPS Inc a developer who was active in the 90s developing for the Super Nintendo before moving on to the Playstation, they also published the game in Japan, while Sun Corporation handles the PAL release of the game

The game released in Japan on the 20^th of November 1997, the PAL release the same year however no exact release date is known, as with the previous entry in the series Ayrton Senna Kart Duel, the game never released in the North American region.

The game has not story just a racing based game so moving on to the gameplay, the game is split into three different modes, the first is Time as you have probably guess this is racing against a timer that is gradually reducing.

Prior to beginning this mode you are able to select which track you want to race on, the game has a total of 8 tracks, you can also set how many laps you want to race once that has been done you can select your Kart. The game only has four Karts to choose from with the remaining two needing to be unlocked.

 

Once you have decided on your Kart you can modify some of its setting with the player to narrow or wider the tyre tread, increase or decrease the size of the sprockets and adjust the height of the drivers seat. On the main menu the game also has a Parts Database which tells you about the various parts that make up a kart

 

The second mode is a versus mode where two players can face off against each other, unlike the previous entry in the series that required a link cable it does not seem the case here with the versus mode opting for a split screen approach, unlike the single player modes which have two camera angles this mode just has one camera view.

The final mode is Grand Prix mode like the previous games Race mode, the Grand Prix mode is divided into three classes as with the last game good results are required to progress to the next class in total the game has eight different tracks to race on against seven AI controlled opponents, unlike the previous game you must complete this mode twice to unlock a race against Senna.

Just the two critic reviews for this game have stood the test of time with one above average score and one below average score, starting with the best as usual though which comes from French publication Joypad who scored the game at a 65.

Their reviewer praised the game for giving the player the impression of speed when travelling around the tracks, however it is a shame the rest of the game is sloppy, the review called the handling unbearable which was made even worse by the tight and much too short circuits.

The final review comes from Power Unlimited, the Dutch publications who called the first game a reasonable once, the second one though they called a bitter disappointment. Again like the first game another publication concluded by saying Senna would turn in his grave if he knew that a racing game of this level bears his name.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude who unsurprisingly don’t stock this PAL and Japanese only release same goes for eStarland.com  while Retrogames.co.uk do stock titles with Ayrton Senna’s name on they don’t stock this particular title.

Amazon.com do not stock the PAL version of the game but they do have a supply of the Japanese imported version of the game with a decent supply available, several used copies in good or better condition and complete as well are available, with a minimum price for a used copy in very good condition currently at $8.48, this also comes with free shipping, please be aware you would need a Japanese console to play this.

A decent number of new copies are also available with all bar one coming with free shipping, these new copies start at $14.16 with the majority of new copies not going past the $21 mark, with the exception of one copy which is priced at $30.84, with this game it is a matter of shopping around for the best delivery date with most coming in around the mid to late January 2018 range but some you will have to wait until February 2018 to get delivered.

Heading over to the co.uk version of Amazon we find just a single copy of the PAL version of the game available, the copy is only in acceptable condition as well with a current price of £49.99 which increases to £52.02 when shipping has been added in.

The co.uk version of Amazon also has a handful of the Japanese imported version of the game with used prices around a similar price point as the Amazon.com. New copies are however slightly cheaper with around $14 getting you a new copy on Amazon.com, the co.uk version has them priced at a minimum of £7.25 which converts to around $9.70.

  

Written by

P J Gibbon