car

I really did, It's stylish, has great graphics, and great responsive controls.
But there are too many problems with this game, making it frustrating. First off the get the checkpoints in any order is a really annoying way to race. And while I don't mind a challenge I don't want to play a race 20 times until I beat it if it's not fun after the first 5. The gamemakers really should have put in an difficulty setting, instead of making you use a cheat code which either makes it way too easy or doesn't seem to do anything at all.
There are problems with the controls. Not the steering, the steering is tight and feels natural; none of the button set-up make much sense. Another problem is no option to use your own soundtracks as BGM. Every other racing game I've ever played on the Xbox has had this option so why not this one?
While the game has a nice sense of speed and style, it's just not nearly as fun as Burnout 2.

Midnight Club II is a decent but unspectacular racer that is pretty tough but fun if you have the patience to stick it out.

The game obviously has its origins in Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto III". Everything from the feel of the cars to the look of the city and the behavior of the pedestrians can be traced to that game. MCII obviously adds lots of bells and whistles to the basic driving controls. You have nitrous boosts, can control the balance of the car in mid-air, and can earn "slipstream turbo" by drafting behind other cars until a meter fills up and turns red.

The cityscapes are great, with nice recreations of L.A., Paris and Tokyo. There are tons of hidden alleys, jumps, parking garages, and shopping malls to explore.

The cars are mediocre. You won't find actual Acuras or Ferraris here. Instead, the game gives us cars loosely modeled on actual vehicles. The models are okay, but are not as polished as, say, Burnout 2, another game with fictitious cars.

The actual racing is pretty fun, though. Most involve having to hit a series of checkpoints scattered throughout the city. There is lots of room for finding your own path, taking advantage of the aforementioned alleys, ramps and passages.

However, the game is pretty tough. I found I probably have to replay each race about 10 times before winning. Also, in each race you basically have to come in first. There is no bronze medal for placing third, you'll have to start over. Basically it is impossible to win a race on your first time out, as you can do in Project Gotham 2 and Burnout 2. The difficulty may be one of the game's biggest drawbacks. In fact, when I first got it, I eventually just quit because I wasn't having any fun doing the same race over and over. But recently I picked it up again and have been having quite a bit of fun trying to figure out the best routes, even if it does take a dozen tries.

In short, I would dock this game one star for the bad graphics, and one star for the difficulty, but give back one star now that the price has come down. Gamers who like casual driving games should definitely consider picking this up.

Midnight Club II is well named, as you drive in darkness. At first, this is very intimidating, but it is changeable (you can drive at midnight, dawn, or sunset). The cars are nice and the response time is very fast. I just wish there was a better selection of well-known cars. The controls are easy to adapt to. However, the game was very difficult for me, as I found myself racing a certain track 20-30 times before I would beat it (and I am an avid racing game fan). But if you love a challenge, and a game with lots of hidden goodies and shortcuts, this might be for you!