Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA

"Competition you love to hate."

Introduction
San Fransisco Rush... its history? Hell if I know, it's just the kind of fun you don't find in a game very often. BUT, to my knowledge, I think there was a prequel of this game on the N64 as well, but I can't say for sure. I know there was a sequel which was called Rush 2049.

But any who, about the game. How often can you barrel down a city street and ramp up and into a skyscraper to emerge out of it at over 170 mph? Yeah, didn't think so. Jumps are especially plentiful in this game and always give you the thrill to keep on playing. Aside from all the obvious stuff, this game has dozens of secrets and many different kinds of ways to keep you playing till it's bone dry with no more meat to pick off.

Gameplay - 9/10
There are so many possibly ways to race in this game, it frigginr rules. You can create a profile(assuming you have a memory card) so all of your track and vehicle data is saved; which I highly recommend for sakes of actually getting somewhere in this game and having more fun. From here you have plenty of options. Jump into a single race with random racers in which you can start to learn the game's controls, check out your options, jump straight into a Tournament that spans dozens of races and even customizing your vehicles to the style you like. Mind you, these aren't just any customizable options, how often can you pick the engine size you want to throw into an old school Volkswagen? Yeeeah, in this game you can. You can also pick which direction you want the stripes to run down your car, the rim type or even tune your car to preset specifics for a slightly more realistic feel(yeah right).

So you've made your profile and played the game for while... that's cool, started to notice any "keys" laying around? The more you collect, the better the prizes you get. What are the prizes? I'll leave the spoilers for you to figure out. But I'll say this, they are definitely worth it.

The game has more than a dozen levels, all which are huge. Nearly explorable in every way possible. This provides for lots of strategy to prepare for races before hand so you know exactly when to take that sharp left, down into a tunnel and emerge with a huge lead from the rest of your opponents. Not only are there a ton of tracks and hidden ones, but you can also race the track backwards, mirrored or drop heavy fog into the game. The neat thing about this, Tournaments take MAJOR advantage of this. Nothing like a typical race, screaming down the track and ready to clear the typical jump... BUT OH NO! YOU FORGOT THERE WAS WIND! Now you've floated 50 yards to your right and completely missed the track to hit a building. As impractical as it is in real life, the wind speed in this game makes a huge difference when you play. It could even be to your advantage if you know how to abuse it.

There isn't just the standard racing in this game, oh no, you can play stunt tracks and have fun slamming into funny colored ramps to cause your vehicle to flip out like a kid on a sugar high. Earn yourself major stunt combo's just to gloat about it with your friends.

Regardless of what it may seem when racing your opponents, you definitely will not be able to get that vehicle to go as fast as YOU want it to when it's in your control. Don't ask me why, but I'm pretty sure it's one of those lame "catch up" codes that allows your opponents to have a chance to win the race, but then when they take the lead you fall farther and farther behind. But that's why you got shortcuts and the ability to jerk the car to the left to watch the racer next to you suddenly disappear after you pass a building.

There are many secrets in this game, along with codes. Codes are in most games and most people will first think "that's cheating!", no duh? Assuming you can enter them in yourself in a matter of seconds, it must not be intentional, eh? Trust me, if you want to sky rocket the fun factor, find dem codes'n get cheatin!

Oh yeah, almost forgot about Multi-player. So what exactly is there for you and your friend to do? Well... just about everything you do in single player, no joke. This game expands the playability options for multi-player unlike very many games. You can co-op tournaments to ensure success of your victories by double teaming your opponents. Or you can both search every nook and cranny of a level looking for that last key to unlock something... fast, hehe. Or like I talked about before, see who can perform the most insane stunt on the Stunt Track.

Control - 5/10
The controls blow, period. I updated this review recently and in that time span I played this game again and the one thing that drove me nuts was the controls. I couldn't believe how crappy it was to handle a vehicle. I pushed the joystick left or right to take a corner and the car did a complete 90 degree turn and slid into a wall. WTF? Yeah... choose your car settings carefully as they will greatly affect how you handle.

Graphics - 7/10
The graphics are nothing special compared to nowadays, but who's going to complain? Unless you're some whiny kid that needs to see the tread in your tire... then just quit playing. Ok, but seriously, this game has a huge environment. You aren't going to drive head on into what you thought was the road. Nothing like that, if at all, you'll run over a light pole... or so you expected, to realize it's made of solid rock as you go from 150mph to 0 in a millisecond. If there is one thing that can definitely get annoying in this game, it's the random obstacles that'll piss you off the most. But if it's an animate object, don't complain, it's your fault if you collide head on with a train. :|

Sound - 8/10
The music in the game isn't bad, it's enjoyable and can set the mood for a race perfectly. But I must admit, one thing I always loved doing was listening to my own music while playing this game, why? Nothing like rock music and the engine sounds revved all the way up as you peel off the start line. The sound effects are also kick ass. Everything sounds realistic, even the burning frame of the car you just caused a wreck with. Of course like most games, you have the option of adjusting the volume on many different levels. So you can listen to just the cars, just the music, or both. I think there are other options but I can't remember...

Replay Value - 8/10
How many times will you race the same track before it bores you? Hell if I know, there's too much to do in one level as it is. Sure, you'll come to a point when you'll eventually find all the secrets and probably find yourself playing a track every possible way you can(fog, wind, mirror) but you always have multi-player to do. You can even play time trial if you'd like. See who knows the tracks the best, who's got the faster car of the same type(yes, it's possible) and who can handle their car better.

When it all boils down though? If you haven't already started using cheats, something is wrong with you. This game was made for cheats and there is no reason you should NOT be abusing them. Ever seen a rat the size of your car? How about a racing time bomb ready to explode at the touch of another racer? Maybe a change in gravity to give you a weight advantage so you never leave the ground? Oh.. that's only 3 out of maybe 50 cheats you can enter to wreck havoc in your races.

Overall - 7/10
An all around fun game you will spend many many hours enjoying. Not like your typical racing game, but with extras in it you won't find in very many others. You aren't living this game to it's fullest if you don't play it with friends and use cheats.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/05, Updated 09/01/08

Game Release: Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA (US, 11/10/98)