Midtown Madness is a driving/racing game, but it bears more resemblance to the getaway car game "Driver" than to traditional racers. MM is set in the city of Chicago and boasts a variety of modes and vehicles.

Driving Modes

MM has four different ways to play:

At the simplest level is Cruise Mode. Here you pick a vehicle and joyride freely around the streets of the city, exploring the freeways, alleyways and shortcuts (various buildings have walls, doors and windows you can drive through). Police cars are parked at various points around the city and will set off in hot pursuit as you pass them. It can be quite amusing to pick up as many police tails as possible then try and lose them. Cruise Mode allows you to choose time of day, weather and traffic, pedestrian and police density. The skies of Chicago on a rainy dawn look pretty good.

Circuit Races appear slightly out of place in this game. Sections of Chicago have been sealed off to provide race tracks without the hindrance of traffic, pedestrians or police. This is not very convincing and is merely a nod in the direction of convention.

Blitz Races are far more entertaining - you have to pass a number of checkpoints before the timer counts down to zero. There are no other cars to race against, just the relentless timer. The checkpoints can be hit in any order, but most missions have a common sense sequence to them. You may be alone in the race, but you have to contend with traffic crossing your path or moving slowly, tailbacks at traffic lights, river bridges that rise up and launch you a hundred yards down the road and, in some races, the police. Blitz races are a lot of fun - even relatively well-driven races may mean you reach the finishing line with just a second or two to spare, giving you a real sense of satisfaction when you make it.

Checkpoint Races are the meat of the game, the "career" or "campaign" mode. You have to get round a number of checkpoints before the other cars in the race. As you succeed in each group of three races, so the next group unlocks. The races start pretty easy and end pretty hard! The checkpoints can be quite linear (especially in the early missions) or very spread out, allowing lots of choice as to the order you hit them. The opponents are intelligent and will often pick different routes from each other. They will be driving everything from tiny VW beetles to enormous trucks.

They will be pretty good at avoiding trouble, so to beat them you have to:

• Drive fast AND
• Choose the fastest route AND
• Avoid crashing into your competitors AND
• Avoid other road users AND
• Avoid entanglements with the police.

There are exceptions to the above - there is at least two maps where you can win by driving a large vehicle such as the bus the opposite way around the "track" as everyone else in the hope of hitting enough of them to assure you a place in the top three, which counts as a win in amateur mode.
 

Traffic

The traffic in this game is simply astounding. The variety is amazing - everything you would see on the streets (except bikes/motorbikes). It indicates before turning, halts at red lights and piles up convincingly at accidents. Often you will approach a critical junction to find all three lanes stopped with cars five or six deep. You then have to swing out into the opposite lanes, avoid the crossing traffic and then swing back into your lane. Not too bad, but with the police on your tail it can get tricky!
 

Pedestrians
 
 

Walking targets (Pedestrians! - Ed.) come in all shapes, colours and clothing. They can't be killed, which is probably a good thing. In fact they always manage to leap out of the way or press themselves against the wall at the last second. They will hurl abuse at you in English or Spanish as you pass (if they got out of the way in time) or scream (if they didn't!)

The Police

There are four ways to avoid the police:

• Attempt to outrun them - possible but foolhardy. You get going then run into traffic. The police surround you and hammer your car to bits.
• Encourage them to crash - this can take many forms, from sideswiping them into an oncoming truck to driving down the sidewalk on the wrong side of the street, begging them to try and follow. Quite fun if you have the rearview mirror switched on.
• Drive a police car - a laudable though misplaced esprit du corps means that police cars won't chase you if you are driving a cruiser yourself, however dangerously you drive. Bless.
• Drive something so big and powerful that it really won't matter whether or not the police want to stop you. In the game this means choosing the city bus or articulated truck. A determined police driver can sometimes get these vehicles to swerve, but more often you can total them by leading them into a busy road junction. Your bus will crash through the traffic. The police car won't!

Intuition

I have never seen a game that relied so much on intuition. If you stop to think about the best way through that crossroads at 100 mph you won't make it past the first taxi. Halfway across the lights will change and a delivery van will turn into your path. Without thinking you twist the wheel and often you are left careening up the street thinking "I have no idea how I made it in one piece!" Your instinct just takes over. Or not .... .