In no particular order, Midnight Club II has superb AI, incredibly satisfying handling, a rock solid frame rate, extremely well judged and useful power ups, a non-linear approach to every single. As fun as the sleeper-hit Midnight Club: Street Racing was on the PlayStation 2, the Game Boy Advance rendition doesn't even come close to recreating the feel. It seems as though the developers of the game were in the dark bringing this nighttime racer to the handheld, as the idea is there.but the structure is not.

Several games degenerate into bench-clearing brawls, including one that takes place before the opening face-off, and another that brings the local police into the locker room to arrest the Hanson Brothers.Eventually Dunlop meets team owner Anita McCambridge, and discovers his efforts to increase the team's popularity (and value) through violence have been for naught, as McCambridge's better option is to fold the team as a tax write-off. By the time Dunlop decides to abandon the new strategy of violence over skill, the Chiefs' main rivals in Syracuse have already upped the ante by stocking their team full of goons in preparation for the league's championship game. Dunlop exploits Braden's marital troubles in his efforts to get him to take part in the team's brawling, to no avail. After being crushed during the first period, the disgusted general manager tells them that various scouts accepted his invitation to the game, as he was hoping that the Chiefs' habitual escapades would get the players signed.Upon hearing this news, Dunlop decides to have his team revert to their previous violent approach, much to the joy of the spectators.

Racing, surprisingly enough, at midnight. An interesting concept (note the heavy sarcasm), but there's precious little else in this nocturnal jaunt to keep you occupied. The childishly simple controls consist of the arrow keys and the occasional space bar tap to get you pointing in the right direction. The lack of reverse hinders your movement, making easily escapable positions a major feat to get out of, and this is going to happen a lot: every car drives like a brick and is about as responsive.

The AI should definitely have been patched up before release, in this case it's probably an acronym for Artificially Incompetent. Not only do pedestrian motorists seem to take having their rear wheels pushed through their front windscreen with a pinch of salt, but they're also liable to drive on the wrong side of the road for the fun of it. (The car-crushing aspect of the game is probably the only redeeming factor.) Your opponents aren't much better and appear to follow the rule of accelerating without trying to steer, in the hope that they will complete the track on a trial and error basis.

Want more? Try the ethereal landscapes that your car can pass through, from the horrendously 2D foliage to the thick bridge-supporting girders. Or the solid blocks of air that stop your car dead in the middle of the road.

If high-speed capers down challenging courses are what makes you happy, then fork out for Colin McRae Rally (now on budget) or Le Mans 24 Hours (which can be played at night and during the day!). Or, if the car-crushing side of this game is the more appealing, then may I point you in the direction of Midtown Madness or the third instalment in the Carmageddon series, but please stay away from this.