Top Gear 2

"Top Gear upgrades everything while upgrading your accessories!"

Top Gear II for the Super Nintendo has been majorly redone since the original Top Gear also for the Super Nintendo. The graphical difference is great, and the gameplay is much different. Some of the same features come back for the second installment though, like the much needed nitros, and traveling around the world to get to your next race.

Gameplay:

After winning a race you get money depending on what rank you were in, allowing you to customize your car. It takes nearly the whole story mode to get the car as fast as it can go, and if you don't make good choices, you could be stuck not winning races! While racing you can also pick up money and nitros along the road. Turning is fun since you usually don't have to let off the gas too hard to make the turn. But, when you do crash into a wall or something you go from blazing speed with a nitro, to 0 miles per hour, with hardly any side effects.

You still get to travel around the world, and the time is different in some races. You get to race in the night time with your lights on, going 200 miles per hour! There's also rain, and snow. You need to buy special tires for these special weather conditions, which is really cool.

Graphics:

Major improvements from all angles. If you're used to the original Top Gear, you'll go crazy when you see this. Although the weather conditions aren't as good looking, I particularly think the night time effect looks real. When your headlights cover another car you can tell what color it is and everything. It's really cool.

Sound:

The sound effects of the cars can get annoying, with the screeching of tires and such, so it's a good thing this game has awesome music! It has some of my favorite tracks of a racing game. You can tell they put a lot of time into the music.

Multi player Mode:

Also a nice feature I'm glad was implemented. It's a lot more fun when you're racing with a friend beside you. You can help each other out with the other cars. Even though it's split screen, it still deserves recognition. It's just that fun.

Fun Factor:

This game will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. You will probably play this game multiple times, to get the full effect of it. For some reason, this game is fairly hard too. I found myself resetting the race set multiple times (you get passwords for it). Get this game, somehow. Check the internet, check a local store, but make sure you can find this game somewhere. It's definitely just as good, if not better as those racing games now... But don't tell them I said that!

Of all the racing games on the SNES, I would have to say this is the best.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/30/02, Updated 12/30/02