Gentlemen, start your engines!

When Microsoft`s driving game, Midtown Madness, arrived on the scene a couple of years ago, it was welcomed for its different way of doing things. Here was a game that combined real cars with a real city (Chicago) and allowed the player to have a fun time playing some of its unconventional levels.

Where other driving simulations like Test Drive and Need for Speed focused on realism, Midtown Madness focused more on 'what if` scenarios, eg conduct a race in a city filled with pedestrians and rush hour traffic and see what happens.

It is almost two years down the line, and Microsoft and Angel Studios have teamed up again to release Midtown Madness 2 (MM2), now offering two cities, San Francisco and London, with more cars to choose from and a Crash Course Mission mode.

You can choose between a minimum (268.2Mb) and a typical (412.6Mb) install. I recommend going the typical install route as this copies all the game files to your system and allows you to listen to an audio CD while playing the game (no CD swapping required).

From the start-up screen, you can create your driving persona and set your difficulty level (amateur or professional). As soon as you`re happy with your driver, it`s all systems go. You can choose from four types of races (cruise, blitz, checkpoint and circuit) with a total of 32 races for both cities.

The cruise mode allows you to change the conditions in which you will be travelling through the city. You can customise everything from the time of day, the weather effects and the pedestrian, traffic and police density.

Blitz mode pits you against the clock in races where you must go through the checkpoints in any order before your time runs out. The circuit mode is classical racing (if you call racing at 120mph through congested streets classical) in which you must finish the laps as quickly as possible on a set course through the city.

Checkpoint races are a combination of the previous two modes. You must go through the checkpoints in any order and then beat your opponents to a finish line that is only revealed to you when you have visited all the checkpoints.

When you are happy with your race selection, it is time to pick the right car to suit the conditions. There are 20 cars to choose from, although eight of them need to be unlocked through either placing in the top three for a certain amount of races or passing exams in the Crash Course mission mode.

Options range from the small (a Mini Cooper Classic), the large (a double-decker bus) and the racy (Audi TT). My personal favourite is a tie between the Aston Martin DB7 Vantage and a Ford Mustang Cruiser. Every car comes with a set of customisable paint jobs, a fact sheet and the choice of a manual or automatic transmission.

A new option in MM2 is the Crash Course mission mode where the player can be trained as either a London cabbie or a San Francisco stunt car driver.

The training takes the form of nine classes dealing with different elements of the game. After every three classes, the player has to take a mid-term which, if successfully completed, unlocks a custom paint job for one of the available cars.

After the third mid-term, there is a final exam testing the player on all the skills learnt in the classes. Upon successful completion of the London exam, an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is unlocked, and an Audi TT is unlocked when completing the San Francisco exam.

I suggest doing the London course first, as this is considerably easier than San Francisco and is less frenetic in introducing the player to the skills required for completing the game. The only problem I have with this mode is that the commentary can become extremely annoying if you are redoing a class or exam for the sixth time.

When you`ve passed the exams and won every race possible, it is time to take on real people with a real desire to beat you using any method (both legal and illegal). Up to eight players can join in on a multiplayer game. The four normal race modes can be chosen for your multiplayer fest or you can choose the time-honoured Cops & Robbers option.

There are three types of Cops & Robbers games. The free-for-all is exactly that. Find the gold and take it back to your hideout before anyone else does. Cops & Robbers pits two teams against each other. One is trying to get the gold to the bank, while the other is trying to steal it. However, the robber teams option promises the most fun as it allows team members to choose any of the unlocked cars, making for some interesting chases.

MM2 could probably be summarised as a racing simulation combining the rebelliousness of Carmageddon (without the blood and violence), the wackiness of Wacky Wheels (without the furry animals), the off-road possibilities of Monster Truck Madness (without the mud) and the pure adrenalin of Need for Speed (without the expensive Porsche).

This game is ideal for the gamer who wants to have some off-beat fun while playing a racing game which does not take itself too seriously. Unfortunately, the game is not graphically as beautiful as it could be, nor is the sound quite what you expect from a racing simulation.

Nonetheless, the replay value (with fan sites boasting more cars and maps than you can drive in a weekend) and addictiveness of the game is sure to see it being played for quite some time.1