Pole Position II

This is one of my favorite video games of all time, this was also one of the very first video games I've every played when I was six, when I played it for the first time I just had a blast because I was able to do what I wasn't able to do at that age which was to drive a car. It was just so much fun being behind the wheel and putting the petal to the metal. Though what really enhanced the experience were those arcade cabinets that had the car seat, which are the arcade cabinets of the game I loved the best as it really gave you the feeling you really were in a racing car. This game also helps introduce me and got me fascinated to the sport racing.

The game is one of the granddaddies of racing games and it was one of the first that really started the racing genre of video games. This is a sequel to the original "Pole Position" and I think it's a really good sequel, alright it's more by it's nature a special edition to the first game but all the same those new additions give the game a little extra mileage from its predecessor.

For one thing instead of just racing on one track, you actually have four tracks to pick from each of them very in difficulty, there is the easy to medium down to the two that are hard and very hard, and those tracks really are, so don't expect to take top position on the first race. But I like that varied challenge, it causes you to come back and get better the next time you race.

Really like the animation from the backgrounds, which are each different on the tracks which is cool, so it doesn't feel so much like the same thing. You even get to see a city or anything else distant in the background which add to the differentiation but also a sense of an actual environment you are racing on. As usual really like the design of the race car which are the foil type which I always like because it really gave them a sense that they were flying on the track which they are. Their also very colorful along with the rest of the game.

Though one favorite piece of animation is the explosion, it was just cool if a little jaw dropping at the time actually seeing your car exploding whenever you either crashed into another car or right though those passing billboard of death. This just even more made you realize the stakes were high, that one wrong turn is deadly.

Gameplay is pretty much the same as expected, it's a racing game after all what else are you really going to do. Which I'm fine with as long as the control is good then we're good to go. Only bad thing is you can't compete against other players but back then the technology wasn't powerful enough to support co op or multiplayer function. Though if you want to compete with others, you'll have to do it by trying to beat their best score, which I'm fine with it's better than nothing.

There is a little music from the starting of the race as well as when the race ends which I thought was kinds cool despite brief tracks they fit the fast nature of the game. But it's really those sound effects which are just music to my ears, from seeing that car you drive just zipping along the pavement, passing each car in motion, the starter signal, and of course the explosions.

Overall if you're a fan of the racing genre of video games, this is a vintage classic that still has enough mileage for fun.

Rating: 4 stars