Top gear yess Multiplayer was totaly CooooooL
Graphics: Unlike Rally, Top Gear Overdrive is one great-looking game. The cars you are driving are all shiny and beautiful, unlike the ugly gang you had to drive in its prequel. The track-side and background (while not overly detailed) look solid enough by N64 standards, and thankfully you are spared the ugly pop-ups that many racers suffer from (''cough Wipeout 64 cough''). However, the most impressive part of the graphics is how smooth it all moves. Even at its fastest there isn't any slowdown, which is obviously a big plus. The quality of the graphics is reduced in multiplayer, though, but that's not big problem.
8.5/10
Sound/Music: The sound-track of Overdrive consists of loud rock-music, which while not that easy on the ear, certainly gets the adrenaline pumping during a race. When it comes to the engine-noises, the best thing that can be said about it is that all the cars sounds slightly different from each other. The problem is that they also sound different from any real car I have heard, which can't be what the developers were gunning for. Ah well, it's not that bad overall.
7/10
Gameplay: The meat of the gameplay is the championship-mode, were you compete with other cars in laps and earn money to upgrade your excisting car, or buy a new one. There is also a VS-mode and a relatively enjoyable multiplayer-mode available. Control-wise, it is all very much like in the arcade-driving games, with almost no sliding or similar stuff to complicate matters. The tracks are well-designed, and its fun just to explore them for short-cuts and the like. What really makes this game stand out, though, is its great sense of speed. Already with the first cars the game moves fast, but when you get your hands on the more advanced cars, you really start flying. The speed also makes sure you can't relax for a second, since in that time you could suffer a painful crash, crushing your chances for victory alongside with your vehicle.
The game isn't flawless, mind, as it quite glithchy, with the car sometimes going trough a wall, or falling trough the ground after a high jump. But all in all, Top Gear Overdrive at its fastest, smoothest best is a joy to play and deserving of a good mark.
8.5/10
Lastability/Replayability: While the number of cars is satisfying, the number of tracks available is far more of a down-side. The Championship-mode is not that long either, making sure that Overdrive has got a bit of a problem with its life-span. The multiplayer helps a fair bit, mind, and the speed of the game is a reason that you will return to it, if only for a quick race.
7/10
Pros and Cons:
+
Good-looking and smooth graphics
Alright sound-track
Very good sense of speed
Well-designed tracks
Fast, exciting arcade-racing
Great cars (including some interesting bonus-cars)
Rubbish engine-noises
Un-realistic
Quite glithchy
Questionable life-span
To rent or to buy?
It depends on how much you expect of your games. If you demand a driving-game that can keep you going for months, featuring tons of cars and tracks, this is best left as a rental. However, if all you want is smooth, fast and enjoyable driving-game, it is certainly a buy. Top Gear Overdrive is a very good game, and while it has certain problems, the good points outdo the bad. Certainly worth a try.
Overall: 8/10