Destruction Derby Review (PlayStation 3)

by Jim Smale · Published August 28, 2012 · Updated June 5, 2025

Developed by Reflections and published under Psygnosis, this 1995 beast of a game blew up on the scene. Bringing us banger racing from a whole new perspective. How were we to know this would go on to be a cult classic series? Let’s take a look back at this gem with our Destruction Derby Review.

Destruction Derby Review Pros:

Nice graphics.
PlayStation 1 game emulated onto the PlayStation 3.
Racing gameplay.
Racing is fast and frantic straight from the off.
The campaign spans stock car racing to full-on destruction derby bowl championships
Bowl races involve 12 cars all in an arena smashing each other up, earning points, Bonus points for wrecking opponents, or causing them to spin out.
Clever-level designs.
Text pop-up of actions like 360 spin or T-Bone.
HUD shows a 2D model of your car with color-coded damage.
Race announcer.
By today’s standard, this would be called Dark Souls on wheels. Fighting with opponents is a gamble, and you will fail A LOT at first. Perseverance is the key to success
Music is banging giving us techno to mad hard metal
Levels are big and offer a lot of danger, including the dreaded figure of 8 circuit
Great satisfaction when you tap someone’s back wheel and cause a spin-out that in turn causes a huge pile-up.
Handling before any smashes is tight and not overly sensitive
Full damage model from doors and bonnets falling off to full blowouts of engines, Fire erupting from the engine, Tyres bursting or straight up falling off.

Destruction Derby Review

Destruction Derby Review Cons:

It’s way too easy to completely wreck your car after just a few shunts.
The tracks are too narrow to do any proper maneuvers.
Campaigns can get very repetitive, most notably the bowl championship.
If you get knocked the wrong way on a junction, it’s nigh on impossible to rectify it without wrecking in seconds.
No way to get health back.
Difficult.

Destruction Derby Review