Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

"Juiced 2 HIN, Start Your Engines!!"

START YOUR ENGINES
The new addition to the Juiced series in the handheld, Juiced 2 HIN, developed by Juice games which brought you the highly successful street racing game series Juiced. The game features new gameplay modes, including the new Driver DNA system which tracks your driving style from Wild to Cool. The normal race mode now goes to the Driver DNA Lab menu in which there are also different types of races like Celebrity DNA where you can challenge famous drivers like Sam Hubinette to unlock their respective vehicles. Of course there is the ever famous Career mode where you work as a racer in an organized street racing network known as Hot Import Nights or HIN for short. You face rivals and work your way from the Rookie league up to the HIN Elite status. You can also bet a certain amount of money against your opponents to earn a little extra aside from the race prize. Once again, as any other Juiced game, the damage system is neglected.

GET YOUR ART ON
As usual, the vinyl application system of the game is similar to it's predecessor wherein you select a design and you can twitch that design like re - positioning, resizing, rotating and flipping the design. You can also add more designs and layer them, allowing you to create a more artistic design. The designing can also save time by the use of the Projection Style selection form Single sided, Double sided and the Mirrored projection. Noticeably, your opponents car designs depict their identity since in any car they use you can still see the same design. What's great in this game is that if you want to use the same design again and again as what your opponents can, you can store the design template for you to just select it again on the other cars. Thus, Juiced 2 HIN's vinyl system is one of the best things to come around on the handheld.

CRANK IT UP
The sound effects of the cars are really detailed here, if you bought a stock tuner then you will hear the engine sounding like a real stock tuner and it will go more detailed as you add more powerful performance parts on your car. What's more, you really can hear the tires screech while drifting so might as well set the BGM volume to zero if you want to feel like drifting. The only thing bad here is the crashing sound cause it's always the same, if you stick to the wall at low speeds, it will really sound like scratching but if you crash at high speeds it also sound the same so there's no sense if the car crashed hard because there's also no damage, only the commentator to tell you if you have crashed hard or not, which is also annoying because it can ruin your concentration sometimes.

SUGAR DADDY
Sometimes during Career mode you will really need to buy specific cars because in some races beginning at League 5, there will be performance and car restrictions so it's best to bet at every race whenever you get the chance. It's always gonna be you leaving it to luck whether your opponents are gonna raise the bet or lower it or for worse, decline it! But here's a hint, there is one person there who always raises the bet double. I'm not gonna give the name because of one thing, "SPOILERS" so it's really good when your about in League 1 cause your maximum bet will be $250,000 so you can earn over half - a - mil in each race, not to mention if it is a championship which has a series of 3 or more races.

DEAFENING SCREECHING
One of the best game modes in the game is the Drift modes which if you get addicted can easily be mastered. The controls are a bit hard at first because of controlling the car but once you get the technique, you can own your opponents by making them look like Go - kart drivers in the theme park. One of the most challenging modes here is the drift endurance which puts your skill to the test, the rules here are simple, score the target score in one continuous drift (which in later levels, the target reaches up to 1,000,00) which means revving up the car can get you out early, it's a little bit frustrating because sometimes when you're about 100,000 from the target your car crashes, not to mention it is a 3,000,000 target. Still, an easier drift engine to master unlike The Fast and the Furious which uses Eutechnyx engine that takes ages to master completely.

THE LOW DOWN
Graphics 8/10
The cars look great especially when fitted with a good vinyl design and a great body, cars screeches during drift but leaves no permanent skid marks (lasts only about 1 lap), cars only leave sparks even when crashing at high speeds over 150 mph. Still, a great looking game.

Gameplay 9/10
New game modes to enjoy while still retaining the ever famous eliminator, great drift engine and gameplay but no damage whatsoever.

Sound 9/10
The crashing effect thing is still a problem while the soundtracks fits great into the game, car engines match well and tire screeching from the drifts sound good.

Lifespan 9/10
With a lot of unlockables and tempting drift modes and lots of ideas to come into your mind to beautify your car, the game doesn't take long to finish but the gameplay modes nad bonuses keeps you coming back for more.

Total score 9/10
Review by: JPTorres26

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/08, Updated 04/14/08

Game Release: Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (US, 10/08/07)