Sierra Games

Deathtrack

Last updated: October 19, 2026

Overview

Deathtrack (styled DeathTrack in its packaging and reviews) is a first-person vehicular combat racing game for MS-DOS, developed by Dynamix and published by Activision in December 1989.12 The player is a rookie in a future American racing circuit where drivers arm their cars with missiles, lasers, mines and spikes. Prize money from a circuit of ten tracks pays for repairs and upgrades.13

The game comes from Dynamix’s independent years, after it left Electronic Arts and began working with Activision, and it predates Sierra’s purchase of Dynamix in 1990. Sierra never published it.456 SierraVault covers it because the vault’s inclusion criteria take in Dynamix’s complete catalog.

Computer Gaming World’s Chris Lombardi called it “an outstanding new action game” and “gratuitous violence at its therapeutic best”.3 In 1996 the same magazine ranked it 124th in its “150 Best Games of All Time”, calling it “this seminal car-to-car combat simulation”.7

Story Summary

There is no story beyond the premise. MobyGames summarizes it: “In the future, races are held across America where the drivers race for money, and their lives. You are the rookie.”1 Computer Gaming World described the field as ten other drivers “whose minds are as twisted as their own”.3

The manual is written in the voice of the sport’s own media, opening with a commentator’s column, “From the Pit: DeathTrack for Beginners”, and filling its margins with profiles of the drivers: their home towns, favourite weapons, average eliminations per year and favourite foods.10 The rival drivers include Slye, Motor Maniac, Wrecker, Melissa, Megadeath, Killer Angel, Lurker Logan, Preying Menace and Crimson Death, shown in digitized photographs of a credited cast. Dynamix co-founder Damon Slye appears as “Slye”.83

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

  • View: a cockpit view of 3D polygon cars and tracks, with city backdrops behind some tracks. Computer Gaming World pointed to the Golden Gate behind San Francisco and skyscrapers behind New York.31
  • Instruments: fuel, damage and speed gauges; an overhead track map with the player’s car in red; a panel showing the driver in weapons range and his or her place; and a position and lap counter.3 The Games Machine also listed a rear-view mirror and an autopilot indicator.12
  • Autopilot: the manual warns that it “doesn’t drive fast and it doesn’t drive well”.10
  • Input: joystick, keyboard or mouse.110 Computer Gaming World recommended a joystick.3
  • Detail control: the + and − keys raise or lower screen detail, trading detail for a faster frame rate.10

Structure and Progression

The player chooses one of three cars, the fast Hellcat, the all-round Crusher or the heavily armoured Pitbull, and starts with $10,000 to spend.102 The menus offer a single practice track or a “Full Circuit Run” through all ten tracks. The player can set the number of laps and a difficulty level “from punk to megadestroyer”, and save a circuit in progress.10

Money is the core of the game. Computer Gaming World reported prize money from 13,000 for first place and 9,500 for second down to 250 for ninth. A "shady character" sometimes offers 2,000 to $7,000 to eliminate a particular driver. A wrecked car brings a huge repair bill, and a player who cannot afford a race-worthy car is forced out of the circuit.3

Puzzles and Mechanics

Deathtrack has no puzzles. Strategy lies in the shops:

  • Parts shop: engine, brakes, transmission, tires, airfoils and armour, each in three grades.310 Used parts cannot be traded in.10
  • Weapons shop: nine weapon types in three grades each. The manual lists caltrops, lasers, guns, mines, missiles, particle beams, ram spikes, “Terminators” and wheel spikes. Old weapons can be traded in against new ones.103
  • Copy protection: each start asks a question about one of the drivers, answered from the manual. A wrong answer plays a short demonstration and returns to DOS.103

Lombardi found that buying a large engine left a car “weak in armor”, while heavy armour and weapons made it “slow, unmaneuverable, and at the rear of the pack”. He also advised that “one really need not graduate beyond the middle-sized engine because the largest engine simply goes too fast”.3

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PublicationDateVerdict
Computer Gaming World (Chris A. Lombardi)February 1990Strongly positive3
Compute! (Denny Atkin)March 1990Positive9
The Games MachineMarch 199082%12
Computer Gaming World readers’ Top 100May 199049th6

