Interstate ’76 (1997)

It’s 1976 – a different ’76. Stretched out before you are thousands of miles of desert – the American Southwest. The massive engine roars as you slam down the accelerator. It’s time to get funked up. You are Groove Champion, auto-vigilante. Your agenda: Payback for your dead sister. Your weapon: A 425-horsepower ’72 Picard Piranha with two 50-caliber M60 machine guns on top and a flame-thrower on the side. You’re one mean dude in an even meaner ride. They’ve messed with the wrong Champion.

Production Notes:

Zack Norman, MechWarrior 2’s Senior Game Designer / Writer and I pitched the concept for Interstate ’76 after Activision’s studio management announced they were looking for original IP. We conceived the game as a low budget, totally original car combat action-simulation based in an alternate 1970’s universe featuring an original funk soundtrack. We planned to use the MechWarrior 2 engine and set out to create an intentionally low poly look for the game’s characters and cutscenes to ensure one cohesive visual style.

We delivered the game in just under 18 months with a scrappy but amazingly talented team of 23 earning wide critical acclaim including several Game-of-the-Year awards.

The development spawned the sequel Interstate ’82
as well as the console spin-off Vigilante 8

Interstate ’76 was released on March 28, 1997.