Street racing hasn't seen such a peak in several decades, as a new generation of speed enthusiasts outfit the most economic of cars with the latest technology has to offer – resulting in some of the fastest flying metal (or plastic) the roads have ever seen. While the expenditures and quite frankly, the legality of this growing hobby are far more than questionable, it doesn't take a 'rocket' scientist to realize the thrill of speed. Thankfully, Rockstar Games has cashed in on this trend, offering the saner of us the opportunity to experience underground racing from the comfort and safety of our own living rooms. Originally released to the Xbox and PS2, Midnight Club II has made its way to the desktop.
 
The Bubb:

Midnight Club II offers both a single-player career mode and an arcade mode – which includes an additional three modes of play which can be played either solo or online. Career mode starts the player out in the most basic of street racers, ready to cut teeth at the bottom of the rankings. The progress can be broken up into three separate types of races, typically in this order: The first race allows the player to cruise the streets of the respective city, seeking out challengers at their leisure. There are usually two prospects that the player can locate – outlined by a red arrowhead icons on an overhead mini-map. Flashing the high-beams when in close vicinity of one of the prospects will begin the challenge. Typically the challenges are overly simple, wherein the player needs to simply follow the chosen opponent to the secret racing location once instructed. Following the initial challenge will be one to a handful of races, both against the aforementioned opponent and several other racers. First place must be made in order to proceed to the next race. Each successful completion of level groupings (races that include the same main opponent) will yield that racers auto as a prize. Nothing like playing for pink-slips. Thankfully the A.I. can't win back their cars!
 
As the name implies, races are held under the cover of night, though the two extremes of this are sunset and sunrise, offering a bit more light to better appreciate the scenery. Races will be either of the usual checkpoint to checkpoint fare, or several checkpoints dotted throughout the cityscape which can be completed in any order – though there is always an optimum course to take. There are also a few "Lose the Fuzz" levels scattered throughout the game that have only one checkpoint. The only requirement of this race is to show up at the checkpoint without the cops in tow. These are the simplest of races/challenges, as I actually completed one in under 20 seconds.
 
There are three cities – Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo – with several main characters contained in each that must be defeated in order to progress to the next city. Progressing unlocks both new vehicles (won from the competitors) and new racing abilities, such as slip stream turbo, in-air controls, burnouts, and two-wheel driving.
 
Slip Stream Turbo: By drafting an opponent at moderate to high speeds, the player can gain a burst of speed akin to utilizing nitrous. (An opponent must be drafted (tailed) for several seconds, until the slip-stream gauge has reached the maximum. The burst must be used almost immediately once the gauge has filled, as leaving the drafting position will empty the meter in less than 3 seconds.)
 
In-Air Controls: Landing jumps properly will both keep damage to a minimum and speed to a maximum. Weight transfer can be applied while in air – optimally lining up both horizontal axis parallel to the landing surface. (Holding the weight transfer button will change the steering controls to left/right/forward/back pitch.)
 
Burnouts: Holding the handbrake and fully depressing the throttle from a stopped position will give the player the ability to come off the line faster than simply gunning it. (A meter is used to gauge burst-ability. The longer the handbrake and throttle are simultaneously help, the fuller the meter – the faster the take off.)
 
Two-Wheel Driving: The least useful of abilities – allows the player to tip the vehicle (not including motorcycles of course) either left or right. Useful in traffic jams, though difficult to use to any advantage. (Holding the weight transfer button and steering either hard left or right will tip the vehicle in its respective direction. Continuing to hold the weight transfer button will maintain the slant, though steering is severely hampered.)

Scattered between races are cut-scenes that add the needed character to Midnight Club II. The cut-scenes consist of your main opponent of the moment talking, or actually 'thinking' smack before finally challenging you to the next race and talking more smack. The characters are unique in style and capture a slight bit of humorous stereotypes Americans love so much. Throughout the actual racing, opponents will comment on your skills – making a few derogatory quips here and there, giving the race itself and extra dimension of character.
 
Arcade mode includes Cruise Mode, Circuit Race, and two Battle Modes. Cruise Mode allows the player to 'cruise' any unlocked cities with any previously unlocked vehicles and abilities. Circuit Race is simply a round-the-town race wherein more than one lap must be completed. Battle Mode includes both a Capture the Flag mode and Detonate mode. Capture the Flag is pretty straight forward, though a few options can greatly alter the gameplay, such as flag weight (flag carrier speed reduced) or power-up availability. Battle Mode is more or less like capture the flag: Players must find the 'detonator' and make it to the 'trigger point'. Doing so will detonate the opponents, winning the round. The only vehicles available in multiplayer are those that have been unlocked by each individual player. Since each successive car unlocked in the single-player game is generally faster, playing multiplayer before finishing the single-player career mode can be quite the handicap.
 
In addition to the cars, there are a few motorcycles that can be unlocked in the game as well. While they are far more difficult to control and master overall, they offer unparalleled speed and acceleration. The road is far less forgiving for these two-wheeled rockets. Collisions will cost several seconds of delay, as the rider is catapulted from his/her crotch-rocket. Use with CAUTION! Additionally, there are a few cars that can only be unlocked in Arcade mode.
 
