Gremlin (the game producers) have kindly allowed us to bring you the official game guide, complete with all of the games secrets and cheats!

CHOOSE YOUR CAR WISELY  -  Like most car dealerships, Hardcore 4x4 offers a range of both different vehicles and colors, as follows:-
The Bushmaster - Green, This is a good truck for beginners with the best all round abilities.

Dust Devil - Red, Another truck for novices, fairly fast with good traction.

Ice Breaker - Blue, The Ice Breaker has superb traction ideal for the pack ice track.

Side Winder - Orange, This is the truck with the best suspension, allowing it to cope with the pot holes in the Sun Baked Gulch.

Brimstone - Yellow, This truck has great suspension, but isn't quite as fast as some of the others, ideal for twists and turns in the Devils kitchen.

Rock Hopper - Purple, This trucks excellent traction allows it to cope with the mountains of the high camber pass.

GO LIKE THE SPEED OF LIGHT  -  At the left hand side of your screen, you will see three back to front sixes, they are turbos which give you sudden bursts of speed. When you fire these be sure to do so when you get to a clear stretch of road or they can be more of a hindrance than a help. To activate this double click on the accelerator button. If you run out of these turbo boosts, (you only have 3 per race) the following cheat can be accessed during game play by pressing pause. When you get to this screen type in CRAZYCAR - when you start the game again you will hear "attack the track". This will ensure that all of your turbos are replaced.

FACING THE OPPOSITE WAY  -  During the race resist the temptation to ram the vehicle in front of you. More often than not you end up facing in the opposite direction. If you do you can kiss the winners trophy goodbye.

AUTOMATIC OR MANUAL??  -  In order to aid your game as a beginner, it is much easier if the automatic option is used. However, experts will find that they can squeeze that extra bit of speed out of their truck in manual.

TURNING CORNERS  -  Turning corners on this game can be a harrowing experience, but do not worry help is a hand. Hold the directional keys and slow tap them, this will aid the movement of the car and help to ensure that your truck will not roll over. For more dramatic cornering you can used the handbrake at high speed for impressive 80 and 360 degree turns.

GIVE THEM THE HORN  -  Completely useless but very satisfying. Using the R2 button will aid in the relief of road rage.

SMASH THE TRUCKS  -  If you are playing against the computer, smash the CPU trucks as hard as you can from behind, this will give you an advantage as these trucks will loose control.

CHEAT MODES  -  Cheats are entered as the first name in the Time Trial name entry screen.

1) Choose any Race Class  -  Type in MAINLINE in the screen as above and this will allow you to choose any class and will let you play either as pro or extreme.
2) Raining Frogs!!  -  Type RAINFROG, and this unusual cheat will appear, instead of raining or snowing it will rain frogs.
3) Secret Asteroids  -  Type in DUTCHMAN to gain access to a special version of asteroids. Type the name in the time trial screen, then go to the game option screen and select credits. This will then allow you to play asteroids. The controls are X for fire and then press 0 to thrust, and if you were wondering the asteroids are actually pictures of the programmers -Mmm... nice!

DESCRIPTION OF THE TRACKS:-
HIGH CAMBER PASS  -  This is a fairly easy course to start with if you are a beginner to Hardcore 4x4, word of warning the road is a bit bumpy in places. The corners are not that sharp, but this doesn't mean that the track is easy. The first part is an uphill climb with narrow bridges to cross. The second part of the course is all downhill, keep clear of the sides and you can really build up your speed.

SUN BAKED GULCH  -  The track in itself looks like the grand can you, and provides any driver with a challenge with its sharp bends and corners. There are some helpful directional signs on the course, but watch out for the bumps. The narrow lanes on this course ma.ke~it.a1lt~eas~ to spin out and end up facing the wrong way.

WAR ZONE  -  The first stage of this course is fairly flat with long sweeping corners allowing you to pootle along at a fair old pace. However the second half is very bumpy with sharp corners and loose sand. Together with some high verges and narrow tracks it makes this track not for the faint hearted.

DUNNE FOREST  -  This course is the only one in Hardcore that has any tarmac driving involved, not that it lasts long. Use this short time you have on-road to build up your speed, also consider this a good opportunity for a turbo boost. Off road this track had hidden rocks, sharp corners and unexpected bumps in the road. Take a practice race to find the best route through these obstacles and you'll be fine.

DEVILS KITCHEN  -  Beware of deceptive corners and turns give this track an unusual feel. The narrow lanes mean that it is important to hit the front early on. Try using a speed boost form the start. The rock chippings that cover the surface of this track, tests the traction of all trucks.

PACK ICE TRACK  -  In short this track is treacherous. As you follow the course there are a number of sharp corners, high verges and narrow tracks that test your driving skills. Around the track there are a number of small hills which will test the reaction of all trucks. If this wasn't bad enough, you will be driving on solid ice for most of the race. Use the handbrake for more controlled turns, but be careful not to oversteer. 

MOTHER TRUCK  -  Set the race mode to Time Trial, and select the key to start the race. At this screen, select Edit Names. Enter the name Mainline. You will see a face in the upper-right corner of the screen with a bandage on his head. Go back to the start menu, and select the truck. Scroll to the right until you see a black truck, called Mother. This is a truck will full speed, full traction, and full suspension. It's also indistructive. This code stays in memory until you change your name or turn off the machine. 

RAINFROG  -  Set the race mode to Time Trial, and select the key to start the race. At this screen, select Edit Names. Enter the name Rainfrog. You will see a face in the upper-right corner of the screen looking left. Go back to the start menu, and select the weather condition. Change it to "Daytime Severe". Begin a race, and you will notice that it's raining frogs! This code stays in memory until you change your name or turn off the machine. 

ROIDS  -  Set the race mode to Time Trial, and select the key to start the race. At this screen, select Edit Names. Enter the name Dutchman. You will see a face in the upper-right corner of the screen looking right at you. Go all the way back to the title screen. Select Options, and then select Credits. Now you can play a game of Roids, a variation of Asteroids. Instead of shooting asteroids, you shoot the programmers' faces. You can play this game as many times as you like, and the code stays in memory until you change your name or turn off the machine.