Delivers more replay value than the first 2 Rush games combined, and then some. Topped off with superb innovations.
User Rating: 9.8 | San Francisco Rush 2049 DC
Many people have automatically blocked this title out of their mind, refusing to even give it a chance at all. San Francisco Rush Rush 2049 is the third installment in the Rush series, and a quantum leap past anything Rush has offered before. The genius-crafted tracks will have you in total awe most of the time. Each track has many shortcuts hidden with in its layout, and each track has the ability to be run backwards too; this adds considerable replay to the tracks, considering it feels like each track is totally different when raced forwards and backwards. It's almost mind boggling, they fit so much stuff into each track, and I can't believe how they can get all of the courses to be raced backward and forward. As for the short cuts I mentioned earlier, there are so many that you can actually find shortcuts within shortcuts, and some times run the entire track just switching from shortcut to shortcut; this obviously this takes away the linear feel that the first Rush games had. The game doesn't stop there, there's also a battle mode, which is insanely fun when you get a group of friends together for some 4 player action on the few battle levels that this mode has. With many witty weapons, such as the battering ram, grenade launcher (launches bouncing explosives at will), and a slew of expected weapons, like the chain gun, rocket launcher, mines, and more; I actually had more fun playing this game's multiplayer battle mode, than I ever had playing any twisted metal game, considering the vehicles' speed in San Francisco Rush 2049 are really fast. Also another extra mode is the stunt mode; this is extremely addictive and fun to play with your friends. Think, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, with cars, tons of room, vertical wise and horizontal wise. All tricks are done by pressing a button to extrude wings from your car; using these wings, what ever direction you push on the joy stick is what ever direction your car will spin (wings are used in race mode too, since you'll be getting major air, and they always help you straighten yourself for landings). You can get your car spinning so fast it's not even funny, though almost every trick you'll be on the edge of your seat seeing if your car is going to land the trick in progress. Each stunt level is so huge in size, it's one of the features that makes the stunt mode is so fun, you can launch your car in the air and slowly watch your twirling, flipping, spinning car descend back the ground; it's nice that you don't have to perfectly land tricks to get points for it, in fact, you get more points the more times your car rolls over before it comes to a stop. There's really no counting all the moves you can get points for in this game, you might be thinking, it's a car, how many tricks can there possibly be? but you'll be really be surprised from the whacked out situations your car can find it's self in while flailing through the air and while on the ground. It's not impossible to crash though, it's really quite easy, if you stop rolling and end up upside down, then you'll blow up, and if you just hit the ground way too hard on the top of your car, and some times the side of your car. The graphics of San Francisco Rush are very good for when it came out, they really show you how fast these futuristic cars can go; with out using any cliché blur effects. The sound of Sanfransisco Rush is absolutely amazing, giving each car specific, hearty, engine sounds, while explosions, collisions, grinding metal, and firing weapons sound just like they should. There are some customizing features that make for a little addition that makes your cars feel like they're getting better as you race on through the game. There's an assortment of rims you can choose, your paint color, and your engine. Throughout San Francisco Rush 2049 you'll be earning more rims, paint jobs, vehicles, tracks, battle levels, and stunt levels; through the stunt mode, you'll be earning more stunt levels by finding and collecting tokens scattered about them (sounds easier than it looks, but make no mistake, these levels have plenty of small nooks and crannies to explore, that's why I call them stunt levels, instead of stunt arenas). In my mind, San Francisco Rush 2049 is the best racing game on the market. If you are skeptic of it from playing or seeing the first Rush games, then you need to throw that opinion away, because 2049 is nothing, I really mean, nothing like any racing game ever produced. If only they ported it to Xbox, with the Live feature, then it would be unstoppable; battle online, stunt mode online and racing online. Too bad Midway hasn't made this connection yet.
