2 Fast 2 Furious is a game based on director John Singleton's eponymous street racing flick. The game wisely eschews the movie's lackluster plot, which involves the undercover pursuit of a Miami-based drug lord. Instead, like its predecessor, 2 Fast 2 Furious provides a pretty standard racing experience, along with a bit more vehicle customization than you'd ordinarily encounter. Without the movie's spectacular vehicles, however, real tuning enthusiasts won't be so enthused. Though it's in need of a few extra coats of body paint, 2 Fast 2 Furious is a passable racer.
Whereas the underground races in the 2 Fast 2 Furious movie took place just outside populated areas, your mobile game races are set on what almost look to be Formula One tracks. It's all legit, though, because Ludacris is there, and he has learned everything there is to know about illegal street racing via "word of mouf." He'll instruct you to progress in a linear fashion, and you'll attempt to race on a new track each time you place first on one. Thankfully, each track is pretty different from the last, with new backgrounds and new turns. Add to that some online leaderboard action, and there's a decent amount of content to keep players interested.
Races are short, lasting only a single lap. You'll be competing against only two other drivers, who invariably start before you and have evidently benefited from a strong performance in some qualifying round to which you weren't privy. You'll do a fair amount of bumping and grinding with the other vehicles, so it's nice that collision detection works reliably. If you upgrade your car after every victory, the races will never be particularly challenging, unless you spin out by turning too sharply or by running over an oil slick--an obstacle usually relegated to kart racers. Digital Bridges might as well have used banana peels.
The game's control is simple, but requires the use of two hands--one on the accelerator and one to steer. Unfortunately, the cars never seem to handle like cars. You can hold a turn for a consistent length of time (about five seconds) before you'll spin out. As a result, you'll have to take turns in short bursts, which looks jerky and completely unrealistic. This is in part due to the handset's rigid, digital control, but it's still a design flaw nonetheless. Ducati Extreme used double-taps for sharp, dangerous turns. A similar feature would have worked well here.
Graphically, 2 Fast 2 Furious is pretty uninspired, even by the standards of the aging Sanyo PM-8200. The road looks literally striped--colored black and gray by thick, horizontal lines. Even though you'll constantly be upgrading your car's body, it'll look the same as your two competitors' vehicles, although there will be some palette swapping going on.
The game's sound is pretty poor. If you were to play this game blindfolded, you might think you were enjoying a late '70s-era space shooter. That would actually be pretty cool, so it's unfortunate that it's not the case here. No, your car tires just seem to make laser-shooting noises whenever you turn.
2 Fast 2 Furious includes plenty of tuning options as well as some nifty celebrity appearances, but the core game just isn't so great. A license has to be backed up by decent execution, which is not always the case here. With so many superior racers available, it's difficult to recommend 2 Fast 2 Furious to anyone but a rabid fan of the franchise.