Lombardi’s review, “Murder on the Backstretch”, opened with a confession about commuting rage on the Santa Monica freeway. He praised the cars’ “very realistic feel”, especially when airborne after a jump, and the sense of speed that he thought most racing games lacked.3 His one technical complaint was that passing cars could collide and “merge together so that they are sort of inside each other”. He concluded: “Deathtrack is excellent, a must for action gamers who want high speed action, quick decision-making, and strategic planning engineered into a high-performance package destined for the winner’s circle. Also, for anyone on the brink of traffic induced lunacy, it is gratuitous violence at its therapeutic best.”3

Denny Atkin of Compute! called it “sort of a combination of a Grand Prix race and a Rambo movie”. He rated the graphics “excellent”, with cars that show dents when rammed, and wrote that “Screen updates are incredibly fast on a turbo XT or AT.” His conclusion: “This game is just plain fun. And it’s excellent therapy after a long freeway commute.”9

The Games Machine gave the PC version 82%. Its reviewer’s only real problem was “the enormous amount of dials that have to be looked after”, and he added: “this is probably the most fun I’ve had playing a PC game for a long while.”12

Modern Assessment

Computer Gaming World’s November 1996 list of the “150 Best Games of All Time” placed Deathtrack 124th: “Dynamix developed this seminal car-to-car combat simulation where Car Wars-style action had become a national sport.”7 Jimmy Maher lists it among the 3D games that built Dynamix’s name in the late 1980s.4

Development

Origins

Wikipedia’s history of Dynamix notes that after its action games for Penguin Software and Electronic Arts, “Later titles were developed for Activision.”13 A 1997 Computer Gaming World history of the BattleTech licence describes the same moment: “Dynamix was defecting from EA and began building the 3Space engine”, and Activision struck a deal to use that technology for MechWarrior.14 Damon Slye told Talkin’ Games that Dynamix “had done a deal with Activision to do five games for them”. He also recalled that Dynamix hired Terry Ishida, a producer from Activision, who took over MechWarrior and V-22 Osprey from him. The four games Slye said he was then directing were A-10 Tank Killer, David Wolf, MechWarrior and the unreleased V-22 Osprey; he did not mention Deathtrack.5 Deathtrack’s credits list Ishida as co-designer with Dariusz Lukaszuk, and Steven Ackrich and John A. S. Skeel as producers.8

Production

The manual’s “Creators of DeathTrack” page names Tom Collie, Mark Brenneman, Darek Lukaszuk and Bryce Morsello (credited in MobyGames as Morcello),8 and describes the division of labour: “Darek wrote the code, Tom did the art and Bryce sound effects, and Mark built all the 3-space objects. Jeff got us pizza late nights and ran errands (he was also company president in his spare time).”10 Its “pit crew” thanks Piotr Lukaszuk “for fast graphics”, Dave McClurg “for 3-space etc.” and Paul Bowman “for playing foosball with us”, and the game is “Dedicated to the memory of Enzo Ferrari”.10

MobyGames’ archived credits add art by Kobi Miller, Alan J. Murphy, Steve Snyder and Ron Winnick; music by Russell Lieblich; photography by Randy Dersham; casting and make-up by Sher Alltucker; and direction by Jeffrey Tunnell.8 Computer Gaming World credited Dynamix’s “‘3-space’ poly-filled graphics system”, already used in David Wolf: Secret Agent and MechWarrior.3

Technical Specifications

  • Requirements: 8088 or better, DOS 2.0, 512 KB RAM.19
  • Graphics: CGA, EGA, Hercules and Tandy. Compute! noted that CGA runs in high-resolution black and white, while EGA and Tandy are full colour.19
  • Sound: PC speaker, AdLib and Roland MT-32.1
  • Media: 3.5” and 5.25” floppy disks.1
  • Price: $44.95 in the US; £24.99 in the UK.3912

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
Original releaseDecember 1989MS-DOSActivision (US), distributed by Mediagenic191115
Power Hits: Sci-Fi1994MS-DOS (CD-ROM)Activision compilation with Prophecy, Tongue of the Fatman, Circuit’s Edge and Mines of Titan16
Trail BlazerCancelledGame BoyWire-frame 3D version by Argonaut, licensed by Activision; never released17

The manual scan on the Internet Archive is from the Power Hits edition. Its quick-start section tells players to load the game from the “Power Hits Reference Card” and a SCIFA\DTRACK directory.10

