The Facts
- 10 new tracks (plus hidden) including a revamped version of Alcatraz.
- Mirrored and backward courses.
- 16 new vehicles (plus at least five hidden) ¿ each featuring unique physics, strengths and weaknesses.
- Customize vehicle feature.
- Improved physics engine enabling tighter control for vehicles.
- "Stunt" track designed specifically for tricks and air-time.
- Circuit mode.
- New point system rewards players for jumps and stunts landed correctly.
- Two-player cooperative, tag, and stunt modes.
- Hidden keys and newly added Mountain Dew cans unlock in-game secrets.
- Multiple paths per course. Each track branches into different directions.
- Improved graphic textures, reflection-mapping on vehicles and the like.
- New "techno" in-game music tracks.
- Memory Pak Support, Rumble Pak Support.
The first thing Rush fans will notice upon playing Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA is that the game feels much tighter than its predecessor. Vehicles react faster and with much more precision, regardless of shape or size. Powerslides, a feature nearly impossible to execute correctly in last year's game, are much easier in Rush 2, as is keeping wheels ¿ and not hoods ¿ to the pavement. Partially because of this, the game's racing element has progressed leaps and bounds. Whereas SF Rush was all about exploration and hardly about racing, Rush 2 serves up a more balanced compromise between the two.
For example, the game's first and easiest course, Las Vegas, is all about racing. There are virtually no jumps and no short-cuts. Instead, the course puts emphasis on speed, precise turning and more speed. It's very much straight-out racing. On the other hand, Rush 2's Seattle track is overflowing with secrets, death-defying ramps that send cars flipping over buildings and hidden short-cuts. Other courses include Los Angeles, Alcatraz, Uptown New York, Downtown New York, Hawaii, as well as "trick" courses Crash, Half-pipe and pipe. And, it must be said that each track serves up a healthy dose of racing, stunts, or both.
Unfortunately, while the selection is certainly more complete, none of the "racing" tracks in Rush 2, in our opinion, are as well-designed as those in the original. In attempting to create a more balanced racer, Atari Games has unwittingly sacrificed a significant portion of the over-the-top short-cuts, and sky-bound jumps that made the original so great. And, for some, that might be just fine. However, we feel that series' claim to fame revolves around those laughable stunts and we're sorry to see that they have been toned down ¿ even if it is just a little. Thankfully, Atari added the following mode, which more than makes up for some of the tame tracks:
Stunt Mode Again, Rush's helpful practice mode has returned, as has circuit seasons and single-course racing. All play identically to last year's version. The biggest advancement in Rush 2 comes with the addition of the game's Stunt Track. This single course is reason enough to own the game and here's why: it takes everything that gamers love about the Rush franchise and throws it all into one, fully-explorable level and then adds a point system.
In Stunt mode, players race their car through a huge 3D level filled with various obstacles while trying to acquire points. Points, since you asked, are racked up by successfully landing difficult stunts. What are stunts? Basically, an assortment of flips ¿ both horizontal and vertical, driving on two-wheels, and air-time. The more difficult the stunt, the more points awarded. And then there are combos. Depending on the difficulty of the stunt landed, players may receive as little as one point and as high as hundreds of points. For a full description of how the stunt mode works, see our feature on it by clicking here.
The Stunt Mode is Rush 2's most addictive gameplay mode, especially with two-players racing via split-screen. Land a 30-flip barrel-roll as the time-clock counts down to zero in a two-player point match and you will know sweet victory like you never have before. And your friend, we guarantee you, will know defeat. Because of the Stunt Mode alone, Rush 2 ranks among Nintendo 64's very best multiplayer games. You will never grow tired of this feature.
The Keys
The find-and-capture key system that extended the replay value of San Francisco Rush has returned for the sequel. Keys are hidden just about everywhere, along with newly added Mountain Dew cans, and when found, they unlock secret areas, vehicles and cheats. It's a brilliant idea and it's bound to keep gamers busy.
The Vehicles
Rush 2 features more than 16 different cars to race with, plus a handful of hidden super-goodies. Each vehicle, whether it be a Pickup truck or Muscle Car, boasts its own unique attributes. Some cars are top-heavy and prone to land on their hoods while others are extremely fast and easy to flip. Still others may be a bit on the slow side but extremely durable. You get the point. Choosing the correct car for each race is part of the game's strategy.
Vehicles include the Pickup and Muscle Car (mentioned above), as well as the compact, 4x4, Stallion, Cruiser, Hatchback, Concept, Subcompact, Sportster, Van, Exotic, Coupe, Bandit, Sedan, Mobster. Though vehicles aren't officially licensed, each model is designed to look and drive similar to its real-life, licensed counterpart. The Exotic car, for example, looks and controls eerily similar to a Lamborghini.
Each vehicle can be significantly altered with Rush 2's customize car feature. Players can increase or decrease their machine's acceleration, top speed, control and drifting. In addition, the customize feature serves up selectable transmission styles, car colors, accent colors, stripe design and colors, various tires and tire-rims, different horn sounds, different engine builds, torques, suspensions and durability. The idea is to create a balance between a vehicle's various attributes for optimum performance. And all things considered, the car system is very well executed. The variety is nice while control and handling is balanced. If you're looking for the less responsive feel of last year's game, you can still tune your car to handle like a Rush 1 car as well.
Graphics
Rush 2's graphics, slightly improved, are still a far cry from the visual league of Top Gear Overdrive or GT World Tour. The biggest enhancements over last year's game lie in new, more colorful (and sometimes strangely animated) textures, better vehicle design and a couple extras such as reflection-mapping on cars. Other than that, Rush 2 features the same blurry, bland look of the original. Road textures often don't quite line up (you can see the borders of the textures), the dust and water effects are ridiculously bad and the sparks when hitting the tracksides could have used an overhaul as well. But let's face it, the franchise never has and probably never will blow anybody away in the eye-candy department. It's more about gameplay. And that's A-OK with us. However, if Midway intents the Rush series to compete with the growing competition, it's time to give the graphics (especially the low-res textures) a signifant makeover.
Sound
In terms of sound, Rush 2 has, thank the heavens above, made some big advancements. The God-awful music of San Francisco Rush has been completely eliminated and replaced with funky jungle beats and standard techno tunes. The sampling rate is a little high, but it still sounds better than most Nintendo 64 games ¿ unless, of course, those games come from Rare, Nintendo, Iguana or Factor 5. The crusty sound effects of old have returned for one more go around -- from burning rubber around corners to screeching against walls in tight turns. Each type of car now also has different sounding engines, but none particularly stand out. Nothing sounds especially bad, but once again, no boundaries are broken either. Standard stuff. Again, it would have been nice if Atari had added a little more variety instead of reusing many effects from the first game.
