The Dukes of Hazzard

Elite Systems - 1984

Yeeee Hawww! The Dukes of Hazzard was an action-comedy featuring ‘good ole’ boys’ Bo & Luke Duke, ex moonshine runners who live with their Uncle Jesse and cousin Daisy in the fictional town of Hazzard County, Georgia. The series is fondly remembered for it’s over the top car chases, Daisy’s criminally short denim shorts and of course the iconic bright orange General Lee Dodge Charger which became the real star of the show and why many of us tuned in from week to week to watch. It wasn’t all just about Daisy Duke, you know!

Having already been on television for several years, in 1984 Elite Systems managed to acquire the license to develop a game based on the show that was eventually released exclusively for the ZX Spectrum 48K. The game was a side-scrolling racer in which you got to get behind the wheel of the General Lee and compete in the annual Hazzard County cross country road race in a bid to win the grand prize of $5,000. Why? Because villain Boss Hogg is up to his old tricks again and is threatening to seize the General Lee as collateral against some of the Duke’s unpaid debts. Along the way, you must avoid all manner of bad guys by either completely jumping over them or destroying them with sticks of dynamite that you can lob from the General. The game made fair use of parallax scrolling when it came to the backgrounds and had decent graphics and animations.

Sadly though,unlike the TV show, the game lacked any real lasting appeal or excitement and suffered from repetitive gameplay.