It's not the best tuner game but certainly not the worst.

User Rating: 7.5 | Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights PS2
By AuraLine | Review Date:
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is an excellent tuning game, may it be the graphics or the cars, it's spectacular. There's no story in this game and your only objective is to race and win some cash, upgrade your current car or buy a new one if your balance allows you to. The interface of all menu are spot-on and straight to the point making selection of options a breeze. The graphics are clean and smooth, easily one of the best in the scene of tuning games. The environment is also a feat but the blur effects of this game is just a distraction compared to other games which give it that intense and vibrant look on racing. Another distracting or probably irritating thing is the comments of other racers when you do something to them (overtake, nudge etc.). The one-liners they say get repetitive and some are not related to what you do to them. Customization, although very limited, is a treat. The game caters a very nice line-up of body kits, spoilers and wheels enough to keep you a bit busy. Wheel sizes are fully customizable meaning inches are a myth and it lets you decide how big. Paint however could use more colors or probably more shades. That is probably the only downfall on the customization. Decal work is made easier and faster in this game. Position, size and radius is for you to decide. The decals are also very neat ranging from basic ones to airbrushed pieces that are just stunning. Tuning your ride is a different thing though, before you can juice it up with some horsepower, you must first pass some challenges to get a mod, once you have beat it, a mod is given to you and you are now free to use it for your car. The car library is most impressive. Cars range from muscle to exotic, even cars you have probably haven't known are here.

Before each race, you are given a choice to gamble with one of your opponents. It's easy, you place a bet, wait for your opponent and there you go. In some instances, the opponent will either raise the wager or decrease it depending on their DNA which I will try to explain later. Be warned though, when you wager with an opponent, he becomes a better driver. Driving in this game is simplified. Its steering system is like the ones in the arcade where it's tight. The collision-detection though could use a little work, instead of the bump-and-stop, you get the bump-and-bounce meaning you maintain a bit of speed instead of completely losing speed. So yes, this game is a treat for all you who go full throttle and leave the brakes to rot. There's also something called a "spook meter" wherein you stay behind an opponent and fill the meter up until they get "spooked". Once spooked, the driver suddenly panics and crashes to a wall. Nitrous is not given anymore as it is now earned. Yes, you have to powerslide in order to get the sweet speed boost, just make sure you don't hit the wall when attempting as it will cost you some serious speed. Drifting on the other hand is very sensitive, even though you just tap the analog a bit to the direction you're going, the car completely slides making you act frantic to get it back, trying to avoid the dreaded wall. A new feature added to the game is a DNA system which I don't really know the purpose of. It's supposedly your statistics on how you're doing in a driving skill. This is where you will know what the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents are. For example, if your opponent has a high powersliding DNA, he's probably a very good drifter. You get DNA by doing various skills during races.

The soundtrack is pretty decent in this game, it's a mixed bag of genres but the menu music are always the same so they get very repetitive and annoying at times. Sound effects are not really good as it is lacking. The announcer is a nice touch though and surprisingly, it doesn't get irritating.

Other Helpful Reviews for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

Load Comments (0)