Destruction Derby 2 (PS1) Quick Review
Ah, there's nothing like a Sunday drive out in the desert, zipping around a track with 19 buddies, hell bent on putting each other into the wall over and over until only one man is left standing. What could go wrong? Destruction Derby 2, as evidenced by the "2" in the title, is the second game in this racing series that is filled to brim with total mayhem. So let's fire it up and find out if this one packs a promising punch or if it just crashes and burns.
The Good
- Unique Championship System. Most racing games have a simple and straightforward championship system : you have x amount of opponents, race and earn points against them, become the best. However in this one, the field of 20 cars are broken up into four separate divisions of five cars each. And while the individual races will pit you against the other 19 cars, as far as the points you earn, you'll only be competing against four other guys. Each season lasts four races, and if you have the most points at the end of the last race, you advance to the next ranked division which also will throw a new track at you. (The championships are still four races long so what this does is removes the first track from the set you just raced, and adds a new one at the end. So in the first season you race at tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4, but in the next division, track 1 gets dropped and you end up racing at 2, 3, 4, and the new addition of 5). It's a pretty cool system, and definitely a little different than the norm, but it really pushes the destruction derby feeling across for this game. You also can choose between Stock and Wrecking championships (Stock has you just racing to earn points based on how you finish, Wrecking you earn points based on how much damage you can cause to your opponents).
- Pit Stops. While you're racing, in the bottom right corner of the screen, a graphic of your car is displayed, and it has six key damage points that are designated by small little color-changing triangles. These triangles display what level of damage that point has taken. Everything starts in the green, and progresses through yellow, orange, red, and eventually a red-white flashing that indicates you're on the brink of permanently damaging your car, after which the triangle changes to black and you're out of the race. But there is a saving grace : most tracks have a pit road that you can swing into, and it serves as a bit of a mini-game. Once you make it to your crew, the camera pans back a little bit and you can rotate it around the car, stopping at each of the key points on your car, and mash the X button to heal up some damage. You only get one shot at a pit stop in each race, and it's not a very long one, so you'll have to be quick, but it still might be just what you need to get you across the finish line at the end.
The Bad
- Nearly Impossible Opponents. These guys are ruthless, which is a given with the style of the game. But, what I mean by impossible in this regard is that they're practically impossible to knock around. They can merely glance into you going through a corner and it will send you spinning, rolling, flipping, and plowing into a wall. Yet you can plow into them while they are at a complete dead stop, and they'll hardly move. It's almost as if their racing lines are pre-determined as each level loads, and then literally set in stone and there's nothing you can do to alter their course. After a few races, it begins to feel like the deck is stacked completely against you.
- Repetitive Commentary. The voice behind the races seems to have an extremely limited vocabulary, and there appears to be no real system for it. Most of the phrases he spits out are triggered by some sort of damage-causing event (cars colliding with the wall or each other), and it's obvious right from the first one that these are the most basic of phrases. The wide range of comments covers things like "Wow!", "Total destruction!", "Yeah!", and my personal favorite "Whooooa!"
- No Championship Destruction. Destruction Derby 2 comes with three main racing modes. These are Wrecking and Stock championships which I listed earlier, and both of which use system I described above. The last mode is simply called destruction, which drops you and the other 19 cars into an arena with the goal being to be the last man standing. This mode doesn't have it's own championship, though, and all the races for it are one-and-done races. While the arenas do get incorporated into the Wrecking championship rounds (the Wrecking championships are the same format, but after the four races the arena is thrown in), all four of the arenas in this game are a lot of fun and it would be cool to get to string them all together into one championship of shredded metal and broken cars.
Is it Worth it?
Despite the fact that it can feel like you're not allowed to win in this game, you'll still have some good fun trying. The tracks are filled with jumps and crossover areas, which can be obstacles in the Stock Racing Championship mode, or can be your best friends in the Wrecking mode. For a loose or CIB copy of this game, you shouldn't be spending more than $5 on this game, which makes it more than earn it's value in the gameplay.
The Good
- Unique Championship System. Most racing games have a simple and straightforward championship system : you have x amount of opponents, race and earn points against them, become the best. However in this one, the field of 20 cars are broken up into four separate divisions of five cars each. And while the individual races will pit you against the other 19 cars, as far as the points you earn, you'll only be competing against four other guys. Each season lasts four races, and if you have the most points at the end of the last race, you advance to the next ranked division which also will throw a new track at you. (The championships are still four races long so what this does is removes the first track from the set you just raced, and adds a new one at the end. So in the first season you race at tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4, but in the next division, track 1 gets dropped and you end up racing at 2, 3, 4, and the new addition of 5). It's a pretty cool system, and definitely a little different than the norm, but it really pushes the destruction derby feeling across for this game. You also can choose between Stock and Wrecking championships (Stock has you just racing to earn points based on how you finish, Wrecking you earn points based on how much damage you can cause to your opponents).
- Pit Stops. While you're racing, in the bottom right corner of the screen, a graphic of your car is displayed, and it has six key damage points that are designated by small little color-changing triangles. These triangles display what level of damage that point has taken. Everything starts in the green, and progresses through yellow, orange, red, and eventually a red-white flashing that indicates you're on the brink of permanently damaging your car, after which the triangle changes to black and you're out of the race. But there is a saving grace : most tracks have a pit road that you can swing into, and it serves as a bit of a mini-game. Once you make it to your crew, the camera pans back a little bit and you can rotate it around the car, stopping at each of the key points on your car, and mash the X button to heal up some damage. You only get one shot at a pit stop in each race, and it's not a very long one, so you'll have to be quick, but it still might be just what you need to get you across the finish line at the end.
The Bad
- Nearly Impossible Opponents. These guys are ruthless, which is a given with the style of the game. But, what I mean by impossible in this regard is that they're practically impossible to knock around. They can merely glance into you going through a corner and it will send you spinning, rolling, flipping, and plowing into a wall. Yet you can plow into them while they are at a complete dead stop, and they'll hardly move. It's almost as if their racing lines are pre-determined as each level loads, and then literally set in stone and there's nothing you can do to alter their course. After a few races, it begins to feel like the deck is stacked completely against you.
- Repetitive Commentary. The voice behind the races seems to have an extremely limited vocabulary, and there appears to be no real system for it. Most of the phrases he spits out are triggered by some sort of damage-causing event (cars colliding with the wall or each other), and it's obvious right from the first one that these are the most basic of phrases. The wide range of comments covers things like "Wow!", "Total destruction!", "Yeah!", and my personal favorite "Whooooa!"
- No Championship Destruction. Destruction Derby 2 comes with three main racing modes. These are Wrecking and Stock championships which I listed earlier, and both of which use system I described above. The last mode is simply called destruction, which drops you and the other 19 cars into an arena with the goal being to be the last man standing. This mode doesn't have it's own championship, though, and all the races for it are one-and-done races. While the arenas do get incorporated into the Wrecking championship rounds (the Wrecking championships are the same format, but after the four races the arena is thrown in), all four of the arenas in this game are a lot of fun and it would be cool to get to string them all together into one championship of shredded metal and broken cars.
Is it Worth it?
Despite the fact that it can feel like you're not allowed to win in this game, you'll still have some good fun trying. The tracks are filled with jumps and crossover areas, which can be obstacles in the Stock Racing Championship mode, or can be your best friends in the Wrecking mode. For a loose or CIB copy of this game, you shouldn't be spending more than $5 on this game, which makes it more than earn it's value in the gameplay.
