Hot Rod: Garage to Glory (PC Games, 2004)

I bought HR:GTG because it was cheap and looked interesting, since it's a drag racing game. Nice selection of cool cars (game maker uses generic names like "69 Sport Coupe" to avoid licensing problems), lots of parts, and a few subtleties like individual racetrack "personalities" make the game potentially very good. The graphics aren't bad, control is pretty fair, and the screenshot feature is nice, although it would have been nice if the player had more options for camera and replay control.
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Unfortunately, the game feels like it was rushed to market before it was finished (I guess that's true of most games). The sound effects aren't always synchronized. The NPC cars behave oddly at times; they veer into the wall or into player's car, sometimes with surprising frequency. The game rules are a bit odd at times: if player crosses the centerline and hits opponent car, player is disqualified. But if the NPC car crashes into the player then--the player is disqualified? Sometimes the displayed race result at finish line is "Lose" during a tournament, yet the post-race screen will show you as winner.
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Upgrading parts can be cumbersome because in the "Shelf" menu for parts you have purchased, it doesn't seem like you can select which part to install. The game seems to always pick the uppermost part in the list.
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In the Advanced level tournament (one level below Hot Rod), if you win a tournament, then your travel expenses to that track are supposed to be "covered," i.e., zero dollars in future. This doesn't always happen. Sometimes my travel cost to a "won" track is zero, moments later, there is a dollar amount shown.
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Once in a while, the game crashes for no apparent reason but that might be a hardware or software problem on my end. As of this writing, there are no patches, a couple of cheats, and only generic technical support. Save the game often while you're playing. I have discovered that some Windows XP security patches cause game to crash, although I don't have the KB numbers at the moment.
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Hardware requirements are modest by today's standards: on my computer with 1.8 Ghz cpu and 512mb memory w/shared video ram, game runs very nicely. With computer upgraded to 1GB ram and 256mb video card, game performance is about the same.
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For those who are interested, some of the installed game files are editable text format so various kinds of cheating are possible (like editing the costs of items or their performance-improving effects).
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Overall, I find the idea of a drag racing game appealing, especially when it features '60s and '70s muscle cars plus some vintage rides. I would have liked to see a bit more time spent on prerelease testing. One confession: I've never played the game on line, which might make for an entirely different gaming experience.
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Should you buy this game? Despite the game's bugs and incomplete appearance, I enjoy playing it. Since it's only ten bucks or less (US dollars), I'd say it's worth a try if you're interested in drag racing games and classic Detroit iron. If you don't like the game, you can give it away--or sell it on eBay! :-)
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BTW, I know I've focused on the game's negative points. Why? Well, it's a drag racing game, meaning that you can probably figure out what this game is about by yourself. For the positive aspects, look at the package or the ValueSoft web site. My review aims to provide info you wan't get from the back of the box.