Remember those old familiar butterflies experienced on every
Christmas Eve many years ago?  The anticipation?  Being 23 years
old, those sensations lie buried within a heap of memories. 
Equally forgotten are the pangs of joy that accompany ripping off
the Christmas wrap.  However, on a few occasions of adult life,
those giddy, childish feelings resurface at important milestones: 
making the final payment on that dream home, getting the
promotion you feel you've deserved for years, and the release of
Twisted Metal 2.

     As is usually the case with video games, the originals are
outdone by their sequels.  Twisted Metal 2 could not possibly be
more adhered to this tradition.  Every change in the game is an
improvement.  


C O S M E T I C S

     GRAPHICS have less of a cardboard-cutout look, but are not a
big step up in quality from those of the original game.  However,
judging from the size and complexity of some of these levels, the
artists put forth much more effort this time around because the
variety of artwork is astounding.  After all, there's scenery
from around the world this time--not just houses, buildings, and
roads.
     Score:  89%

     SOUND EFFECTS have all been replaced with more gritty and
realistic bangs, booms, and screams.  The brief yell of a
pedestrian getting shot to pieces after idiotically meandering
into crossfire is a real hoot.  The headlight machine guns have
been amplified.  Explosions sounded a bit fake and muffled in the
original, but now sound like digital recordings of a blasting
site.  Tire screeches even sound like someone locked up their
brakes outside your front door.
     Score:  95%
  
     The MUSIC is just as appropriate and atmospheric as the
tunes in the original, though the Paris diddy is highly corny. 
Absolutely LOVE the Hong Kong music.
     Score:  93%

     
G A M E P L A Y

     Still essentially the same, but has been improved through
the welcome addition of many more features and the elimination of
annoying/unnecessary features:  
     
     POINT-OF-VIEW has been improved in that the disorienting
driver's perspective of the original has been replaced with a
helicopter chasing-view of the car.  This feature comes in very
handy on large, open battlegrounds (LA, Holland).
     
     Useless WEAPONS have been replaced with ammo that always
comes in handy at some point.  Remember the rear flame, oil
slicks, and spike mines?  After having picked them up by
accident, I used to just dump them wherever so I'd have more room
for power missiles.  The remote bombs and ricochets are welcome
rookie asskickers, but I'm still not sure about that napalm.  It
burns well, but getting a direct hit is a pain.  And what's with
the lightning?  That sometimes even fails to hurt anything.  Must
be those damn rubber tires.  On the major upside, though, the
machine guns don't overheat, and those pesky snipers that
littered the streets of Twisted Metal 1 have been disposed of.  I
can't begin to tell you how many times I've thrown my controller
in frustration because I got whacked by some dunghead popping out
of a manhole and sending me straight to Hell with a single
bullet.
     The introduction of COMBO ATTACKS makes for delicious
Twisted Kombat.  Though often a hassle to execute, they usually
pull through nicely.  Only three are listed in the instruction
manual, but experimentation results in the discovery of more.  Of
the three, the Freeze Burst is arguably the most handy:  a
glowing blue ball (freon, I suppose) shoots out the front of the
car and homes in rather nicely on the closest vehicle, making it
resemble something prehistoric excavated from the bowels of
Antarctica.  For grand sadistic fun, drop a remote bomb next to
the Encino Car and detonate.  The High Jump launches your car
about three car heights into the air and makes a breeze out of
leaping to the next skyscraper, hurdling obstacles, and avoiding
those pesky ricochet bombs.  The Rear Attack combo fires the
currently selected weapon from the rear of the car.  Tear `em up
coming or going.

     REPLAYABILITY is eternal thanks to eight single-player
levels as opposed to the original's six, and at least three more
secret two-player levels on top of the eight.  Plus, each
character has a story, so the game comes complete with twelve
different endings presented in comic-book style.


VERDICT

     If I owned Minon in real life, dozens of vehicles would have
lay flattened on the interstate as I trampled over traffic
without regard to human life, making my way to the store to make
the most important PlayStation investment of the year.  Twisted
Metal 2 rises above the level of being a "game."  TM2 is an
interactive experience to be had by all.  


