The primary difference between the scenarios and the T.R.I.P., length of play aside, is that the player has a much broader choice of vehicles in the scenario mode, while the player is limited to only one car during most of the T.R.I.P. mode. The game's vehicles are faithful reproductions of various cars and trucks from the era, both in appearance and driving characteristics, though the names have been changed. The game is based on the engine used for Activision's "", and requires a fair amount of strategy through the course of the game, as the player must balance the vehicle's armor and weapon load-outs appropriately in order to successfully complete the various missions. In the game's story mode, the player must also manage and repair equipment salvaged from the wrecks of opponents. Lead designer Zack Norman recounted, "The idea came from a desire to use the "Mech [Warrior] II" technology to the next level and make a real action-simulation hybrid - a vehicle action simulation - but also infuse it with a style and a soul that hadn't been exploited before." The inspiration to set the game in the 1970s came when Norman was contemplating using his bonus from "MechWarrior II" to buy a 1970s muscle car. The developers eschewed the convention of using more detailed models for cutscenes, preferring that the game remain stylistically consistent across the interactive and non-interactive portions. Considerable modification of the "MechWarrior II" engine was needed, as director Sean Vesce explained: "If you look at the "Mech II" engine, it had a long and difficult history, developed by a large team of programmers over the course of two or three years under the direction of several producers, with a lot of trials and tribulations before it went out the door. As you can imagine, the technology was held together with super glue and bubble gum. So when we got our hands on it, we really had to gut a lot of the systems." In the United States, the game sold 74,028 copies during 1997. "Interstate '76" received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. "Next Generation" stated that "none of the minor annoyances detract much at all from the game's overall impact. "Interstate '76" easily lives up to the hype - it really is 'the funkiest PC game ever.'" "GamePro" criticized the bland polygonal graphics, lack of detail in the backgrounds, and difficulty with simultaneously driving and shooting, but praised the funk soundtrack and characters, in particular opining, "Every barb from Taurus is a treasure".