November Best Bets
November's a slow month for going fast, but we've got two games that speed freaks should definitely have on their shelves.OutRun 2
Xbox
Developer: Sega AM2
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: Now
Admit it, automobile culture crashed somewhere between muscle cars and the import-tuning craze, back when Americans idolized the Euro-douche setting metric system speed records in svelte Italian status symbols; back when OutRun was the best way to fulfill the fantasy. But if you weren't feeling the fad back when, you won't feel it in this age of lickety-split arcade racers like Burnout.
A refurbished classic, OutRun 2 rolls off the showroom floor in sterling condition, but without the style and NOS-fueled speed it needed to take the flag from today's fanciest, fastest competitors. Still, nostalgia nuts will find plenty of fun chasing their childhoods down memorable lanes including seaside stretches, crumbling castles, sun-baked savannahs, and other oldies but goodies. Plus, you can put pedal to metal in mission modes that offer an imaginative change of pace from start-to-finish challenges (such as passing positive and negative numbers while mentally tabulating the total). What better way to prove your math skills are as lousy now as they were in '86?
--Shawn Elliot
Need for Speed Underground 2
GC PS2 Xbox
Developer: EA LA
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: November 15
One of the biggest semi-surprising success stories of last year was EA's Need for Speed Underground, a rain-slicked, photosurrealistic, dark and stormy video game reflection of The Fast and the Furious phenomenon. The roads in NFSU2 are still straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel, but this time you're not limited to preordained stretches of pavement. Here, the whole city of Bayview (all 100 or so virtual square miles of it) is your track, and there's a ton of things to do down its side streets and up its back alleys. It's already been a banner year for EA as far as racing games go -- if you haven't played their other biggie, Burnout 3, what are you waiting for? We think NFSU2 is just gonna seal the deal.
--Sean Molloy
On the horizon: Gran Turismo 4 (PS2), FORZA Motorsport (Xbox) ......
