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All "righty" then, here's one of the first "real" racing game I ever played. I remember playing it with some friends, in some strange "multi-player mode" we invented back there (ok, you can use it if you want, we haven't registered any "patent" on that :p ) which consisted just in this simple rule: "What?! You just crashed? Then get out of there and give your sit to the next guy"... Yes, yes, I know... It wasn't very fair for the "not so good playing driving games", but that method also prevented someone to turn in to a "wise-guy" and start making the race in the opposite direction to collide with the other cars and eliminating them in order to finish the race in first place - which isn't difficult if you race alone :p - but of course, the most important was that we had lots of fun.

Now, I just said that this game was one of the first "real" racing games, so I better explain why. That's just because, at least from what I remember, this was one of the first games to allow the player to customize the car in a very realistic way. And almost everything that is important in a racing car can be adjustable, from the "wings" to the gearbox settings. This makes the behaviour of the car during the race or the qualifying phase to be completely different according to the adjustments made.

And it's time to talk a little more about the game. There are three racing modes:

1) "Practice", which allows not only to practice, but also to set up the car;

2) "Qualify", where the player has to complete four laps and qualifying time will be obtained from the average time on these laps;

3) "Race", where the real race begins; inside this last one there are another four options:

i) 10 laps race, without yellow flags and the player's car is "indestructible"

ii) 30 laps race, being the player's car is "indestructible"

iii) 60 laps race, and here everything goes as the player's car is no longer "indestructible"

iv) 200 laps race, like the real race.

About the cars, there are three models available to be chosen, having each one of them its own default settings, and they are: the "March/Cosworth", the "Lola/Buick" and the famous "Penske/Chevrolet". At first sight, the first one appears to be the "slower" one but easier to control and the third the "fastest" one and the less manoeuvrable, but I assure you that with the correct adjustments the first one can be as fast - or even fastest - than the third one...

It is also possible to watch a small clip of the race, which can be seen in a wide range of options, from the view "inside the car" to the following the race "on TV" view.

This game can be a very realistic simulation of the real "Indianapolis" race, which occurs since 1911 at the "Memorial Day" (May 30th) in the very well know track, the "Indianapolis Motor Speedway" and one of the racing modes in the game has exactly the same 200 laps of the real race - which are equivalent to the 500 miles (804,672 km).

The VGA graphics are pretty nice, and so are the sound effects - remember, this game is from 1989. I don't know if it is possible to use another type of control apart from the keyboard - I noticed my "Force Feedback driving wheel" works to steer the car, but the gas/brake pedals don't, so I had to use the keyboard to do that (and of course, the Force Feedback doesn't work either :p ). As for the keyboard, the arrow keys are used to control the car. Setting up the car can be done by using the keys from "F3" to "F10" to choose which parameters to adjust and the keys "," and "." to change the settings. Where there is more than one equipment to adjust, the "Spacebar" will switch among them.

Well, and I think that's enough talking as I'm pretty sure you all want to try this game, and it is so easy to do it: just click the "Get It" button to download it and do it - I assure you this game can keep you entertained for quiet some time. Have a nice "racing"!

1) Although this game can run under Windows and VDMSound, it runs pretty slow there so, you better run it throw DOSBox. 2) The game will make a question as "copy-protection code"; just write anything you want followed by "Enter", as this "copy-protection" has already been by-passed. 3) There is a second version of this game, which we placed in the "Extras" section, supposedly presenting better sound effects - I personally haven't noticed any major difference but hey, my ears are not very trustful... However, if you prefer this one, I can assure you the game play and the fun will remain the same.

It might be because I do not like the idea of driving around in circles but I do not like this game. It is done pretty well. It runs smooth, is very hard but it's plain boring. There might be some Indy racing fans out there that might like it but I always preferred and I always will prefer Formula 1 racing.

Indianapolis 500 is the first racing game by Papyrus Design Group, designers of modern-day classics like NASCAR Racing and IndyCar Racing. It's basically an excellent 3D simulation of the 25-mile Indianapolis 500. Not a simple arcade racer, where fast reactions are enough to lead to success, but a - for its time - very detailed simulation with great graphics, nice music and sounds by Rob Hubbard and many aspects of the racing-car open for modification. A great classic. Sadly, the game features only the Indy 500 track with no possibility to edit or add new ones. Here is some more information from MobyGames:

"Indy 500's graphics are simply stunning considering the system requirements. You cannot find a PC that won't run this game well. The sound is also quite good; if you have an Adlib or Sound Blaster, the engine sounds are amazingly realistic. That's not to say Indy 500 is an arcade game--when it says "simulation", it means it. You can adjust your spoiler, outer and inner tire pressure, and even the amount of fuel you have in your tank to shave precious seconds off of your lap. Also, the physics are true to life: If you enter a corner too fast, centrifugal force pushes you to the outside of the track, tires squealing." This classic is a forerunner to Papyrus' immensely successful racing series that continues to this day with NASCAR 4 and beyond.

Drive the legendary Indy500 - either 10, 30, 60 or the complete 200 laps of the race. A pretty wellmade racing-game. Lots of things to adjust, while still providing a realistic feeling. The car is not that easy to drive - give it a push too much and it will break out and crash into a wall or another car. But once you get used to it it's a fine thing. I have to admit that I got most of the fun out of crashing my car into other cars and watch the replay of it - nice feature, you can even choose out of 5 different points of view. The graphics of this game are surely not up to par, but they have been really good at the time it came out - still enough for the game to be one of the better games of this genre.

