Midtown Madness 2

Rating:
Summary: The Rich Kid's Mario Kart = The Poor Man's Carmageddon
Review: Midtown Madness offers a good, fun engine in wich you'll spend some time driving through two real-life scenarios. Period. If you are looking for a game for your kids, this is it. It's good enough and fun enough to keep a child happy. You will feel like playing Mario Kart in a city, without the weapons, but with real cars.

Now, if you are looking for M A D N E S S, any Carmageddon series game if a better offering; even the mid-90's version. They all have better graphics with highly textured polygons, better soundtracks (the second one had Iron Maiden), much more interactivity (wreck the cars, the stage, and other cars), better scenarios that incluide highways, gasoline stations, parks, rivers, and toxic wastelands, to name a few, interesting power ups that go from "Gravity from Jupiter" and a Knight Rider-like jump to engine upgrades and, of course, the series trademark: blood, blood, and more blood.

As far as the Madness, Microsoft's latest offering falls terribly short with no blood, no violence, and just limited mechanical rage. With twenty real life cars, the offering also falls short of the benchmark-setting, years old Gran Turismo (wich you can play on BLEEM) by about 100 cars, do the math. Do yourself a favor and get it for your kids, if you got the first one, stick with it, and if you want something new for yourself, grab a copy of Carmageddon 3: The Death Race 2000 (about 40 dollars) or Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now (about 20 dollars)... 'cause paying for this Madness really is madness.

Rating:
Summary: Everything Except for the Crash Courses
Review: This is a really great game, and the races are a lot of fun. There are 10 cars to choose from, but some are locked, and you need to win a certain number of races to be able to drive them. You have two cities to drive in and different modes of racing. However, the crash courses (which are needed to unlock some cars) are REALLY hard. (If anyone has any tips, email me at [e-mail]) It also takes up a LOT of memory but it isn't too slow if you have mem. available. Other than that, its a REALLY fun game and its worth the buy.

Rating:
Summary: Why the first one is better
Review: Why only two stars? PHYISICS, it's what makes or breaks a game. in the original, taking my mustang around a sharp corner at 140 MPH. would result in a spin-out and a lot of damage. in the secont release, you could take a two story bus at 140 MPH. around a sharp corner and not even tip it. trust me it's not as fun, when all cars have super glue on their tires. why? because its more exciting to push a car to or past it's physical limits like in every man's fantasy. the original game has a little meter called realism. where as this one does not. right in between simulator and arcade style made that game fun. this game has less realism than mario kart! if you bought the orignal, don't buy this one, you will be disgusted. but if you have not had any expereience, than buy it. also- if you have children they will love this game, because it's lack of realism (fish tails, spin outs, loss of controll etc.) are non-existant.and all of the other cars act like they are baloons. i hit a semi with a vw bug at 80 mph and launched it into the air, and lost 20 mph.THIS GAME IS NOT A ADITION TO THE SERIES, IT'S A RE-MAKE. Make your decision carfully, once open it can't be returned.

Rating:
Summary: Very good, but a bit buggy
Review: Midtown Madness 2 is the follow up to Microsoft's first attempt; Midtown Madness. The first was troubled by bugs, and horrible physics and damage modeling ruined the game. Midtown 2 features two towns, San Fran and London. They are both excellently modeled, and are true to their real-life counterparts. The graphics are wonderful, and portray the cities nicely. They are a little too happy and colorful, but they still are top of the line. Twenty cars are availible, and many more over the internet (make sure to download the Moon Rover). The game comes with many modes of racing, included the favorite "Cruise". This is where you are free to roam about the city, causing as much mayhem as you want. Other race modes are availible, and the computer AI is a worthy oppoinent. Some races though are really hard, leaving one frustrated and mad (ex. London Crash Course Final). It's a great accomplishment when you complete them though. All in all, MM2 is a great step past the first game, and also a excellent game. Enjoy this one!

Rating:
Summary: More like 4.5 stars
Review: The game is lots of fun, there are pros. and cons. I'll start with the pros. You can cruse two citys, crash course, and check point.(there other things, but I'm to lazy type them) Lots of cars and races. There are some cons. It takes 10 mins load on my 600mhz computer. The graphics are like the first game. Download this game before you buy.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated but fun
Review: Racing in the middle of a city is a great idea and can be a lot of fun, but this game is not as good as it cold be.

First, the cities will only appeal to those who have never visited them. For those of us who have, Golden Gate and Hyde parks seem grossly out of proportion and practically barren. In case of London, the map should be larger, in San Francisco, at least part of the town around the other end of Golden Gate Bridge should be rendered. Instead of two cities, I'd like to see one city fully and correctly rendered in version 3, and enough of boring American cities. How about doing Rome or Paris for a change?

The game is quite playable with a joystick, but you have to program it in the options menu to separate the throttle from steering. If you don't you won't be able to handle the sharp corners typical of most races.

The tests for unlocking the top cars are at times too tough and too acrobatic, and neither car physics nor graphics are as good as they are in Need for Speed games. For example, you can't even see the hood of your car in front as you drive in any of the models.

This game is good for some laughs, but if you want superb graphics and an exhilarating feel every time you play, I recommend Need for Speed.

Rating:
Summary: Midtown Madness is very addicting
Review: Midtown Madness 2 is the best stress reliever. This is Road Rage you can get away with, without going to jailed or being killed or anybody else being hurt. I recommend it to air out your frustrations in real life. The choice of automobiles are awesome. Just wish i had a couple of the sports cars.

Rating:
Summary: It's a lot cooler
Review: This game is even better than midtown madness 2! Beta Edition was really anonimous and calligraphistycal. Last but not least, it's really greater than the greatest game ever (by Microsoft)and that was Midtown 2! Go buy it! Here!

Rating:
Summary: MM2 is AWSOME!
Review: dude this game is soooooooooooooooo much cooler then the first. if you had trouble unlocking the cars in the first game, you'll like this game! You start out with a lot of the cars you had to unlock in MM1. The graphics are so cool. It also has damage stuff like bumpers that come off. Twice the cities, twice the cars, twice the fun!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent followup to an already good game
Review: What could be better than the origional midtown madness?? Two cities including London and San Fransisco, twice the cars, and twice the fun. This game has all the fun of the origional game including blitz, circuit, and checkpoint races, as well as a new crash course feature set up like a school of driving. This game is both challenging and fun. The textures and graphics are done well and the new engine relieves the quirks of the old engine from the first game. Overall, a great game that has every car from a mini cooper classic, to new vamped up VW bugs and a Aston Martin DB7 Vatange.