Mashed

Mashed is a video game published by Empire Interactive for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 as well as PC. It was developed by Supersonic Software on the RenderWare engine. It is a top-down racing/vehicular combat game, similar in style to Micro Machines, Circuit Breakers and Super Sprint.

Each race consists of four vehicles. The player has to navigate various obstacles and obtain weapon pickups to succeed. The game operates a left-behind principle: the camera tries to keep all players in one screen, and if one drops far enough behind in the race, they are eliminated, and the other players race on. This continues until there is one player left, who is given two points, while the rest of the racers also gain or lose points depending on their final position in the round. The system then repeats until a player reaches a set number of points, usually 10 or 12. In multiplayer, knocked out players have the option of striking cars still racing with partially controlled missiles, known as airstrikes.

Drive to Survive/Fully Loaded
In North America, Mashed was eventually released in late 2006 for PS2 and Xbox, simply titled as "Drive to Survive", which was also the original subtitle for the game. It is notable that the game was later re-priced at $10.

This version contained multiple game fixes, extra weapons, vehicles and tracks, as it was developed on a different engine to that of the first game. Also, the game featured improved sound, graphics and load times.

Tracks
Mashed Fully Loaded features 15 main tracks or courses:


 * Angel Peak
 * Kharga Temple
 * Neustein
 * Fort Gidlow
 * Ventura Boulevard
 * Demolition
 * Keister Bay
 * Polar Wharf
 * Tierra Piedra
 * Koko Bay
 * Silver Creek
 * Timgidski
 * Redpool Tip
 * Nukov
 * Hattan City

Weapons
Mashed Fully Loaded features 9 weapon types:

Proximity Mine: This weapon allows you to place up to two proximity mines behind you. When you place a mine it takes one second to arm itself. When armed proximity mines are colored red. The mine will explode when a vehicle drives over it or passes close by.

Drum Bomb: This weapon allows you to throw devastating exploding barrels behind you. The explosion can often be enough to take out a whole pack of drivers behind you.

Oil Slick: This allows you to pour oil over the road behind you, again great for corners. Oil on the road makes driving a car very difficult!

Flamethrower: This rear-firing weapon deals in napalm death! Toast the car behind you and watch them burn!

Shotgun: This unique sideways firing weapon allows you to attack two enemies simultaneously. Just pull up next to an enemy and blow the sucker away. Do it right and it’ll throw most cars in the air.

Homing Missile: This is the most powerful weapon available in Mashed. It uses a laser sight, that when locked on to an enemy turns from the color green to red. When it’s locked on fire away!

Machine Gun: This baby allows you to gun down any foe in front. It uses a laser sight that turns red when locked on. Every bullet that hits will make it harder for your enemies to control their cars while causing damage.

Flash Bang: This weapon can be particularly effective on the turns. If you fire it when your opponents are trying to negotiate a precarious corner, they won’t be able to tell where they are going. Just be careful when to use it, because you’ll be partially blinded as well!

Mortar: This long distance weapon gives you three shots. The best thing about this sucker is that it has some homing capability, making it very dangerous in the right hands.

Xbox 360 compatibility
Mashed, Mashed Fully Loaded & Drive To Survive are confirmed to be compatible with the Xbox 360. In the UK at least, the original Mashed title is not supported on Xbox 360 consoles.

Taunting can cause a short pause in gameplay.

Compilations
Drive to Survive was included with 'Weekend Play Pack' for PC.

Reception
Mashed was noted in its reviews for being one of the best multiplayer games created, and in the UK it was given a 9/10 from OPSM2 and glowing reviews from other games magazines. However, the merit was generally not seen in the US, with Ryan Davis of GameSpot rated Drive to Survive for PlayStation 2 2.3 (terrible) for bad camera, Stupid computer-controlled opponents, Simple, monotonous race designs, loose and unpredictable controls, not being sold in stores.

Mashed has a cult following and is still played worldwide.

Sequel
Gas (stylised as GAS) is the working title for an upcoming game from Supersonic Software that appears to be a spiritual successor to the Mashed franchise.

It is currently under development for release on PSN and XBLA although the expected date is unknown.