Others say...

"GREAT online"
i got this game a while back, played it a little, then forgot about it. sure, its fun to destroy the crap out of everything, but you can only do that so much. a couple months ago, i stumbled on it again. i was looking at the box and saw it had online gameplay, something i had overlooked before. i started playing it and got online. a whole new world was opened! this is much more fun online, so if you have it go online i wanna play you if you dont have it go get it and play online. my nickname for the msn gaming zone is El_Bub.

"Almost as good as the original."
I own Midtown Madness 1 and 2, and enjoy them both quite frequently. (Nothing's better at the end of a stressful day than sitting down and bashing the snot out of a Panoz GTR-1.) This is Good Stuff, to be sure.

When I purchased MM2, I admit I had preconceived notions of what to experience. Most were fulfilled.

The graphics aren't necessarily better than in MM1, but that actually works quite well for me. The game hitches and freezes and takes forever to load if I set it on the highest graphics possible. The same happens with sound. (Maybe I should get a more powerful computer, huh?!) The two cities are fantastically built and wonderfully conceived. I had a _blast_ running up and down San Francisco's streets and going airborne.

The cars are _awesome_, man! MM2's car selections include an Aston Martin, and Audi (my favorite), a Mini Cooper, a fire truck, all the cars from the first game, and more. These are the cars I didn't know I was missing out on in the first few years of playing MM1.

In San Francisco, the races in Amateur mode are easy. Way too easy. And in Pro mode, they're incredibly hard. In London, I found myself just ripping through all the races with little or no difficulty, even in Pro. In MM1, the Checkpoint races were a challenge because they asked you to find the best route. In MM2, they're basically Blitz races. A clear straight line with little deviation from the path. This was really disappointing. I remember in MM1, North River Run was a lot of fun because I got to find a new way of running the race - the checkpoints were more scattered.

The stunt driver courses, while innovative, are disappointing as well. The London Cabbie course requires you to drive a cab - no surprise. However, that cab is the most difficult vehicle of them all. It's sluggish, heavy, and slow. I found myself just giving up and not trying to unlock the Aston Martin (that's the prize at the end of the course). And while the San Francisco course was better, with a Fastback, the course requirements were either too demanding or way too easy. Overall, very uneven.

The map was a pain in the neck. I could never see a whole image of the map at one time. When I enlarged the map, it was distorted. The colors on the map were also all very pale and hard to see, whereas in MM1, everything was very clear and well-contrasted.

Also, you can't boot MM2 without the source CD, and that's quite irritating. If I spent thus much money on a CD, I don't want it to get scratched. Ever. And if I have to take it out of its sleeve each time I load the game, there are that many more opportunities for it to get damaged.

Still, Good Stuff.

Overall, ****/*****.

"An Outstanding Racing Program"
Overall:
Microsoft Midtown Madness 2 is an excellent racing game. I consists of detailed scenery and a wide variety of cars. There are specific landmarks in both London and San Francisco. I definately reccomend buying this software.

City Scenery:
Midtown Madness 2 has specific landmarks form both London and San Francisco. You can drive through the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco or around Trafalger Square in London.

Commentary:
It is interesting to hear the Midtown Madness 2 commentary. Some of the commentary voices are against urban racing. They feel like it disturbes the city. Other voices, though, are enthusiastic with urban racing.

Physics Realism:
The physics in Midtown Madness 2 are not realistic. You can drive up to the top of one of San Francisco's tall buildings, and then drive off. You will only have light damage. You can flip other cars upside down and not hurt them at all. But it is fun, you can do things you could never do in the real-world!

Car Selection:
In Midtown Madness 2, there are a wide variety of cars you can drive. It ranges from a London Double Decker Bus to a Panoz GTR-1! There are three Volkswagon New Beetles, two Mini Coopers, a fire truck, and a city bus, and a Cadalac Eldorado along with a lot of other cars. There are creative paint jobs, such as a Bathtup Floural London Cab, which is yellow with flowers and a smile!

Compatability:
Midtown Madness 2 works on almost any computer above the standard Windows 95. A 3d accelerater card will improve its performance, but a non-accelerater card works great too. The software also works good if your computer is right on the minimum requirements.

Conclusion:
Midtown Madness is not very fast paced, but its creativity makes up for it and does what many racing games do not do.

"Okkkkkkk."
The game is great. One question though, why does the green paint job for the fire truck never come unlocked?

"Great, in depth, semi-accurate game!"
Midtown Maddness 2 is just about the most fun racing game I've ever played! Contray to some more negative reviews, I think microsoft did a great job on this game. First of all, the statistics:this game boasts a grand total of 88 races, not to mention that 64 of those become more difficult if you choose the "professinol" level of racing, as apposed to the "ameatur". There are 10 blitz races(races against the clock), 12 checkpoint races(races against several computer cars), and circut races(similar to checkpoint, except there are a certain amount of laps that you most complete), in each city. Also, there are 13 London cabbie and 13 SF Stunt Driver "crash cources", which include 3 midtermes that you must take, and 1 final exam. Now to run these many races, there are 20 differant vehicles to choose from:everything from the racecar that can do around 205 mph, to the city bus which does 0-60 in 1 hour as I like to say. Now on to the reasons why this game is fun to play!

Midtown Maddness 2 is a great, classic arcade game. In the game, you can ram into as many cars as you want, and still keep going! Yes, you will see smoke start to some out of the engine, but eventually the computer will restart your car so you can keep on road ragin! Another thing is that the cops never get out of there cars, so the game is never delayed by them trying to acually arrest you like in the Grand Theft Autos. Don't get me wrong, thats a fun game, just a little too realistic for me. So anyway, the cops will still chase you and try to stop you, even to the point where the wheels go flying or rolling off their cars! Next, both maps are so emensly big that I've had the game for almost a year and a half now, and I think I finally saw absolutly everything there is to see.

The only unrealistic part of the game that has always stuck in my mind is the "underground" or subway in London. I've been to London 3 times now, and the only thing realistic about this is that the stations are fairly accurate in apperance, not nessacerily in location. The tunnels are about 3 times as wide as they need to be, and the trains are doing about 90 or 95 mph in the game, when in reality, they really only do about 30 mph. So if the game could have just one improment, I would say to have the "underground" more accurate. It was a good idea, but needed a little more attention then it was apparently given.

Overall, I strongly recommened this game to anyone, from beginers to pros, that are a fan of street racing. If you are questioning the game, I would say go for it, you won't regret it!