jrutz

Yeah, Apex and TIR got mostly mediocre ratings, with Apex getting the nod because it was the most beautiful racing game (at that time, now unseated by PGR2). You will like Pro Race Driver. If you are familiar with any of the old Codemaster TOCA games, this is the same series and is the logical progression of those titles. Although I wish they would have kept the European slant, they kind of aimed toward the NASCAR crowd with all the southern references. But it's more of a racing RPG, and it makes things refreshing that there's a point to it all. I'm really looking forward to the sequel, because it went back to its UK roots and also supports online play.

Another game you should check out is Colin McRae Rally 2004. It comes out in March and is only going to be $19.99. The only XBL support it has is for scoreboards, not head-on racing, but for under 20 bones you can't beat it. The '03 version was great and you can't find it for under $35 used right now, and the '04 version is an improvement in every way.

I HATED Rallisport Challenge. There was no way to correctly tune your car for each track - the tuning options were way too limited. I ended up getting rid of that game after one of the later snow stages. I tried every configuration of every car available and either I was oversteering or understeering, had too much power or not enough, etc., etc. McRae gives you more incremental tuning options, so in my mind that's the one to beat this year. RC2 would be nice for XSN and online racing, but really rally racing is against the clock, so unless it's a huge Baha race or Dakar rally, head-on rally racing is not my thing.

PGR2 gets insanely difficult on those higher medal stages. I tried to replay the first few sections until I got the Platinum medals, but after a while it got really tough. I ended up just playing through the entire game for just the steel and bronze medals, and someday I'm going to go back and see if I can get any higher. Believe me, it takes a while just to get through all those stages anyway, so get your money's worth and get through them all before you get sick of trying. The online modes are where it's at for me right now, especially if you can get a few friends together and play "cat and mouse" - teams of two, with one person being an Ultimate car and the other a Mini Cooper. The goal is to have your Mini finish ahead of all the other Minis, and the Ultimates are there just to help you out by knocking out all the other competitor cars. It's not an official game mode, just something someone came up with, and it's completely addictive.

Jeremy

Joshic

Midnight Club 2 is not for wussies. It's a HARD game. Too hard for me. I got to Tokyo and after 5 or so races in, I gave up. It was just too hard. I'm not a sucky racer either... I got 98% completion in Gran Turismo 3. In PGR2, I got 1,200,000+ kudos in single player mode and 80 platinums (the rest are all golds) in Kudos World Series.

MC2 is the hardest racing game I've ever played by far. Too many things have to go perfectly for you to win - hit all shortcuts, avoid the kamikaze antics of other racers, avoid traffic, UGH. Very frustrating, but also incredibly satisfying when you win a race. The Xbox version's graphics are TONS better than the PS2 version in MC2. I've seen them both on my HDTV with component video.

I'd like to try out NFS: Underground some day. Maybe when I have lots of time. But I think that maybe checkpoint racing is not my bag.

Calico

I really liked MC2 and NFSU. Of course, the big advantage of MC2 (for me) was that it had online play on the Xbox. I liked creating custom rally type races (lots of turns, no shortcuts, etc.) and watching supercars die out on them. I also think in MC2, the vehicles handled more distinctly than NFSU. In NFSU, most cars in a class handled almost exactly the same until you majorly tweaked them.

Of course, NFSU had that sweet customization system, so you could make a car look just the way you want it, and the graphics were far better than MC2's.

boredsilly

I feel your pain Joshic. While I do love MC2, the Tokyo races get insanely hard. I've hit a serious wall and have not been able to get past these certain races. I don't know if I ever will (without cheats). You're right when you win a race you feel like you can take on the world. I remember I was stuck on a certain set of races in Paris and once I beat them I felt like it was a national holiday.

I've had the same problem with the NFS games too though. Maybe I'm just crap at the higher levels in racing games.

ElementZ

How the hell do you get customized songs to play on this game?

Trigger

you don't

boredsilly

So I just got Underground (2 for $25 through BB.com). I've got to say I am terrible let down. I LOVED NFS:HP. The cops in that game were out of control and the tracks (while similar) varied enough to keep me interested. Underground is just lacking. It's also easy as all get out (I've won nearly every race I've won). Maybe it's because I put in so much time with Hot Pursuit(which I fealt was harder) or I'm used to Midnight Club (look 2 posts up). The soundtrack is also really reeeeeeeeeally bad. To its credit the drifting (when you finally supe your car up a bit) is kinda nifty and the drag racing is a blast. The drag races are by far the best thing about this game and I could race them all day long.