Daisy Lipsey, Sharon Sharalike and the rest of the chicks are back and ready to burn a little rubber (ummm, yeah), as Fiendish Games presents, SuperChix '76. If you don't remember the original game, Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix, you didn't miss much. It was a disappointing arcade racer that had very few redeeming features. That's alright though, Fiendish Games returned to the garage and did a little work on their baby, so if you're ready for a little T&A (and by T&A, I mean tires and accelerator of course), then let's jump into SuperChix '76 and give it a little test ride, shall we?

SuperChix '76 features two modes of play: Rally Mode and Cop Chase. I'll begin with Cop Chase, since it really is the worst of the two modes. In this mode, you'll face off, one-on-one, with one of the eight chicks. The objective is to win the race. In order to do so, you'll have to avoid the cops. Sound fun? Well, it's not. If anything, it's deafening. Sirens abound in this mode and there literally won't be a second when you won't hear a blaring siren. It completely dominates the play and after a race or two, you won't be able to stand the racket anymore. The Cop Chase mode is not fun at all because the AI is absolutely horrible. There are usually 5 or 6 cop cars chasing your car through the track and when they happen to catch up to you, at times they'll simply drive in front of you at the same speed your going, almost as if to give you a police escort. The few times when they actually do attempt to ram you off the road, they don't seem to know how to do so properly. They tend to drive erratically and many times they'll run themselves into a tree without your help. The addition of the cop chase mode is certainly welcome, but it just isn't implemented well here at all.

The Rally mode is where the meat of the game is and lets just say this chick has about as much meat on her as Kate Moss. The Rally mode comprises of nine separate races, divided into sections of three apiece. In order to advance to the next set of three, you must win the championship by amassing the highest number of points in the previous three races. When you win a race, you gain 10 points. If you finish second, you're awarded 7 and if you finish third, you'll receive 4 points. Basically, if you can win two of the three races, you'll undoubtedly win the championship and advance to the next three courses. Completing all nine courses is a relatively easy task once you figure out which car is best for each section, and once you've outright won the entire Rally, the game loses all replayability.

So what's new in SuperChix '76? Well, instead of a sextet of chicks, there are now eight chicks in total. There is no option to set the difficulty level, that feature seems to be determined by the car and chick you choose to race with. Some of the ladies drive much better 70's American muscle cars than others. As you select your chick to drive with, their car's characteristics present themselves in terms of acceleration, braking, handling and turning. If you wish to give yourself more of a challenge, you'll obviously have to select the chick with the worst car. In case you're wondering, that chick would probably be Daisey who seems to enjoy it in the rear (ummm, yeah) while other chicks like Fabia and Schiza would prefer to be on top (ummm, yeah). Outside of the chicks and their cars, there are a total of 4 international tracks ranging from the sweaty jungles of the Amazon Basin to the streetwise cool of night-time San Francisco. Each of the tracks can be raced both forwards and backwards and the Rally mode takes full advantage of that fact. If you remember the original Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix, you'll probably recognize three of the tracks. If you're math is as good (or bad) as mine, you'll probably realize that means there is exactly one new track added to SuperChix '76.

SuperChix '76 is strictly an arcade racer. It's relatively shallow, not only in course design and replayability, but in terms of the overall game design. You won't have to purchase improved parts for your car, in fact you won't have to repair your car at all. There's no damage model meaning you can take turns at maximum speed and not worry about denting your fender. This works in many ways against SuperChix '76, as it eliminates the need to powerslide around corners and use banked turns. You can literally bounce off trees and other obstacles without losing much momentum at all. I found that actually accelerating around corners, instead of powersliding around them, was much more productive than proper techniques. You'll also find that if you're car begins to flip over, a nice swift knock from behind by one of the other ladies will get you right back into the game without losing any speed at all.

Graphically, SuperChix '76 doesn't look all that different from its predecessor. Since the tracks are re-used, the game in fact looks exactly the same minus a few graphical enhancements. The cars certainly look better as does the menu system, not to mention more options and better preview screens, but other than that, you won't notice much of a difference. The sounds also appear to be untouched. The sound effects are as metallic as ever. The musical score continues to make use of 70's disco tunes and unless you grab the patch for SuperChix '76, the music will be the same as in the original.

Controls in SuperChix '76 are extremely simple to learn and use. Using either one of the keyboard, gamepad or wheel, all you'll need to worry about is directional controls as well as the brake and accelerator. There's no multiplayer in SuperChix '76, so don't expect to be able to race against your buddies in this one.

SuperChix '76 is disappointing to say the least. Considering this is a sequel to Hot Chix 'n Gear Stix, there's relatively few new additions to speak of. Two new chicks, a slightly improved graphical/menu display, one new track, and the addition of a cop chase mode is all you get. Fiendish Games were on a roll there with the release of Tower of the Ancients and Hunt for the Red Baron, but SuperChix '76 is definitely a step back. If it's an arcade racing experience you're after, there are much better options out there other than SuperChix '76, even if the game comes cheap.