One of the Everything The O.C. staff members happened to find this rare gem at a garage sale last Sunday! It's called The Links Speedway which was obviously inspired by The O.C.'s Season 1 Episode 16 titled "The Links"! After doing some initial research on the title we found out that this game was a prototype and never made it to box stores. Only a few copies existed and it's believed that the remaining copies were buried in a landfill to never be seen again...Until now!
"Welcome to The Links Speedway Bitch!
The most state of the art 16-bit Sega title out to date!
Just when Ryan thought things couldn't get worse,
Marissa's new friend Oliver has finally went crazy.
On the last hole of the day Oliver declares a race back to
the club house. Ryan and Luke must WIN to stop Oliver
from ruining their trip and stealing Marissa from them.
But beware there are many turns and tricks up Oliver's
sleeve so race with CAUTION!
Navigate through 5 Palm Springs golf courses to win
back Marissa and get rid of Oliver once and for all!
Everything goes, are you ready to roll?"
Controversy
Further research revealed there was some controversy regarding the game's content as it included violent golf cart crashes, underage drinking and lacked an 18 hole golfing function all the while being rated GA (appropriate for all audiences). The other minor problem was the media on which it was released, Sega Genesis was an outdated system even in 2003. Marketing analysis revealed that gamer's and fans of the TV show wanted the game but the studio just wasn't willing to risk lawsuits or compromise changing the original experience. So they decided to pull the plug on the whole idea and destroy the remaining copies, which is a huge shame!
Game Features:
- 1 to 2 players (can play your friend or computer)
- Choose to be team Purple (Oliver and Marissa) or team White (Ryan and Luke)
- Race one of the 5 Palm Springs golf courses
- Character hat and hair customization
- Original "California" soundtrack by Phantom Planet (midi version)
- Dialog box with character face
- Different Win/Lose outcome screens featuring Sandy or Natalie
- Realistic dirt flings off of back tires while driving
- Great sound effects
- Great Luke catch-phrases like "Im gonna drop The Great Gatsby on his face!" and "Speed up their gaining on us"
- Once your power meter is full a unique to character attack can be made
Minor complaints:
- Ryan and Oliver are always the drivers, while Marissa and Luke are always the clubbers/beer throwers
- Phantom Planet's "California" song on a loop can be a bit repetitive
- Luke's golf clubbing attack is a bit more superior to Marissa's due to longer reach
- Marissa's beer throwing ability is a bit better than Luke's (which makes sense)
- A couple of the race tracks have very difficult/close to impossible obstacles
- Randomly a seagull walks across course 3 and can totally salt your game
- Oliver throws down money on the track that can lead to your golf cart getting spun around
- Ryan uses his smirk attack that can result in a 10 percent increase in golf cart power and speed
Above are The Links game controls! Notice the throw beer and club options by hitting X or Y. We found these to be the most satisfying attacks besides the typical ramming of team Oliver/Marissa's purple golf cart!
Finally here is a little demo of the awesome game-play and head-turning graphics! We give this title a cool 9/10! It's a truly a one of a kind game and I must say flipping Oliver's cart and beating him to the club-house is therapy within itself as well as the epic Sandy Cohen cut-scenes! They don't make them like this anymore folks! See you on The Links!
