Cheap but fun little racer
Taking its inspiration from the likes of Need for Speed and other similar hi-octane racers, Amsterdam Street Racer is a cheap and cheerful arcade driving game which provides some decent thrills but isn't exactly a genre classic. It all sounds pretty good on paper, with a lot of options for racing around Amsterdam, including drag and street races and tricky challenge duels. You have to keep your eye out for the police as well, as they are never far away and will gladly put an end to your shenanigans before you've racked up the money that is your goal from all this chaos. The action takes place in a pretty decent recreation of Amsterdam and you can drive around largely at will, looking for trouble as you go. The races themselves are pretty much as you'd expect and pack a decent amount of thrills into them but don't go in expecting a top quality else you'll be disappointed. This is very much a budget release and it's fairly obvious right from the get go. The visuals are quite dated, and were so even at the time of its release, and while there's a good sense of speed, the backgrounds and environments are somewhat lacking in the detail that other games provide. However, the game does have some entertainment value thanks to the clever way that the city has been designed, with plenty of opportunities for ridiculously fun jumps which will bring a smile to your face. There's a reasonable variety of race types as well, which helps to keep your interest so on the whole this is a decent, if unspectacular and rather cheap, little racer.
