Publisher: Tengen
Developer: Sterling Silver Software
Size: 4 megs
No. of players: 1
This was polygon before polygons were cool! Before Daytona, before Ridge Racer, you had this! It hasn't aged as well as one would hope but it's still a great title to go back and play around with. Nothing beats (slowly)racing around the track while avoiding traffic and jumping bridges.

What's it all about?
It's racing...that's pretty much it. You get one track that's split up into two sections, Speed and Stunt. The Speed course is, pretty much, what you'd expect: You race around it as fast as you can in an attempt to beat the various drones to the finish line. The Stunt track adds to that by putting some outrageously tough(and fun) pieces of track in your way to try to negotiate through. After finishing first in either of these races, you are given the chance to race the "Hard Driven'" champion, the elusive Phantom Photon, in a one on one race through the Stunt course...
Graphics - The graphics themselves aren't particularly bad, but the framerate is sad. I'd say it runs at maybe 5 to 7 frames a second(hey, this was before the VDP1 chip that came in Virtua Racing. Show some respect!).
Sound - There's the engine noise, the braking noise, and the crashing noise(oh, and the cow's "mooo" when you hit it). All are sub par, but are amusing to hear at the same time.
Control - A little shaky. Your car just doesn't handle that well I guess....
AI - Almost non-existent. The only real display of it is when you race Phantom Photon, which is pretty fair(he doesn't take corners at 150mph while you have to slow down to 30 to make it).
Replay value - This is where it earns the bacon! Everytime you crash it shows a replay and the things you can do are hilarious! Going backward on the track and jumping the barn or ramming the cow are prime examples of the carnage!
Tips for better gaming experiences:
Practice mode is fun, but it's more fun with the cpu cars cruising around with you, adding to the havoc. To accomplish this, simply play a regular, timed game. Once it's over, go to the options screen and switch the game mode to Practice and begin. The cpu cars are now on the track with you!

Also, as hard as this is to believe, try to watch the speed limit signs. They will actually help you make corners, jumps, etc. without crashing everytime.
My rating: 80(out of 100) - Though not a serious racing title, this game absolutely rocks for the various stunts that can be done with a little imagination. Highly recommended for those whole love to play around.
GamePro gave it: 4.0(graphics), 4.0(sound), 4.0(gameplay), 5.0(funfactor), 4.0(challenge) (out of 5)

Cat's dribble: I don't know what Bel's thinking, all I'm seeing is a bad racing game with a disgraceful framerate.....
(note: Due to the emulation of the Genesis on the high definition of a monitor, the following pics of Hard Driven' are not 100% accurate portrayals of the game's graphics. Normally, when played on your TV{as it should be} you will not see the various bits of heavy dithering as when Sterling Silver designed the game, they had TV resolution in mind)
Love that cow...love that "Mooooooooo"!
Time for the loop-ditty-loop!

Jumping the barn is one of the many bits of hilarious havoc you can attempt during the game.
You know, you don't normally see that everyday...
You should know:
JD and I love that cow! Moooooooooo!!!!!