Completion time: 23:05

PSX Mania has been all about introducing myself, and everyone else, to titles they might have heard about in the past, but never actually played, or maybe even seen running. Felony 11-79 is one such title. I’ve read about this over the years, and I had these preconceived notions about it (such as thinking that you can exit your vehicle and enter a different one, which was quickly debunked), but when I finally sat down with it, not only was it not what I had expected, but it also had an even shorter play length than Play With The Teletubbies.

Felony 11-79 is more or less a mission based racing title, with both of those labels very flimsily applied. Players race against the clock to hit a set of items, crash into a limousine, smash into a pay phone, and so on, trying to reach the stages goal before time runs out. Along the way, you’re able to crash into items and rack up a dollar tally on the damage done, which unlocks extra vehicles. Unfortunately, there’s a jarring camera transition on every crash, mostly with other vehicles. It changes the field of view briefly, and even worse, if you’re close to the vehicle you smashed into, and even clip it slightly while passing by, you get the camera transition once again. It’s slightly disorienting, but those crashes also slow you down big time. Vehicular mechanics are a bit too loose as well, making turns feel like an imminent spin out.

One thing I have to give credit to Felony 11-79 is it’s ambition with the visuals. As a 1997 title, there’s a surprising amount of detail throughout each of the three tracks. Although there’s some draw distance issues here and there with the scenery (the road ahead of you is always in sight), it’s quite something to see the kind of visual fidelity presented here during its release period. Unfortunately, as I just mentioned, there are only three tracks, and worse, the same amount of missions, with one mission per track. If you know what you’re doing, you can breeze through the entire game in less than 20 minutes. There are vehicles you can unlock via money gained from crashing into things, however it’s a baby carrot to dangle in front of Andre the Giant.

It’s shocking how short Felony 11-79 is. The end credits felt longer than each of the three tracks raced on. Had they woven in a few missions per track, even if you’re running the same track three times each, it would have lent more meat to its bone. Even with the rather jammin’ soundtrack, Felony 11-79 is underwhelming, devoid of content, and in general, as unspectacular as you can get without being awful. Did I regret playing this? No, can’t say I did, especially since I barely even spent enough time with it. That face melting ending though….wtf.

Rating: 4

Twitch VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/991905711

YouTube video: