breaking up the slight monotony of the sound. It would be nice to hear the bustle of a busy city, the birds tweeting in the forest levels, music coming from a house etc. I think more atmospheric sounds would be helpful, for instance when you travel through the desert town on the Sahara levels, it is dead quiet. The commentary is spread out nicely, there isn't excessive intrusion but there is enough to help flesh out the sound. However, when you are far in the lead/back, the noise gets annoying, it sounds tinny and annoying. When you are in a crowd, the sound of engines is exciting and makes you feel like you're actually in a big crowd.
The engine sounds relatively powerful and helps to convey a feeling of speed. The sound effects are limited to the bike sounds and the announcer, who is back with his "WHOA! WHAT A ROCKET" and other assorted phrases. The sound is nothing to pine or praise about. Light cancelling light eh? Must be a new physics development. If your headlight (which appears to be, by the way, simply a flat bitmap) overlaps with the headlight of another racer, the area becomes dark. One of the most glaring (no pun intended) problems is with the headlights on night levels. As well there are some frustrating graphical errors. Compared to the original, where every single level was totally graphically different, this comes as a shocking step backwards. The fact that 32 tracks are all based on these same limited themes makes each race graphically tedious. There are 5 of these themes, ranging from the Sahara to Brittania to a big metropolis. The fact that what IS presented is presented quite well is overshadowed by the fact that you will see almost the exact same things on every level with the same "theme". The graphical variation between the levels is absolutely minimal. The tracks themselves, however, are seriously lacking in variety. Environment effects such as rain, snow, and nighttime are present and add variety to the tracks. Still, for some reason they don't look any better than the original. The bikers are large, detailed, colourful and well animated. Overall the engine has been cleaned up and improved over the original, but not to a really significant degree. The graphics in Moto Racer 2 are a mixed bag. While the sequel is nothing to complain about, it does not do justice to its predecessor. Bright colourful graphics were combined with interesting levels, fast paced racing, and tight arcade-like control. Moto Racer was, and still is, one of my favorite racing games. That is why I was looking forward to Moto Racer 2. They should, in theory, take a popular game, improve the graphics/sound/gameplay, and fix the mistakes and shortcomings in the original. Unlike most people, I try to look forward to sequels.