Pros: Addivtive, fun game
Cons: Nothing

The San Francisco Rush series started out in 1996 on the Nintendo 64. This was a different kind of racing game. It was a racing game that had a trick to it. You find keys to unlock new tracks and cars. Than in the summer of 1997, Rush 2 was released. I bought this game the day it came out. This game featured tracks around America. In this game, you collected keys and Mountain Dew cans to unlock new cars. This was a great game that I played until the day I traded my Nintendo 64 in. Then on September 6th 2000, a revolutionary racing game that I have been waiting for has finally been released to the Sega Dreamcast. I was the first on line to buy it at Toys R’ Us. I rushed home to play it, and I found that it is actually four games in one. This game is supposed to take place during the new gold rush in 2049 in San Francisco. This game consisted of a Race mode; the famous Stunt mode, the new Battle, and the new unlock able Obstacle coarse. I have continued to play this game ever since. So would you like this game?

San Francisco Rush 2049.

I excitingly popped it into my Dreamcast to play it. My favorite mode in the previous games was the Stunt tracks. I got right to work to get points. The more points you get, the more tracks you get to unlock. The racing mode is better than ever with nice track designs, cool new shortcuts, and the coolest car designs that I have ever seen. Rush 2049 will be in your Dreamcast until you completely beat this game. First off before I break this game down into its individual modes, I will tell you that in this game, you collect both silver and gold coins to unlock new cars and of course new cars. Each racetrack, or stunt track has eight silver coins and eight gold coins. The more you get of these, the more cars you will unlock. Here are the game modes.

Racing Mode

You start out with four racetracks. Don’t worry, because you can unlock two more. Each track is fully detailed right down to the Slim Jim billboards on the walls. I must say as an expert at the older versions of this game that this time they hid the coins very well. This means more replay value. After getting a certain amount of coins in race mode, you can unlock new cars. The coolest new feature to this Rush game is its new Wings feature. Since this is the future, you have a contraption on the sides of the car so when you are in the air, you can deploy wings to stabilize your position. It is like driving a plane. This is the coolest addition to Rush!

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Stunt Mode

This is by far, my favorite part of the Rush series. It is much different than other racing games. To those of you that don’t know, the stunt mode is just like arenas where there are jumps and ramps everywhere and the more tricks you do, the more points you get. I can play this for hours without getting bored. This is great because this game is four players so that means four times the fun. There are a total of four stunt tracks in this game. There was only one on the second one so that’s why I love this game. I am telling you, if all they had was stunt, it is still worth buying this game. This can be played with one to four players.

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Battle Mode

Rush meets Twisted Metal! I love this feature of the game. You can kick you friends but through eight different battle arenas. This is a lot of fun because if you like the traditional Twisted Metal games, than you will love this part of the game. You can use deadly weapons like a seeking missile, machine gun, mines, and a plasma gun! This better than Twisted Metal. The only problem is that you cannot play one player; you have to play multi-player on this. You can play to a certain amount of points to 50. When you kill your opponent, you get a point. When you get 500 points, you will unlock a new battle arena! You see, you expand you’re own game depending on how much you play it.


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Obstacle Mode

Only when you one million stunt points, you will unlock this obstacle course. This is a lot of fun and there is only one track of this because it is a secret. You fly through rooms of moving walls, large rooms with fire, lava, rocks, and one of the biggest jumps in a racing game that I have ever seen. It took me a while to beat this mode, but after I finally did, I kept playing it because it was so much fun.

So what kind of impressions to do you have Rush 2049? I can write about this game all day. I love it and I cannot stop playing it. Lets see how Rush2049 stacks up. Ratings are from one to five stars.

Here’s The Breakdown

Graphics
*****

This game had absolutely amazing graphics. I couldn’t close my mouth when I saw the headlights on the cars when you drive at night. The car designs are detailed and great eye candy. The tracks, mountains, roads, ramps, scenery and more all look amazing. Its hard to concentrate on racing when the graphics are so beautiful.


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Controls
*****

I may say this a lot but it clearly applies to this game. It is easy to pick-up, but it is hard to master. Once you master the turning, speed, and other racing mechanics, you will be beating the circuit modes pretty fast. I’m not saying that it is hard to figure out, it is fairly easy but to beat the circuits takes some practice. R Trigger is the gas, L Trigger is the brakes, and A is reverse. B is the wings.


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Gameplay
*****

Forget about it, when you have four different modes, you will be playing forever in a non-stop racing extravaganza. The stunt mode is the most fun. The controls fit well with this games dynamics, and the graphics do as well. I just love racing the circuit, and hitting cars to the side of the road for them to explode. Fun gameplay for a month or more!


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Music
*****

If you have read some of my earlier videogame reviews, I don’t usually include the music. In this game, I felt that it was imperative. The techno beats are great to listen to when racing through the game. They have a futuristic sound to them. Any fan of techno will definitely want this music for a CD. I’m not a big fan of techno and I loved it.


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Overall
*****

With so much to do in this game with the coins and all of the game modes, there is much to do before you get bored of it. I promise that this game will give you weeks of fun. I especially love the stunt mode and the idea of deployable wings on your car! For any racing fan, or even any Twisted Metal fan, please try this game out, I promise; this will be your next game to buy.

Bottom Line: The best Rush game ever!

Price: $39.99

Memory Card Space: 6 Blocks on VMU