Another car racing game, and this one is a mixed bag. It’s an arcade-style racer but everyone begins on the starting line (so it’s not a catchup game), and it has an “arcade” mode with a timer and a tournament without. But parts of the game just don’t quite gel with other parts.

One thing I was surprised about was that, despite the name, this game isn’t entirely about Lamborghinis. You start off with two of them, plus a bunch of cars which are Lambo-inspired in different colours. However, you then unlock other cars from other manufacturers: Farrari, Bugatti, Porche, Dodge and McLaren.

When playing in the Lamborghinis, I found the game to be immensely difficult, and once racers got ahead, there is generally no way to catch up. Once I’d got other cars, the game was much easier. So it seems like the Lamborghinis in Automobili Lamborghini are the worst cars in the game, which is surprising considering the tie in.

The handling is very arcadey, and it felt rather nice to turn around corners. It’s possibly my favourite handling in a car game so far on the N64. This then feels really odd due to the pit stop mechanic where your tyres will wear out and you’ll need to play a pit stop minigame. This bit of “realism” feels really at odds with the rest of the game – although you can turn it off.

There are only six tracks, none of which are memorable and the game overall just has a really dull feeling to it, it never feels speedy or exciting. The Japanese version (called Super Speed Race 64) has a few extra features, such as fog and night time racing, but it doesn’t help the overall experience.

Fine

Subsequently, Lamborghini never feels very fast. You may well be taking a corner at 120mph but it may well be 20mph for all the difference it makes. Perhaps only the first, and easiest, oval-shaped course comes close to producing a sweat.

Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #10. Review Score: 67%

Remake or Remaster?

Nothing really needs doing with this, it doesn’t do anything specifically interesting, although a collection of the Super Speed Race series of games would be good for preservation.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Automobili Lamborghini