Considered the age of this game it's actually quite good. You can choose almost all the things you can in today's formula one and indycar racing games. The view is also the same all though you can't change it like in many newer racing games. You can either practive on any of the tracks, run a whole race or start a campaign where you race on all the available tracks.

The graphics are quite especially considered that the game is from 1989 as most games from this period didn't have that great graphics. The sound can be a bit annoying as the only sound you can hear is from the PC speaker and when you drive it's very annoying to hear that sound (I guess you can imagine that sound right?). Overall a good old racing game.

The game offers four race settings:
10-lap race (no damage, no yellow flags)
30-lap race (no damage)
60-lap race
200-lap race

There are also practice and qualifying settings. Practice enables car setups to be altered and tested in real time. Choosing not to participate in the qualifying session results in one starting at the back of the field. The qualifying session requires four laps to be completed, with the mean value of the four lap times determining the qualifying position. No car damage can occur during a Practice session, although other cars may be present on the track and their wreckage remains on the track if the player's car collides with them at any point. Car damage can occur during qualifying sessions.

The cars one can drive are a yellow Penske-Chevrolet, a red Lola-Buick, or a blue March-Cosworth, with the Penske having the fastest default setup (but if one sets the car up well, any of the above racecars can compete effectively). Various settings can be changed during Practice from menus associated with Function keys F3–F10. One's own car is always numbered 17.

Indy 500's theme music was produced by Rob Hubbard, who at the time was new to Electronic Arts as a music director.

Car setup

A wide and realistic variety of car settings can be altered during Practice in order to change car performance. In Practice mode, changes take immediate effect, making comparisons between even the slightest changes straightforward, and any number of "testing" laps can be driven (all of which are timed, again helping comparisons to be made). During Qualifying and Race sessions, however, no settings except Turboboost and the anti-roll bars can be altered except while stopped in the pits, and some settings are unchangeable even then.

Replay mode

The replay mode offers the chance to review the previous 20 seconds of racing. The six camera angles available are In-Car, Behind, Track, TV, Sky, and Leader.

Crashes and retirements

The 32 computer-controlled cars can crash at any point in the race, or retire with mechanical problems during pit stops. In a 10-lap race, a crash causes a yellow flag to flash briefly in the top left of the screen, but all cars continue racing at full speed as if still under "green-flag" conditions. In all other race distances, yellow flags flash, cars slow down and are forbidden from passing until the incident is cleared. A crashed car typically stays on the circuit for 2–3 laps before being cleared, after which green flags flash as the leader exits turn 4, signalling that cars may continue racing. No yellow flags are shown if ones own car crashes, unless other cars hit the wreckage. During a yellow flag period, speeds are restricted to approximately 90 mph (against a typical race pace of up to 230 mph).

Ones own car cannot be damaged by crashes in 10-lap or 30-lap races. In the longer races, excessively hard contact with a wall, fence or another car can cause wheel and/or engine damage. It is still possible to recover to the pits after damaging one front wheel, though the car is more difficult to control. Destruction of any two tires makes recovery extremely difficult, and in most cases impossible. A very large impact, especially to the rear of the car, may cause engine damage, from which there is no recovery. After being involved in a crash, computer-controlled cars are shown as "Crashed" in the Standings screen.

Retirements may also occur due to mechanical problems. If a car suffers mechanical problems, it will pull into the pits and remain there for the rest of the race. The problem that caused the car to retire are shown on the standings screen. Possible causes of retirement are: Bearing, Clutch, CV Joint, Engine, Gearbox, Ignition, Stalled, Valve, Vibration, Radiator and Oil Leak. Again, this only applies to computer-controlled cars; the player-controlled car does not suffer from random failures.

There is the ability to blow the engine if it goes too high in revs.

PC version settings

At its maximum settings, offered 16-color 320×200 resolution VGA graphics and MT-32 sound. It also could run in CGA and EGA graphics settings, and sound also could be transmitted through Adlib or the PC speaker. The game is copy-protected using a simple manual-based question-and-answer method common with many other games of the period.

Commodore Amiga version

An Amiga version of Indy 500 was released in late 1990. It ran from a single floppy disk, and was copy-protected using a simple manual-based question-and-answer method common with many other games of the period.

The game was identical to the MS-DOS version except in minor details. For example, an error in programming resulted in there being two cars numbered 20; in the MS-DOS version, one of these was numbered 12, correctly reflecting the 1989 Indianapolis 500 grid. Certain minor bugs were removed.

One instant replay could be saved to disk, as could up to three car settings. However, partly completed races could not be saved. Car control was via mouse, joystick or keyboard; mouse gave a particularly smooth, natural driving feel, and mouse sensitivity could be customised from the main menu.

Replays were only available to those with the optional 512KB ram upgrade installed (normally, Commodore's own "A501").

Reception

An auto racer praised the game's graphics, controls, and realism in Computer Gaming World. He described it as a "hyper-realistic simulation [and] a valuable educational tool", and advised casual racers uninterested in running many laps to test each change to the racecar's design to "stick to Out Run". The Amiga version was voted the 9th best game of all time in Amiga Power.