Released late in the Dreamcast's life, Metropolis Street Racer quickly became not only my favorite driving game, but one of my favorite games, period. The Kudos system, while flawed, had me hooked instantly. I spent countless hours trying to top my own personal bests and unlock all the cars possible. Now that I've played the sequel on the X-Box, I can't help but applaud Bizarre Creations for creating what is, in my mind, the most fun driving game ever created.
Because it's the first true racer to have been released for the X-Box, it is inevitable that PGR will be compared to Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2. But the fact of the matter is they are two different types of games. While GT3 is all about racing against other cars to earn cash for new parts and cars, PGR is based on your skills and style. It's a breath of fresh air and a revolutionary system. There are different type of levels such as the normal street races, the skill challenges (where you drive around tracks littered with cones trying to avoid them to rack up Kudos), and the hot laps (best lap time averages). So in reality, PGR really is a "driving" game because you end up doing much more than just racing.
Although the X-Box is a much more powerful system, PGR doesn't look as good as GT3. The cars look sweet and do look a tad better than those in GT3, but the backgrounds could have been done better. There is a lot of variety in them but some objects look flat (it's especially noticeable during the city fly-by). The effects also could be a little better; some of the reflection effects seem to be a bit off. Overall, however, PGR does have a nice visual presentation. It's just not as pretty as GT3's.
One of the aspects that really make this game even more enjoyable is due in large part to the X-Box hard drive. While the game has a nice enough soundtrack, you got to love Bizarre for giving you the option to import your custom soundtrack from your X-Box hard drive. So if you ever get tired of the game's music, you can switch to whatever head-bobbing tracks you might have stored on your big black box's hard drive.
The game's physics lean a little more towards arcade with a hint of sim realism. The cars do handle nice, however, and it won't take you long to get a feel for the game's control. Each car does also handle differently, so it will be easier to get kudos for sliding in one car than it will be in another. You will also catch the sense of speed, especially those who thought GT3 felt a little slow. Not only that, but PGR has vehicular damage! While not incredibly realistic (you won't flip over and not every collision will dent your car), it's at least a bit refreshing to know that some part of your car will suffer if you decide to drive like a maniac.
Chances are you won't be using all of the 40+ cars in the game, but at least you know have the chance to. PGR offers some of the most beautiful, thrilling rides ever manufactured including Ferraris and Porsches. Like I said before, the game's cars, for the most part, handle somewhat similar to their real life counterparts (or at least how I think they should), so you won't be able to complain about the game's sense of speed or choice of cars. Overall, I'd say I enjoyed PGR mostly because it didn't let me get bored of it. The Kudos system is so new and fresh and you won't want to turn your X-Box off because you'll always feel you can get those extra 100 kudos needed for the gold medal. Once you start playing this game, trust me, you're going to be hooked. Overall 9.3/10
Create an Account
Member Login
