San Francisco Rush 2049 for Sega Dreamcast

Released: September 30, 2000
Platform: Dreamcast
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Atari
Genre: Racing

I don't like racing games. There, I said it. No matter how hard they try, even in the arcade, it just doesn't feel like driving to me. When I was a kid I always thought I would like this genre more after I learned how to drive. Nope, my feelings didn't change, and that's what makes Rush: 2049so great. It's nothing like real driving.

The game has three major modes:

• Racing
• Stunt
• Battle

There were several racing modes, the details of which I don't care to go into great detail about, but there's regular racing for you and up to four friends, a circuit mode, a ghost mode in which you race your previous record, and stuff like that.

Racing

Racing on the tracks in this game is pretty fun. The whole way to win and get ahead isn't be flawlessly turning each corner and being in the right gear at the right time (gag me), it's by finding awesome shortcuts and ramps that lead through, subway stations, over buildings, trough buildings, and around Sonic the Hedgehog style loop de loos.

Because the game takes place in the futuristic and far off year of 2049, the vehicles are not sims of current models. Some are equipped with jet engines. The best part is that all are equipped with wings that can be deployed for added hang time. Did I mention this game is fun?

Screw up big enough by landing a jump upside down, or smashing into a wall at 300 kph, and your car will explode. That usually sucks in most games, but not here. No, no. No matter what, if you blow or, or just take the wrong turn, you can hit an instant "Abort" button which gets you right back in the race, saving valuable seconds that would elost in any average racing game.

There are a lot of unlockables in this game that can be obtained by collecting gold or silver coins. This added a lot of replay value and really gives Rush 2049 something that most other racing games don't have, an incentive to explore. The thing is, by exploring you also find out the good shortcuts, which leads to better races.

Battle Mode and Stunt Mode

I am not usually a fan of vehicular combat, but the Battle Mode is kind of fun, especially with four players. It's standard fare. You are placed in an area with ramps, obstacles and cover. There are various power-up scattered through out that inflict damage in various way or provide defenses. Blow up the greatest number of other players, and you win.

Stunt mode is just a blast, again, especially with more than one player. I've spend hours messing around with this in two player mode. Basically, you're in an arena and the objective is to pull off insane stunts by jumping up rams, deploying wings, and doing somersaults, corkscrews, and back flips. Doing this well, and landing it, score points. If a high number of points are scored, another stunt room is opened up. It's great fun, really.

Midway did release another "Rush" game, LA Rush, but it sucked because it was just another stupid racing game.

My only disappointment is that this game didn't have an online mode. Racing, battling, and stunting online with four to eight players would've been a blast. It sure was a memorable gaming experience offline.