Game Description
Midtown Madness features four single-player modes: Blitz,
Circuit, Checkpoint, and Cruise. In Blitz, the player must reach a
destination within a time limit; in Circuit, the player races other
vehicles; in Checkpoint, the game adds the complication of other
traffic, such as police cars and pedestrians; and in Cruise, the player
simply explores the city. Players have a choice of up to ten vehicles,
although only five are available at the start. To unlock the other cars,
players must achieve goals such as winning a certain number of races.
Before a race, if the player has previously won the race, they can
change the race duration or the weather, which can affect vehicle
performance. Checkpoint mode allows players to set the frequency of
traffic, police cars, and pedestrians.
The game is distinctly different from other racing games—IGN noted the difference from the Need for Speed series—because of what Microsoft called "an unprecedented degree of freedom to drive around in a virtual city."
Clinton Keith, the project director, said the idea behind an "open
space" game was to make the gameplay more diverse, and to add an
"element of discovery", such as the shortcuts players can take to reach
the finish line first. Gary Whitta
described the game as open racing: "you still have checkpoints to hit
[but] you don't have to follow the A-B-C-D standard to do it".
Game Screen-Shots