Initially we chose to play the game using a Logitech Wingman gamepad. Getting used to the controls was more or less second nature, and offered play-style akin to a Playstation 2 controller, though oddly, force-feedback did not seem to function with the Wingman. Halfway through the game, we decided to try out Logitech's MOMO Racing Force Feedback wheel, which made for a much steeper learning curve – though no fault of the wheel. Due to many added features over traditional racing games, such as in-air controls, two-wheel driving, etc., using a wheel quickly became a handicap. The wheel did offer more accurate steering and brake/gas control, but trying to pull of stunts that required the use of the extra buttons on the wheel became a chore – especially with the frequency at which the player will need to perform them in order to win. Again, a wheel in any shape or form is not recommended for this game, though a well designed gamepad is. Interestingly, force-feedback worked with the wheel, even though the same Logitech driver/profiler software was used for both the Wingman and Momo. Perhaps a patch will remedy the situation?
 
Navigating the courses, even under the cover of night is simple enough, as the streets are well lit. Finding the next checkpoint is as easy as heading toward the skyward shooting beam of light. Making sure you don't take a wrong turn back at Albuquerque isn't so easy though. Some streets lead to underground passageways and others onto the expressway, where you may not actually want to be. Learning each city is key to winning races – knowing where the shortcuts are will almost always guarantee your victory.
 
If by chance, you do get bored of the defined routes of races, Midnight Club II comes equipped with a Race Editor, which allows you to custom define checkpoints (up to 64), whether the checkpoints must be run in order or any order, as well as a myriad of other options. Only unlocked cities are available in the Race Editor however.
 
The Rubb:
 
Midnight Club II offers the most original racing action for the PC that's come across our desks since… since… since I can't remember! The controls (with the right gamepad) are as good as you can get – though being able to custom define buttons is for the most part responsible for this. Even with the added controls that most racers don't contain, it shouldn't take much more than a few races to get accustomed to. You'll be power-braking around turns in no time flat.
 
There isn't a lot in the way of physics and thankfully so. If Rockstar had chosen to make the game as realistic as possible, the fun would have been sucked right out of Midnight Club II, as rooftop riding would no doubt consume much of the playtime due to the nature of racing on city streets.

and Lil' Sis:
 
This is probably the best looking racer yet, though it's hard to say for sure as you never really get to see the cities in full broad-daylight. Regardless, the night scenes are done better than anything I've seen, without creating visual distance issues. Buildings are alive with light, as are the roadways with occasional swarming traffic. The cars themselves are well designed and rendered, and display a constant sheen from the surrounding city lights. The designs resemble many real-world cars, though they don't bear their respective names due to licensing. Pretty much no automobile manufacturer will license their design and name to a game that allows damage modeling, which Midnight Club II does.
 
Depending on your hardware, draw distance can be set quite far, nearly a city wide. Seeing skyscrapers far off in the distance, only to later realize that they are actual models and not skymaps will give you an idea of the power of the engine driving this game (pun intended). The game also offers a few effects that you know you've seen in other games, but after seeing them here, you realize you had never seen them done right. Effects such as sparks flying when metal hits pavement, or the blurring/tunneling effect used when snorting nitro (again – pun intended) will cause some real "shock and awe. "
 
Can I get a "wooo, WOOO!"?
 
Ever try to play a racing game with the sound off? Not very fun is it? Feels like your watching the demo run through on the arcade classic Out Run, waiting for the high-score overlay to appear. Is there a point to what I just said? Probably not.
 
While I could care less if every car made the same exact tone of noise, the fact of the matter is, they didn't. Every car had its own sound, though to my dismay, I was not able to upgrade any of my exhaust systems with a whistle tip. Daaayam! No "wooo-WOOO" for me! What's a racin' doo' to do?
 
The best part of the sound was… no, not the deep growl of overpowered, underweighted vehicles, and no, not the "all techno, all the time" soundtrack that was included with the game. The best part was the fact that you could import your own mp3's! Simply creating a playlist in your mp3 player and saving it off to the mp3 directory created a new radio station within the game (just as in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City). Unfortunately for me, the game wouldn't play the wma files I just created after moronically ripping a CD in Windows Media Player. Why did I rip in WMP? Because I'm a freakin' idiot!
 
The Fast and the Frank
 
Frankly, you can't do better for a racing game of this genre. The closest competitor is probably Midtown Madness which now apparently has some stiff competition. The single-player career mode, no matter which way you look at it, will be the highlight of the entire game, as 1) It is the only way to unlock most vehicles, and 2) Its so much fun! Though you may find yourself repeating a race more times than you would ever want to admit, each redo is just as much fun, as the enemy A.I. is rarely predictable. Top of the line, state-of-the-art, on the cutting-edge graphics (almost) combined with the soundtrack of your choice and a moderately easy racer to jump into, Rockstar Games has once again hit a power-chord. Just make sure you use a decent gamepad with at least 8 buttons, or better yet, get a PS2 to USB controller adapter.

More Midnight Club II Data

Absolutely Unrelated Links:
Bubb Rubb and Lil' Sis
The Official Bubb Rubb Soundboard