Rush 2 is better than the first game in every single way. The handling is now great, letting you turn at last minute amongst the twists and turns, the levels are more expansive with a ton of shortcuts to find, and it feels like a full video game rather than a full conversion.

The tracks feels fairly simple to begin with but as you explore them in the games best mode – practice – you’ll discover a massive amount of connected shortcuts, with multiple paths – not all of them helpful. Exploring the levels and figuring out which routes help you is a big part of the game, and the encourages this even more by hiding a ton of keys (and other collectibles) across the expansive maps.

Just driving around is a ton of fun, and the “reset” when you crash is much more suited for this mode – in the original, it tried to put you back “on track”, sometimes warping you across half the map – while this resets you close to where you exploded.

There are a bunch of tracks set across the USA, but the best ones are the ones not based on American locations. My favourite is the Midway level, which is set in a giant office building filled with computers and filled with various arcade machines of other Midway games, which also have billboards throughout the game along with adverts for magazines, like EGM and Nintendo Power (no deals were made for Europe, though, so the PAL version still has the US magazines).

There are also three stunt tracks. Two of these are suitable for racing on, while the third is a large skate park-like arena for you to have fun in.

Rush 2 takes things that felt like bolted-on experiments in the first game and brings them into focus. It’s a really fun racing game and one where just cruising around the levels is extremely enjoyable.

Fun

What also leaves Rush 2 as a bit of an outsider, as the game that goes against the system (the car game version of Wolf from Glatidators, if you like), is its tendency to toss the laws know as gravty right out the window. As a result, the game’s numerous shortcuts and unlikely multiple branching (via subways, rooftops, sewers and casinos) tend to see you and your car being sent miiiiiles into the air.

Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #24. Review Score: 73%

Remake or remaster?

A remaster of the Rush games would be great.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA