It never fail to amaze us here at Segalife how one thing can become partially famous, then someone else uses it, and the thing they use it in becomes more famous that the original item. Case-in-point: Micro Machines. Starting out life as a bunch of little toy cars no more than 2 cm long that inevitably wound up lost, little known developer Codemasters snapped up the license to the pesky little buggers and banged out on of the most rampantly playable video games ever that went on to sell millions upon millions of copies and as such, totally eclipsed the original toy. Strange how that happens, isn’t it?
There weren’t many great racers of the 16 bit era - indeed, only Virtua Racing, F-Zero and Mario Kart spring to mind - However, Micro Machines inevitably belongs in that number. Coming out of nowhere, complicated polygons and sprite scaling techniques went out of the window as those talented guys at Codemasters instead resorted to making it a top down racing game, and adding in a nice dollop of delightful gameplay to boot. And naturally, when the sequel came about, we were expecting great things. And we weren’t disappointed, either. Oh no.
Graphically, not all that much has changed. Ok, so it may lack the revolutionary polygon visuals of the Virtua Racing’s of these world with their oh-so-nice-and-fancy dedicated poly-pushing SVP chips, but nevertheless, the game isn’t without it’s merits. The animation and detail of the car sprites may be a tad no frills, but the courses themselves are top stuff. The detail on the courses is exquisite, and definitely lets the sense of humour of the developers shine through as you dodge everything from carrots to drills, with not-too-shabby animation to boot, all presented in vibrant colours with clear, crisp resolution, too.
The sound is ok. The music is enjoyable enough and fits the atmosphere rather well, while sound effects are basic, but ok and do the job well enough.
However, it’s the gameplay that comes to the fore with MM2. The game itself is the epitome of great gameplay derived through simplicity. You have a car/circuit combination, with the idea being to either force your opponent off the screen or simply win outright depending on mode, with the player offered a series of continues.
The handling of the cars/boats/helicopters are pretty simplistic, but immensely fun as you slip and slide around the courses, carefully avoiding the hazards present. The one player mode is respectable enough - straight forward races to the finish or trial one-on-one rounds, in addition to the familiar routine that is Time Attack (also one of the first racers with a ghost mode), and as such, the game will last you a while at least, especially considering the way each of the machines handles totally differently from the one that’s gone before it, and with 17 various vehicles and over 30 tracks awaiting the player, a great deal of lastability is there.
However, it’s as a multi-player game that things really come to life. Being the caring, thoughtful people that they are, Codemasters have lovingly included two extra ports on the cart itself, meaning fun and frolics for up to four pads and 16 players (yes, you read correctly), and as with all class multiplayer games, the game works on so many levels, being ideally suited to a couple of friends looking for a bit of fun one evening through to a group of master players, each looking to hammer home their superiority using every trick in the book. As with games like Bomberman, it’s simple enough for anyone to learn and fun enough to keep you and your mates coming back for more.
So is it worth it? We think so. Undisputable the best version of a fantastic series, the game oozes natural charm with rampant playability. It may lack the flash 3D visuals of Virtua Racing or F-Zero, but it’s every bit a match for either of the two, and as such should be a firm fixture in any Mega Drive owners collection. Oh yes. |
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