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Pure fun...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: December 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After downloading and playing the demo for this game, I just had to have more. The demo is great but limited in many ways, but it really gives you a good idea of what the game is all about, so go find the demo if you're thinking about buying, download it, and give it a try. I'm sure you'll be back here soon, throwing this immediately into your cart.

With a half decent computer and a 3d card, the graphics in this will amaze you. Though not quite up to "Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit," my other main driving pleasure PC game, the ones in Midtown Madness are nothing to sneeze at. Like NFS, you can toggle all sorts of effects here, and change the time of day, the weather, the possibilities seem endless. Also like NFS, one can simply use this as a fun driving simulation, especially in the "cruise" aspect of the game. With a good pair of headphones and a gamepad, one can literally just "drive around" like in NFS and enjoy the scenery.

But the real fun here, is in something NFS lacks to a great extent, though in both games one can have "fun" evading the fuzz. The real fun of Midtown Madness is, well, in the MADNESS of driving like a MADMAN (or woman), crashing into everything and anything that moves, from other vehicles to telephone poles, to garbage cans, to whatever else happens to be onscreen, including wary pedestrians. This is a great stress-relieving game but I wouldn't get behind the wheels of a real car after playing it. Give yourself an hour or two for the "effect" to wear off, ha.

Throughout it all, the "violence" here is toned way down. Your car and others will show damage, but you can't really "harm" anyone and there is no blood and gore here at all. Pedestrians will run, they will hide, but they will not bleed or die, and that's cool. If you're in any way looking for THAT type of crazy driving experience, look elsewhere.

But if you're looking for an arcade type racer/simulation with great graphics where one can cruise around Chicago or speed around causing utter (but harmless) chaos, this is the game for you. I have found much fun in both driving like a wacko on speed and just cruising around in more mellow moods, admiring the scenery. You can also try my favorite "mode" in this, which is to toggle off ALL other cars, switch to night-time, and drive around a huge ghost town!

The best thing about the game is that one can make it into whatever they're in the "mood" for, whether it's just taking a drive, or wrecking everything in sight at breathtaking speed. I would love to see this same concept applied to Los Angeles! But Chicago's big enough, and there's plenty of terrority to explore (and crash into) here to please anyone.

If your computer can't quite handle Midtown Madness II or some of the other state-of-the-art driving titles for the PC out there, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed. Fun is the name of the game here, and this game delivers and then some.

Great Driving Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love driving games. I love this game, it's easy to play and has lots of variety. There's checkpoint races where you can race against computer opponents, and blitz races where you race against time. It's realistic enough that it's fun to just drive around. Of course, I've only had it a week, but other driving games have bored me in hours. So far, so good.

Oh, and make sure you get the patch from Microsoft for running it on Windows XP from here: http://www.microsoft.com/games/midtown/downloads.htm

There's a trial version you can download there that's pretty fun too.

Midtown Madness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Excellent game, good graphics and a high sense of realism. It's a pity Microsoft no longer sells it. The new one, MTM 2 has much higher system specs and requires a hefty video card to run whereas this one delivers the goods on machines that aren't monsters. My first impression of it when I first tried it out was "how come this game's graphics look so good on equipment that normally doesn't deliver the goods for similar games." As a "car game" it has got to be one of the best.

The full version - great, but doesn't always work

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: September 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The demo version of MM convinces you. The full version disappoints. I have Windows XP, and my Dell computer's keyboard takes about 5 seconds to respond sometimes when I play the game. If you're driving with the keyboard, you're out of luck. However: When it works, it's a super racing game with tons of races, and tons of fun in unlimited cruise mode, where you cruise around the city. Tip: if you go into dashboard mode and put the car into 1st gear, you can pretend to drive like a real person would. Overall, it's GOOD, but ONLY BUY IF: you have Windows 95 or 98 (what the game is made for) and you have the minimum requirements. XP users-you're out of luck. ME? You can try, but Microsoft always messes something up. Compatibility is the main issue here. (You can steer with the mouse, but it's really annoying. I haven't tried a steering wheel.)

Yes, oh, yes

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Fantastic game right here. You can't beat it. Even Midtown Madness 2 isn't as good. This game is totally violence-free. Sorta. The pedestrians always manage to jump out of the way of your car. No one dies, not even the police when they chase after your speeding Mustang or Panoz Roadster or Cadillac or whatever. This is a fine anger management game. There are also a lot of races for racing fans. Chicago is well done, except I don't think that Wrigley Field is accessible a mere 50 feet from the highway.

An Action Packed Racing Title

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Midtown Madness,the original driving game.This game was fairly well. It provides us with all of the best stuff.It includes 10 different vehicles such as the Ford Mustang GT,Ponaz Roadster,City Bus,Semi Truck,and more.This game has set up a chicago edition for us to speed around in.Although it does not provide us with any real driving missions.The graphics are awesome,and the level of detail is impressive.And the cops won't give up,so put the pedal to the floor and have a nice time.Your vehicle will get banged up every time you take a drive,trust me.If you are looking for this game here are some suggested stores:Best Buys,Walmart,malls,Toys R Us, K.B. Toys.I would recommend people to be at leats 8 years old to play this game. well,Happy Motoring!

Midtown Madness!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: July 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

i got this game from microsoft and it rules!!!! i love the graphics and the cars :) i also like the downloadable cars on the web:o

one of the best classic games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

While this game is already 6 years old, the graphics are astounding and make the game look like it just came out. The reflection effects, as well as the environment look great. As for the city, Chicago, it has been a bit simplified but still remains one of the best video game conversions of a city, recreating the ambiance extremely well in addition to many landmarks. As for the gameplay, the cars have a tendency to skip a bit, but overall it is a lot of fun, and the speed rendering is good. Great game overall.

when?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 8
Date: July 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

when i get it i'll review it. ordered on 6/29/02 today is 7/11/02. waiting for shipment news.

Severe disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: October 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is a disappointment at all levels. I was anxious to get this game, as I am a Chicagoan.
Very little of this game resembles Chicago. The Chicago art museum has stone lions on both side of the stairway. But not in this game. The art museum looks like just another building.
Around the museums, planetarium, etc., you find large areas of open grass. That's not how it looks. If no one had told me this was supposed to represent Chicago, I would never have guessed it. The loop is what most of us think of when we think of downtown Chicago. From the standpoint of representing Chicago, this game is a dud.
GAMEPLAY: this is really sad. Choose a Mustang, then watch the Beetles take the corners much faster than you can. In the Mustang, push a Beetle til you approach a corner, then brake in preparation for the turn. The Beetle has no need to slow down, but even when you brake the Mustang, you won't make the turn.
If another car hits you, you'll often lose control. If you hit another car, again, you'll lose control. The game is over if you carelessly crash into too many things, sustaining too much damage. The opponents never get damaged. The whole game is rigged against you. If 7 cars start, 7 will finish. Unless you wreck-but the other cars are invincible. Turning the physics realism on or off doesnt change things much.
I'm no great game player, but I at least can enjoy Carmaggedon 2. This game fails at all levels. I'm glad some others liked it, but I think it stinks really bad.

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