Right after I figured out you had to make a right turn…and I mean an “immediate” right turn in order to begin the race on Cr@$hC@rt’s “Up ‘n’ Over”, it hit me that this track looked very familiar. As it turns out, “Up ‘n’ Over” is a spin-off of a track by Gizmo called, “Over and Under 2”, which happens to be a very nice track.
Just as in “Over and Under 2”, the texture sets are taken from “Crazy 98” and intermixed with bridges that you go over a few times, as well as under…just as you do in the track it’s modeled after. Beginning from the start line, after you cruise down the semi-long straight and make two relatively quick right turns, which lead to yet another straight. The difference is there’s an obvious jump ahead, which is where ole Cr@$h was pretty sly. If you floor it and take the jump at full speed (which is an automatic reaction when you see an impending jump), you’ll overshoot the bridge … by a lot! You have to make a concerted effort to control your speed going into the jump, and it’s really not as easy as it sounds. As I said, your natural reaction will be to hit the gas when you see that upward swing in the road ahead that says, “Jump here!”
Upon landing safely on the bridge (hopefully), zigzagging thru several column-like support structures, and subsequently exiting off the bridge back onto to the pavement, you’ll notice a fairly obvious shortcut to checkpoint 3. It doesn’t involve a lot of skill to execute it properly, but it is possible to make a mess of things if there’s too much MPH in your approach. The water trap after checkpoint 3 in is slightly different compared to “Over and Under 2” in that you can maneuver around it by using the grassy area on the left. It doesn’t save you a whole lot of time, but in a tight race, little gains sometimes make all the difference in the final outcome.
The remainder of the track consists of routine turns as well as a nice little series of mini jumps (mx style) as you head toward checkpoint 7, and on to the finish. There are a few corner cuts here and there, but no real surprises. The model content is neither over done or under done, although he could have easily opted to redecorate this track to negate obvious comparisons to Gizmo’s “Over and Under 2”. Speaking of models, the trees and shrubs are set to no collide facing, which isn’t the case in Gizmo’s track. For a more realistic feel, inserting tree trunks would have been a “good thing”, but as always the author makes the call on that and goes with what suites him/her best.
Other than a few incorrectly placed
trees/shrubs , I felt Cr@$h did a pretty nice job with this track. It’s more than a minute shorter than “Over and Under 2”, but he still managed to make it somewhat challenging and enjoyable. If you’re looking to hone your skills by running against computer trucks, you’ll find they don’t pose much of a challenge. They have that helicopter pilot working some serious overtime lol. Still, rookies and pros alike should find this one a worthwhile download.
The Copey Rating on this one topped out at 8 out of 10 possible points. There’s nothing really innovative here, however it’s a nicely done
rework of Gizmo’s “Over and Under 2”. I would like to suggest to Cr@$h that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include readme.txt files with his tracks to give credit for textures and models used that aren’t his. It’s certainly not mandatory, but it’s definitely considered “good form”. If you want to throw in a few lines about your work citing thoughts/ideas/people that influenced the making of the track…even better!