Legacy

When Computer Gaming World reported Sierra’s purchase of Dynamix in May 1990, it listed “F-14 Tomcat, MechWarrior and DeathTrack for Activision” among Dynamix’s work. The same issue’s readers’ Top 100 had Deathtrack at 49th.6 Unseen64 documents a cancelled Game Boy version, Trail Blazer, which Argonaut developed under licence from Activision.17

Nearly two decades later, the Russian studio SkyFallen Entertainment made a sequel, Death Track: Resurrection, published by 1C Company in Russia in February 2008 and later by 505 Games and Aspyr Media.18

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not currently available. As of October 2026 the 1989 Deathtrack is not sold on GOG or Steam. Death Track: Resurrection (2008) is a separate game.

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

See Also

Deathtrack belongs to Dynamix’s Activision period, between its Electronic Arts contracts and the 1990 Sierra acquisition.46

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames – Deathtrack – DOS December 1989 (US), Activision publisher, Dynamix developer, premise quote, ten tracks, three cars, digitized photos, system requirements, graphics and sound support. Retrieved via the MobyGames API, 2026-10-09 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  2. Wikipedia – Deathtrack – three cars, $10,000 start, December 1989 release ↩ ↩2

  3. Computer Gaming World #68 (February 1990), Chris A. Lombardi, “Murder on the Backstretch”, pp. 44, 46 – Internet Archive – review: $44.95, designers Lukaszuk and Ishida, 3-space, shops, prize money, contracts, driver profiles as copy protection, instruments, verdict ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19

  4. The Digital Antiquarian – “The Dynamic Interactive Narratives of Dynamix” (Jimmy Maher, 2018) – Deathtrack among Dynamix’s 3D games; break with Electronic Arts and new deal with Mediagenic ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Talkin’ Games – “Damon Slye: Chapter I”, page 2 (August 20, 2018) – five-game Activision deal; the four games Slye was directing; Terry Ishida hired from Activision, took over MechWarrior and V-22 Osprey ↩ ↩2

  6. Computer Gaming World #71 (May 1990), “Sierra Purchases Dynamix” and Top 100 Games – Internet Archive – DeathTrack among Dynamix’s Activision titles; 49th in the readers’ Top 100 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Computer Gaming World #148 (November 1996), “150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time” – Internet Archive – #124, capsule quote ↩ ↩2

  8. MobyGames – Deathtrack credits (Wayback Machine, 2018) – full credits: program, art, 3D art, music, cast and roles, producers, design, direction, Enzo Ferrari dedication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  9. Compute! #118 (March 1990), Denny Atkin, “DeathTrack” – Internet Archive – review quotes, graphics modes, 512K, $44.95, Activision distributed by Mediagenic ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  10. Deathtrack manual (Activision; Power Hits edition) – Internet Archive – creators page, pit crew, quick start, driver question, menus, laps and difficulty, cars, shops, weapons list, autopilot, detail keys, driver profiles ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  11. Computer Entertainer, January 1990 (Vol. 8, No. 10), availability update, p. 22 – Internet Archive – Deathtrack (Activision) listed under December without the “x” that marks titles “shipped as of press time”, so the December date was projected at press time ↩ ↩2

  12. The Games Machine #28 (March 1990), DeathTrack review, p. 49 – Internet Archive – PC review: £24.99, instruments, bounties, quote, machine rating 82% ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. Wikipedia – Dynamix – early games for Penguin Software and Electronic Arts, later titles for Activision, 1990 Sierra purchase ↩

  14. Computer Gaming World #153 (April 1997), sidebar “Getting Your Bearings In The ‘Mech Universes” – Internet Archive – “Dynamix was defecting from EA and began building the 3Space engine”; Activision deal for MechWarrior ↩

  15. Internet Archive – Deathtrack (MS-DOS) – listing: developed by Dynamix, published by Activision, 1989 ↩

  16. Internet Archive – PowerHits: SciFi (Activision, 1994) – CD-ROM compilation including DeathTrack ↩

  17. Unseen64 – “Trail Blazer (Death Track) [GameBoy – Cancelled]” (2011) – cancelled Game Boy version by Argonaut, licensed by Activision, wire-frame 3D ↩ ↩2

  18. Wikipedia – Death Track: Resurrection – 2008 sequel by SkyFallen Entertainment, published by 1C Company, 505 Games and Aspyr Media ↩

Graph View