Moto Racer 2 PS1 Review

Moto Racer 2 was released for the PlayStation 1 back in 1998 and is a direct sequel to the iconic moto racer game that was released the year prior in 1997 also for the PS1. 

Both of these games in the series did eventually get further releases on windows pc and the second game in the series carries on the traditional elements that made the first game so memorable and iconic and kept the overall gameplay style and aesthetic but improved on it greatly. 

As the game has vastly improved graphics with longer and more selection or variation of tracks that are on offer. 

The game sticks to the same format of having two different game modes both with superbike and with the motocross style modes but there's more championships to play through in this game this time around. 

You also still have access to multiplayer or time trial events but one of the unique aspects of moto racer 2 compared to that of the original game and an element that you don't often see in many games is that the game also gave you access to a very unique and custom track editor where you could develop your own tracks and then play through them then with your mates. 

So when you went into the track editor you could take a track that was already within the game but you could manipulate the environment, you could raise and decrease the ground or the environment to a point where you could add hills and areas to weren't there before. 

You could widen or shorten the tracks or you could add in other little bits of elements and obstacles just to change up the gameplay and to make things more difficult and you could save the tracks onto a save file on your memory card which you could then upload or even which you could then take around to your mate's house and if he had the game or if you took the game around itself that you could play it on your mate's computer with no hassle.

So you could have a load of fun and show your own creative elements to the game itself so that was a very unique touch and allowed you to get a lot more creative with the whole dynamic of even the early type of concepts of game development which for itself and for that time was really really cool as it allowed you to engage your imagination and just get a little bit creative with the ideas that you had at the time. 

And even with the gameplay style like i mentioned does stick to the same format with that of the first game with the modes on offer even with the likes of the custom tracks that you can create, there is also a customized mode that you could create your own custom championship so you could implement tracks throughout the course of the game but you can also add in even some of the tracks that you've also created yourself and add them into the custom championship again to add a little bit of an extra dynamic to the overall gameplay. 

Now that in itself is optional and you don't need to go out of your way to complete that to unlock everything that the game has to offer but to get to the end of the game and to see the final ending and to see everything that is involved in the game you do have to play through all of the major championships. 

So you have like four major championships in the game you have a dedicated superbike championship, a dedicated motocross championship then you also have a mixed championship very similar to the first game where it combines both championships into one unique championship then you have the ultimate championship which again combines both elements and gives you a lot more variation in terms of the tracks and the overall difficulty but once you get familiar with the game and if you've become familiar with the dynamics and the handling physics of that of the first game you will be very quickly aware of what it is that you need to do. 

Yes, it is challenging for some elements and especially if you're not used to it but once you get familiar with the controls, especially on the lower difficulties of the game you will very easily win races in the championships but if you decide to play on a higher difficulty you will be presented with quite a difficult challenge as the computer ai is also ramped up and it is very very hard to win races so it will be dependent heavily on overall skill to have any chance of winning but you do have those options there if that is something you want to get involved with if you are up for a challenge. 

The gameplay is primarily the exact same as that of the original game but it just expands on it more so with the vast array of tracks in both modes so you have more motocross tracks, you have more superbike tracks and the fact is that you have the custom track editor to create your own tracks really helps to expand on the whole dynamic of the game. 

So it just took everything that was brilliant around the first game and just expanded on it tenfold and made it into a much more dynamic and bigger experience and coupled with that with the visual quality of the game as the first game in the series was already beautiful and was also a visually impressive game in its own right this game really improves on that with smoother graphics, smoother gameplay and like the first game the frame rate rarely ever drops at all throughout the course of play so you can get a really streamlined experience throughout each of the races that is extremely fast-paced. 

That's the one thing another thing about this game is that the overall sense of speed of this game is crazy and it's just a genuinely really good experience and like the first game going back to my own experience I also with my first playthrough with this game it was also on a demo disc and the demo actually gave you access to two races. 

It gave you one super bike race and one motocross race and i remember playing that demo you got it on one of the monthly uk playstation magazines that you would get years ago and i remember playing that demo for a long time. I really really enjoyed it, i remember then a few months later i managed to get the game fairly cheap, I think i got it for like about 25 irish pounds at the time later on in 1998 and i have to say I really enjoyed the entire experience. 

Just there was so much to offer in the game and the fact is i spent a lot of time just messing around in the track editor just creating tracks and just having a blast playing them in the custom championships and even with mates just definitely helped with the longevity of the game to keep you playing for longer and even with that you enjoyed the game that much that even when you did finish all the championships you still go back and play it again. 

And even looking back in hindsight going back to play the game now for recording this demo after not playing it for a number of years it is still as good as i remember and in my own opinion yeah it is like the first game before us it does expand on it greatly but it still keeps that whole aesthetic and dynamic. 

Now it will take a bit of a while granted to get used to the feel of the game but after a couple of races you get a feel for it you'll understand the controls and depending on the difficulty now yes if you do play on the higher difficulties it will present a lot more of a challenge but with the lower difficulties you'll get familiar with it after a few tries and you will have a blast sliding around the place and then just driving the bikes at really high speeds so you will have a lot of fun with this game I highly recommend if you haven't checked out any of the games in the moto racer series you do need to check out the first two games as they are really really good. 

They're definitely some of the most visually stunning racing games on the ps1 which was quite incredible for back in the day and I'd love to know your thoughts on moto racer 2 if you have played this awesome sequel itself back in the day and if so what do you think of it? 

Did you enjoy it as much as I did and did you like the whole dynamic of the game and what was on offer and if so what do you think of it in general? 

So be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Moto Racer 2, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...