European highscore heist

Video games from Germany are rare in themselves. Good games from Germany, on the other hand, are even harder to find. Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase, or Die total verrückte Rallye ("The totally crazy rally"), as it is called in German, is at least one of them - namely German. Produced by Blue Byte in 1995, this gem provided my brother and me with many hours of fun and gave us quotes that we still use today ("So, dann woll’n wa ma schauen…!" ("So, let's have a look...!")). The digital pastime could even have proven educational for me if I hadn't been too young.

To this day, it's a genuinely fun concept that draws on its presentation in particular. This includes not only the nice animations of the game characters or the nasty Dr. Drago, who makes rally life extra difficult for us and our opponents, but also such peculiarities as the commentator, who comments on the action in excellent Berlin dialect. Judging by the gameplay videos, the unofficial remake The MoneyMakers Rally by The Unknown Machine, which was released in 2020, absolutely cannot keep up in this respect.

At just under three years old at release (or probably eight when we had it on PC), I was still probably a bit too young for it, which is why I still didn't know what Europe looked like (or where it was) after the game. I also have to confess to having cheated my way to victory a few times by quickly taking control of my opponents and making them head in the wrong direction for a few rounds ... the sins of childhood. Never mind, I still made something of myself (said the unemployed guy).

The score

1995 - that means we're still in MIDI territory and a long way from official / commercial soundtrack albums. Unsurprisingly, I have to resort to a gamerip for my musical nostalgia tour, which unfortunately no longer seems to be available on YouTube or anywhere else. As a result, you can only experience the music as part of Let's Plays etc.

If you want to do that, you can look forward to nine tracks composed by Haiko Ruttmann. Ruttmann, who according to XING worked as Music Director and IT Manager at Blue Byte from 1992 to 2000 and is now Managing Director of a consulting company, is probably best known to fans of this site for his soundtracks for the Settlers-series, above all Settlers III and the fantastic Settlers IV. DDMC however, the composer provided with a rather stereotypical background tune that perfectly captures the spirit of the quirky Euro tour.

While Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 07Haiko Ruttmann3 sounds a bit like a runaway from clown college, the 'trumpets' in tracks Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 02 Haiko Ruttmann3and Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 08Haiko Ruttmann3 provide the kind of lascivious cosiness that one would stereotypically attribute to the bumbling companion in a film. In Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 03Haiko Ruttmann3, Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 04Haiko Ruttmann3 and Dr. Drago's Madcap Chase 05Haiko Ruttmann3 the piano adds a saloon/swing atmosphere, which gives the action a bit of dynamics again.

You can see that the game doesn't take itself too seriously musically either. Unlike Vermeer the score is content to serve as a general musical backdrop without attempting to emulate specific countries. What this produces is a soundtrack that awakens pleasantly nostalgic memories in me, just like Transport Tycoon for example. However, those who are not familiar with the game won't be able to get much out of it, and what can I say: I get it.