Tank Racer
Tank Racer is a combat racing game developed by Glass Ghost and published by Grolier Interactive for the PlayStation and PC in 1999. Instead of cars, you race tanks in the World Tank Racing Championship, firing at rivals and grabbing power-ups on courses that run from a quiet English village to a New Orleans swamp and an Eastern European city. The game has three cups, fifteen tanks including secret ones, and a pile of unlockable extras.
Controls
What Tank Racer is
Tank Racer mixes a kart-style racer with a shooter. Each championship cup offers four tanks, and finishing a cup unlocks a secret one, for fifteen in total. Weapons and power-ups cover attack, defence and upgrades, and how many cups you have won affects the speed of the tanks and the strength of the power-ups.
The game has a playful streak. Winning cups opens up extras such as an overhead camera, a hover tank, a music player, replays and three small bonus games, including a Pong variant called Ping and an Asteroids-style game called Space Tank. Critics at the time found it a charming novelty rather than a standout racer.
How it plays in your browser
This page runs the European PAL disc in a PlayStation emulator. You can choose Cup mode, a single race, or the two-player modes, which on PlayStation run on a split screen: a head-to-head race or a battle in one of the special arenas.
Tanks are heavier than the cars in most racers, so the game rewards picking good lines and using weapons at the right moment. Hitting a rival just before a corner, or saving a defensive item for when someone is closing in behind, often decides a race more than top speed.
Tips worth knowing
- Work through the cups in order; each win unlocks a new tank and changes the speed of the races.
- Hold defensive power-ups until an opponent is right behind you instead of using them immediately.
- Fire at rivals as they slow for corners, when they are easier to hit and a hit costs them more ground.
- Try every tank in a cup, since picking one that suits a track's layout can matter more than raw firepower.
- Once unlocked, check the bonus games and settings like the overhead view for a change of pace.
Frequently asked questions
Who made Tank Racer?
It was developed by Glass Ghost and published by Grolier Interactive in 1999.
How many tanks are in Tank Racer?
There are fifteen playable tanks, including secret tanks unlocked by winning each cup.
Does the PlayStation version have multiplayer?
Yes. Two players can race or battle on a split screen. The PC version supported more players over a network.
Are there unlockables?
Yes. Winning cups unlocks hidden tanks, extra settings such as a hover tank and overhead view, a music player, replays and three bonus mini-games.
More games like this
Project: Horned Owl, Time Crisis, Time Crisis: Project Titan. You can also browse the full games library or read the guides on the blog.