It’s sometimes hard to believe how far games can come over the lifetime of a franchise or system. I remember Destruction Derby at the beginning of PlayStation’s life, and it’s hard to believe Destruction Derby Raw comes from the same family. Smooth shading has taken the place of blocky textures and rough polygons, with bigger, more detailed tracks filling Midway’s new installment of a classic. The game screens and menus have a cool look, and the destruction done to your car is more detailed than ever. With plenty of variety for the in-game music, Destruction Derby Raw is sounding good, also.

The classic Destruction Derby mode is almost buried under the many new options and modes available this time around. Beyond Classic, you have Armageddon and Vampyre Mode. These are bash-fest extravaganzas, and Vampyre is only different in that you steal points from other cars (duh!?). Skyscraper Mode sets you and your opponents at the top of a building, and the objective is to make street pizza of everybody else while avoiding those edges. Pass Da Bomb is similar to a mode that showed up recently in the new Ms. Pac-Man game. With all cars in the ring, you try to avoid a stick of dynamite being passed around from car to car. All you have to do is bump the other guy to pass off fiery destruction, but that means it’s equally easy to get the bomb passed to you. Assault Mode is about protecting a second vehicle on your team, and making sure the opposing team’s vehicle comes in second place. These games all fall under Battle Mode, and amount to mostly single-serving sessions. The two larger modes are Smash 4 $ and Wreckin’ Racing.

Smash 4 $ gives you the chance to manage a stable of cars as you go from track to track earning money to purchase new cars, all the while making upgrades or repairs to your old rides. You basically race as long as you can until you win, run out of money, or destroy all your cars. Wreckin’ Racing is probably the deepest mode, and takes you through a branching path of tracks, some harder than others. All the destruction you do in these races build up points, and each level has a certain target score. Make the score, and you get to move on. Miss it or destroy your car, and you’re doomed to try again. Unlike Smash 4 $, you don’t have a garage of cars, although you get to choose a new car for each race, or pick a new one for your replay.

Only a handful of cars are available at first in Destruction Derby Raw, but through earning big points, you’ll be able to unlock better cars. Some are just variations of other models, but others (like the van or police car) are unique vehicles. Handling and track conditions vary, so you need to customize existing cars or choose the ride that works best for you. Grab a Multitap, and you can bring three friends in on the action. Just be ready for some slowdown.

There’s nothing especially difficult in Destruction Derby Raw unless you count floaty physics. I was more than a little frustrated at how lousy some of the cars handle, and that was without any damage. As you run up the damage count on your own car, it gets almost impossible to do anything but sit in the middle of the track and wait for someone to come to you. The trick is picking a car with some strength or choosing how you take damage very carefully, but a few times around any track will give an idea of where to set up the big hits and score top points. Also, certain car types just don’t fare well against others. You’ll figure it out...

Each car is rated for durability, speed, acceleration, and braking. Choose carefully, young Skywalker! Some modes and tracks are better suited for the fast over the strong, but in general, you’ll want a balanced vehicle. When you can build your own, strength almost always wins out over everything else. You can’t win if you can’t finish, and you can’t finish with your car crushed into tiny pieces. The crushing is rated on a sliding scale, according to what happens to you or the other guy on impact. Basic hits are head-ons, rear-ending, and turning the other guy over or causing him to spin. After you master the basics, you find that stringing moves together results in the really big points. With analog control and Dual Shock support, the experience is literally jarring, but it’s hard to predictably get all the moves happening. The worst you can do is hit ‘em hard and hope, but it’s almost always successful! A damage-meter lets you know what part of the car is getting weak and how close you are to failure by showing a color range from green to red. On at least a few of the tracks, damage can be so extreme that you’ll spend plenty of time watching the car burn in defeat. But learning to exploit the misfortune of others is a must for winning in Destruction Derby Raw.

I enjoyed playing all the new modes, but found Destruction Derby Raw lacking in several areas. There’s no denying the pleasure of driving fast cars bent on pounding everything around you into a metal pulp, but I’ll be much happier when we have the chance to feel more true response in these cars. Cheapness abounds when you set up a hit only to find yourself bouncing up-and-down in the air or sliding uncontrollably on every surface. To be honest, I doubt most fans of the series will care, and with good graphics and fun gameplay, Destruction Derby Raw is very much worth a rental.