Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense got me grinning ear to ear. The pinnacle of car combat games, 70s funk/disco inspired aesthetic, weirdo character designs and over the top stage gimmicks/hazards. Unique to this installment, the vehicles can utilize skis, hydrofloaters and hoverpods, it feels like what Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed did to differentiate itself from its previous entry. On that note, Howard Drossin of Sonic Spinball and Sonic & Knuckles fame worked on this game's soundtrack for the PS1/Dreamcast versions and the fact that this is a multiplatform game, makes it all the more enticing to find out what makes all the different versions unique from one another. I have vivid memories of watching a cousin play this game when I was younger, the giant alien ant you can trigger in the Arizona stage traumatized me, with its PS1 marionette animations. This game is like the 3rd Strike/Sonic Racing Transformed of car combat games and while I didn't get to appreciate it as much as I do now in the past, I'm not sure if there's going to be many car combat games I'll enjoy as much as this one, maybe Twisted Metal Black, Twisted Metal 2 or the original Vigilante 8 that's it.