Pitstop II

Pitstop II is a video game in the racing / driving genre developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published by Epyx, Inc. originally released in 1984. It is currently playable on DOS, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.

Pitstop II released in 1984 was a revolutionary driving game with an emphasis on realism. It was developed and distributed by Epyx software for the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, Commodore Plus/4, Apple II, and MS-DOS platforms. This game was far ahead of its time.

Pitstop II was the first and only game of the era to feature 8-player split-screen simultaneous racing. Above all else, the game strove for realism, using physical laws to emulate the authentic mechanics of performance car racing, such as tire wear and energy conservation. These mechanics had to be observed and adjusted accordingly to affect races by the players, and by so doing, balance their driving strategies for success. The tracks varied in style, with some being meant to test the player's maneuvering capabilities while others were designed to max out the racing machine's speed.

Four championships were available in the game, ranging from the entry-level "Beginner" series and going all the way up to the "Professional" class. Each championship was composed of four tracks, and pitted the players against each other for the duration of the season. Pitstop II also had a special feature called "Quick Race", which allowed players to jump right into a race for a quick and entertaining experience.

The game was praised for its audio-visual effects, with the cars looking realistic and sounding like real-life performance cars, accompanied by highly detailed track backgrounds. The interface was also well designed, and allowed for an intuitive operation of the car by the players.

Pitstop II was a major success and left a lasting impression on the gaming industry. It was the first of its kind in its determination to seamlessly integrate the laws of physics and dynamics into the game. The pioneering game mechanics embedded within the software left an indelible mark on the evolution of racing simulators.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.