Twisted Metal 2

"The best car racing game ever, also the best of the series."

I borrowed TM2 off of a friend, and I didn't touch it again for about five months. I thought that it would be another mindless car racing game where you just race opponents in races that are completely trivial. Then I played it for the first time, I was bored one night. My entire opinion on TM2, not to mention the rest of the series, changed. It was awesome! There are about twelve different cars, each with its own rankings in categories like armor, special weapons, and things like that. Needless to say, I fell in love with this game at first sight.

GRAPHICS: Excellent, but not as good as some other Playstation games I've seen. However, I don't consider top of the line graphics the most important thing a video game should possess, but these still rule to a degree. What is up with the first level, you can actually see the polygons making up the walls?? That's the only bad part I found about the graphics.

SOUND/MUSIC: Both excellent. When I first played TM2, I had its music stuck in my head for weeks. It has very addicting soundtracks, and pretty dang good sound, too, the kind that doesn't get annoying and repetetive five minutes after playing it. But I also don't consider this the most important category a video game should excel in, gameplay determines that.

CONTROLS: One of the more important things a video game should have. If a game doesn't have a good control system, it's hopeless. However, TM2 has an excellent contorl system. You only really need to know about four or five buttons to be able to play the game, and only three or four more for advanced maneuvers and techniques. You all know the PSX controller, either it's great or it's hopeless, never in between. Twisted Metal 2 has a truly great control system.

GAMEPLAY: This is the most important category, at least it should be. Without good gameplay, what is a video game? A bunch of excellent graphcis, sound, music, and that's just about it. The ganeplay in TM2 is completely fabulous. It all fits togeter as smooth as silk. The story, however, leaves a little something to be desired. The thing is, I can't really see any story, other than you are a car, and are seeking to destroy all other cars. The story, in case you don't know, is what brought the rating down from a ten to a nine.

DIFFICULTY: Not too terribly difficulty, but then again, I wouldn't know, because I use cheat codes whenever I play : ) I have played once without cheat codes, and I was able to get pretty far. I love games like this, not too easy, but not too hard. Your health bar isn't cut in half when you get hit once, but it does affect your health if you get hit. All in all, the difficulty of Twisted Metal 2 is superb, with no bugs whatsoever.

BUY/RENT: If your a beginner to the series, give it a rent, you're sure to love it anyway. But if you're a master or a Twisted Metal fan, definitely give it a buy, seeing as it costs only about $29.99, anyway. Overall, I love this game, and anyone who doesn't has something majorly wrong with them.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

SOUND/MUSIC: 10/10

CONTROLS: 10/10

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

DIFFICULTY: 10/10

LAST WICKED THOUGHT: THIS GAME RULES!!!!!!!!!!!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/00, Updated 01/22/00