Developer: Pack-in-Video Publisher: Acclaim Release: 12/88 Genre: Action
My memories of Knight Rider are few. I am sure I watched a few episodes of the TV show growing up. But outside of the cool talking car I could not tell you a damn thing about it. That is okay as KITT is all anyone cares about anyway, Hasselhoff aside. As with anything popular Knight Rider would receive a NES adaptation from Japan. Unlike most licensed titles Knight Rider is actually pretty decent. Unfortunately it lacks the polish that makes a game great.
Michael and KITT are enjoying their vacation when they receive a sudden call from their boss Devon. A group of terrorists have attacked a US Army base, stealing numerous weapons but most importantly the experimental P.I.V. bomb. What follows is a cross country chase as the terrorists try to stay one step ahead of the most advanced car in the world to complete their plans.
In the show Knight Rider was focused on non-violent means of achieving their goals. That would not make for an interesting game so KITT has a full complement of weapons. Aside from your machine gun you can also pick up lasers and missiles. In addition after each mission you can upgrade KITT in different categories: engine for top speed, shield, gas, and the maximum number of lasers and missiles. KITT can also jump to avoid enemies but at the cost of precious gas.
The best way to describe Knight Rider is a first person version of Road Blasters. You control KITT from the cockpit as you race to reach the boss truck at the end of each city. Along the way you will contend with enemy vehicles like rival cars and helicopters that drop dynamite. You will also have to do your best to avoid pedestrians as you will lose time if you kill them. Even though you are battling enemies left and right Knight Rider is still very much a race as you have limited time to reach the end level boss. It is a juggling act, trying your best to maneuver around traffic while conserving gas and your shields to beat the clock. The game manages this admirably at first but soon buckles under the weight of its numerous systems.
The difficulty curve in Knight Rider is steep. You have maybe two or three stages out of fifteen to acclimate to the mechanics before it throws you to the wolves. Your upgrades have a tangible effect but the game ramps up too fast for you to become well rounded without some frustration. Early on gas is a problem. But if you increase your gas your shields will be low and you can survive little damage. Pedestrian traffic quickly becomes hostile meaning regardless of which upgrades you choose first you will need a perfect run to progress. Even bumping in to two or three cars is enough to probably cause you to run out of time. Had they done a better job of balancing the game it would be more enjoyable as there is a lot to like in spite of the repetition. But by the midpoint it grows old fast.
For those that want an escape from the brutal Mission mode there is Drive Mode. This mode allows you to drive through each of the courses without enemies. In my opinion Drive mode is useless. It is not the course layout that you need to worry about or learn. It is dealing with random traffic as well as limited resources that form the thrust of the game. A mode in which you take a casual stroll across the country with next to no stakes does nothing to help you master the game. It is not as if the track design is interesting enough on its own to give this mode added value. I see what they were going for but Drive mode falls flat.
There are some differences between the Japanese and International versions of the game. The level order in the second half is different due to the removal of the El Paso level. This city is “replaced” with Chicago earlier on. In reality the palettes for some levels were swapped to facilitate this change for no reason. The biggest change is the upgrade screen. In the Japanese version you can upgrade your engine five times rather than three. This has a major impact on the overall difficulty as the lack of speed is a big reason the later portion of the game is so god damn hard. They try to compensate by making some of the levels shorter but also ruin it by giving less time as well. If they never made these changes I would probably think higher of Knight Rider overall.
In Closing
Knight Rider is better than you expect. But it is also not good enough to warrant a purchase. The game overstays its welcome by the middle and the significant difficulty spike makes it a chore to play at that point. So while Knight Rider is not a complete waste of your time it is not worthy of it either.