T W I S T E D   M E T A L   2   R E V I E W   S U P P L E M E N
T:  THE VEHICLES
     Since the stars of TM2 vary in appearance and behavior as
much as would twelve human beings chosen at random, each vehicle
deserves an individual analysis of advantages and disadvantages.

ROADKILL 
Now painted red, but essentially the same in construction: 
resembling a modified Countach prepped for war.   Fairly quick
and agile with decent armor, he makes a good adversary and
vehicle of choice.  His metal spike weapon has been replaced with
a boomerang that triples in power on its return trip and
practically shoves itself up your tailpipe-- unique but awkward.  

TWISTER
Only for close relatives of Emerson Fittipaldi.  If you thought
Crimson Fury was a handful, wait til you try to tame this Formula
1 demon.  Twister can turn on a dime at full speed with scarcely
a chirp of the tires.  However, when she sneaks up on you, expect
to be treated like a three-year-old's Matchbox when she unleashes
the Tornado Spin, and once you've returned to earth and gathered
yourself, she's long gone.

AXEL 
Permanently attached between two huge tires, Axel (get it?) is a
tormented abomination resembling the offspring of a human and a
Transformer.  He scoots about pretty well for something that
doesn't look like it can even turn.  He must be one tough-skinned
mutha for his bare torso to withstand missiles, bullets, fire,
and the like.  His attack of choice is a shockwave that radiates
from the platform at his feet.  It is said to have the force of a
nuclear explosion.  Must be measured in millitons.  

MR. SLAM
Driven by a disgruntled construction worker:  Hell defined. 
Tough as nails yet slow as flowing Alaskan crude, but hey--it's a
front loader, and don't scoff at it.  Get too close and he plays
T-Rex with your sorry ass by chomping onto you with a pair of
hungry steel jaws and repeatedly body-slamming you into junk.  No
special weapon is more fun to watch.

SHADOW
Fresh from the funeral, this spooky old fart cruises about in an
ugly purple hearse.  It gets about pretty well for a
station-wagon turned meat-wagon, and those old cars are damn
sturdy.  Get in his way and he'll graciously introduce you to his
Soul Shadows that glide along the ground towards your tires. 
They must have just recently died and are still pretty pissed off
because they blow the absolute hell out of your car!  

HAMMERHEAD
Back as a Bronco and still sporting those delightful mashing
tires, little else has changed about this beast.  You know what
to expect...don't you?

OUTLAW 2 
The sequel.  Sister cop drives a sleek cruiser compared to her
brother's late-70s Lincoln that is now a satellite.  The car's
pretty, but not exactly bulletproof.  She uses the same
omnidirectional taser, but it seems to pack a better punch.  

WARTHOG
Same in almost every way.  Hey--if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 
The only difference is that he fires three homing "patriot"
missiles.   (Now, wouldn't those destroy a few city blocks?)

MR. GRIMM
Colored up bright red and sporting a sidecar, Grimm is still his
same old dead/undead self otherwise.   However, his redrawn
Screaming Souls look more goofy than creepy. 

GRASSHOPPER
Pit Viper's replacement, I presume.  A spunky and adept little
bug, but can't take flak worth a damn.  She lets off a rebel yell
as she leaps into the air and violently crashes down on your
roof.  

THUMPER
Still da same flamethrowin' pink caddy pimpmobile straight outta
da seventies.

SPECTRE
Blue pinstriping.  Yahoo.

SWEET TOOTH (Secret vehicle)
The evil twin of Pennywise returns to dish out more death candy,
but his flaming scoops of ice cream have been replaced with what
appear to be homing monster jawbreakers that hop around til they
hit something.   He'll puree you with all kinds of weapons if he
corners you.

MINION (Secret vehicle)
Alas, the dream has come true.  I so wished to park my butt
behind the wheel of this Gulf War relic in the original TM, and
now I have the power.  This tank practically fills the screen
when you select vehicles.  Once in battle, he tramples
everything.  His armor and special weapons both rank a maximum
five bullet holes by TM standards, with an impressive speed of
four bullet holes and surprisingly agile maneuverability.  Too
bad there exist no level codes (not that you couldn't beat the
game in a matter of minutes with this thing).  Please note that
choosing Minion for a two-player challenge match may rapidly
shatter friendships.

- William Ward
wwward@cinternet.net