Vette

1990, second year of high school, a friend brought a floppy disk labeled "Vette" and swore it was the best racing game on PC. Five minutes behind the wheel was all it took for me to believe him back then.

Vette from Sphere, Inc. (1989) is a racing game for MS-DOS where you sit behind the wheel of a Corvette and race against a computer opponent. The goal is simple: cross the finish line first. No story, no cutscenes, no bullshit. Pick your car, pick the difficulty, drive.

There are a few vehicles to choose from with different attributes and several difficulty levels, so the game covers the basic challenge spectrum. Controls are straightforward, as befits racing games of that era — keyboard, nothing fancy. Physics are period-appropriate, more implied than simulated, but for 1989 the feel of the car on the road was solid stuff. The track isn't an open world; you drive along a set path and watch whether your opponent is losing or gaining ground.

What caught your eye back then was the graphics mode. Vette supported higher EGA resolution, which made static scenes and surroundings look sharper than was typical for games of that time. It didn't stand out as much during motion, but details on the roadside or on the cars looked considerably more refined compared to standard EGA output. It was a technical selling point that reviewers made sure to highlight. Sound Blaster audio capabilities were used sparingly — engine noise, some ambience, don't expect much more.

Today Vette has aged the way simple racing games without depth do: quickly. It's missing a career mode, track variety, or anything to keep you going after ten minutes. Back then it was enough because alternatives weren't abundant and the fact that it actually ran on your home PC was an experience in itself. Anyone who remembers what the game lineup looked like in 1989 understands that context. Anyone else will be staring at the monitor in confusion after a while.

Today it makes sense to try it in a browser as a quick nostalgia trip — five minutes, a wistful breeze from the past, a glimpse of where racing games began. For anyone who raced with an EGA card back then and loves reminders of how we spent our afternoons in the '90s, it's a sweet touch of history. But don't expect anything more from it.