I just spent the better part of an hour playing the special gold release of this game.

Needless to say, my self-destructive impulses have been curbed (at least for the next 24 hours).

This game is a smile-a-minute thrill ride through the streets of the various cities around the world. After spending a week in London and seeing how tame our traffic was by comparison, it did my heart good to hop in a virtual cab and tear up the UK.

Gameplay seems to be fairly smooth and the graphics are great. Your journeys are bookended by random comments from an amusing cast of characters including a young punker and an old Scotsman.

MM2 takes a cue from console games and includes "locked" features which may only become available if certain goals are met during the game. I personally unlocked two features: a new paint job and a new vehicle. Other locked characteristics that may be accessed include weather stats and the density of police presence.

This game should be fairly hot by Christmas. While racing purists may sneer at the game's unrealistic premise, anyone with a sense of fun or craziness should find themselves grinning as they gun their engine through a crowded downtown in a race for best time.

Previous Information

Midtown Madness 2, the sequel to Midtown Madness, offers all the fun of the first version of the game and includes a whole lot more. More cars, more action, more maps.

Some of the new features you can expect to find in the new game include a crash course training mode where you can develop the driving skills you need to dominate your opponents in all types of traffic. In addition to the new courses, you can find great new cars to smash and crash. In addition to all the classic cars included in version 1 (including the Ford Mustang Fastback and the Panoz Roadster), now you can rage around town in a Cab, a VW Beetle, a Mini-Cooper, an Audi TT, an Aston Martin DB-7, or even a huge Freightliner fire truck!

Along with the new cars and courses, you'll find that vehicle damage has been improved for version 2 with better damage detail and breakaway parts. You'll also notice a vast improvement with expanded commentary from both London and San Francisco personalities.

The sequel also sports a much improved Multiplayer function. Version 2 will be optimized for full LAN, modem, cable, and Internet-based Multiplayer gaming via the MSN Gaming Zone for stable and competitive multiplayer play for up to eight racers.

Over all it seems that Midtown Madness 2 gives all indications of being a worthy sequel to its best selling front runner. You can expect to see Midtown Madness 2 out on the shelves in October of 2000.

-Michael.