BattleWheels is a 1993 first-person vehicular combat video game developed by Beyond Games and published by Atari Corporation in North America and Europe exclusively for the Atari Lynx. The first project to be created by Beyond Games, the game takes place in a dystopian future where civilization has been reduced to a Mad Max-inspired landscape and players take the wheel of heavily armed and armored cars called Hi-Tech in order to compete against either computer-controlled opponents or other human players using the Lynx's ComLynx system in matches set across multiple post-apocalyptic locations.
BattleWheels was conceived by Beyond Games founder Kris N. Johnson, who had the idea of developing a vehicular combat game along with his colleagues after playing several multiplayer titles on the Lynx such as Warbirds, which would later become a source of inspiration for the project alongside Steve Jackson Games' Car Wars. After the release of the platform in 1989, Kris Johnson contacted Atari Corp. in order to pitch them titles that focused on the console's multiplayer aspect. They later agreed and signed Kris' company as a licensed developer for the Lynx.
BattleWheels was released to positive reception from critics, who praised the pseudo-3D visuals, sound design, gameplay and multiplayer for up to six people, although the lack of in-game music during matches was noted as a negative point. Updated conversions for both the Atari Jaguar and PC were in development but never released. Although it never received a direct sequel, Beyond Games would go on to develop Redline and Motor Mayhem for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2 respectively, which are considered spiritual successors to the game.
Gameplay
BattleWheels is a first-person vehicular combat game similar to Interstate '76 and Twisted Metal where players assume the role of warriors taking the wheel of heavily-armored automobiles in an attempt to kill other opponents at the titular sport to emerge as a winning victor of the match. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopia on the year 2019, where the world has been reduced to a Mad Max-inspired setting and humanity has now turned towards more violent sports for entertainment as a result of both technological advancements and nationwide reorganization of the political structure that led to the creation of new kinds of sports, with the titular BattleWheels being the most popular of all. This arena-based combat sport pits up to six warriors dueling each other and driving heavily-armored vehicles named Hi-Tech in order to kill the other opponents to emerge victorious.
There are only two modes of play to choose from at the main menu: "Action" is arcade-style mode that allows players to select a prebuilt car and battle against rivals in a successive manner across several locations. "Custom" mode, as the name implies, let the players customize their own vehicle with new parts, engine, weapons and other improvements that are bought with cash obtained after winning a match, although there is the choice of building a new car from the ground up or buy a prebuilt model before starting, among other options. Prior to starting a match in either mode, players have the option of choosing an arena to battle in and adjust multiple default settings such as the difficulty level for AI-controlled opponents, their number during single-player, number of kills to be reached, and player character. Controlling the vehicle is done with the D-pad; Up and down accelerates or decelerates the car respectively, while left and right turns its direction. The A button fires the currently selected weapon and changing between other weapons is executed by holding down Option 1 and pressing the direction where said weapon was located on the car, but holding down the button on its own toggles between weapons as well. The B button shows the map radar that displays the location of rivals on the current area and holding it down changes between multiple views by pressing the desired direction, while pressing up when holding down the button informs how much damage the vehicle has sustained.