This third-person racing game resembles Gremlin's earlier Lotus series, in terms of its general look and feel, right down to the text font used in the game. Your task is to race through 16 countries, each of which features four races, with many real-world circuits recreated in incongruous locations (such as the Monza layout in Ayers Rock, and the old Hockenheim in Vancouver). These four-race blocks each represent their own mini-championship, in which you race against 19 cars, needing to finish in the top 10 to continue, and with the top 6 scoring points 10-6-4-3-2-1, and the respective amount of money in thousands. This can be spent on various upgrades, ranging from engine to tires (wet and dry) and from shocks (front, side and rear) to gearboxes. The ideal approach is to buy the more expensive versions ASAP, as you get no saving when upgrading. If you win the four-race championship, you get the next password. You get a set amount of nitro boost to use during each race, although bonus nitros, money and instant speed-up token appear on many tracks. Hazards such as puddles, barriers and ramps are also frequent.
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Finally onto Top Gear 2... Sorry I mean 'Top Racer 2' and honestly its more of the same from the first game with a few steps forward but then a few steps back.
Firstly before we hit those, lets just copy and paste a lot from the first games review. The controls are still really good, the music banging and the AI often feels aggressive but generally quite fair.
That said, onto a negative, the game's difficulty curve is a little off. Its actually quite hard at the beginning, you'll often be hurting to catch up with others and it can sometimes feel like you've been stacked against impossible odds. On the other side, the late game is really easy thanks to the AI not really keeping up with you as you upgrade way past them.
On the plus side, the entire screen now is yours, no more forced split-screen. Huzzah.
So yeah, if you enjoyed the first game, theres a lot to like here.
The weather changes and the money management add a depth to the game mechanics that easily keep you engaged to each race. Making those sharp turns while overtaking an opponent so you can activate the turbo when you come out of the turn is exhilarating even still! You may not have as much control as future games will give you, but it makes up for its limitations by pushing them as far as they can go.