Midtown Madness (also known as Midtown Madness: Chicago Edition) is a 1999 racing game developed by Angel Studios and published by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows. The demo version was released in August 1999. Two sequels followed, with Midtown Madness 2 released in September 2000 and Midtown Madness 3 released in June 2003 for the Xbox. The game is set in Chicago; the object is for the player to win street races and obtain new cars.
Unlike racing games that restrict the player to a race track, Midtown Madness offers an open world recreation of Chicago. This setting was said to provide "an unprecedented degree of freedom to drive around in a virtual city". In Cruise mode, the player can simply explore the city at their own pace. such as placing within the top three in any two races.
The game's city environment is modeled after Chicago, including many of its landmarks, such as the 'L', the Willis Tower (then known as the Sears Tower), Wrigley Field, and Soldier Field. The streets feature a number of objects the player can crash into including trash bins, parking meters, mailboxes and traffic lights. It is now supported by similar services such as GameSpy Arcade and XFire, via DirectPlay. The Multiplayer mode includes a Cops and Robbers mode, a capture the flag-style game in which players form two teams and each team tries to steal the opposing team's cache of gold and return it to their own hideout. Microsoft planned to publish sequels to racing computer games with the word Madness in the title, including Motocross Madness and Monster Truck Madness. According to project director Clinton Keith, the concept behind the game came to two Microsoft employees during an attempt to cross a crowded Paris street. The city of Chicago was chosen due to it featuring in several famous car chases in films, including The Blues Brothers. The development team asked Chicago residents to playtest the game to ensure that the city was recreated faithfully. PC Gamer reported that the re-creation was mostly accurate, although certain landmarks were moved to enhance gameplay. 8 to 15 people were working on the game at any one time. The decision to make only half the cars available at the outset was intended to promote a sense of competition.
Microsoft staff asked Angel Studios employees to prevent players from hitting pedestrians. Angel Studios (after deciding against rendering pedestrians in two dimensions) developed 3D pedestrian models that could run and jump out of the way. Midtown Madness included an option to remove pedestrians, as they do not alter gameplay but may affect system performance when in a group; consequently, the game does not require a 3D graphics card.
The finished game was released to retailers on May 18, 1999, with full distribution completed by May 27, 1999. It featured three vehicles (a Mustang, a Panoz Roadster, and a bus), and all driving modes except Circuit. The demo also included features that were scrapped in the full version, such as the ability to send billboards flying. A second demo was also released around the same time by Volkswagen, featuring the Volkswagen New Beetle. In November 1999, a patch was released to improve the multiplayer experience. The same patch was released again in May 2000 without SafeDisc protection, and again in January 2002 with a small change to fix Windows XP support. In December 1999, Angel Studios reported that they were considering a race designer for players, but ultimately this feature was not added. However, in March 2000, a vehicle creation kit was released to allow the creation of custom vehicles.
Midtown Madness is distinct from other racing games of its time, especially those influenced by the Need for Speed series, in providing an open environment rather than a closed circuit. Project director Clinton Keith said that an open world makes the gameplay more diverse and adds "element[s] of discovery" such as finding shortcuts.
| Allgame = 4.5/5
| CNG = 7/10
| CGSP = 3.5/5
| CGW = 4/5
| Edge = 8/10
| GameFan = 4/5
| GamePro = 4.5/5
| GSpot = 7.7/10
| IGN = 8.4/10
| NGen = 4/5
| PCA = 7/10
| PCGUS = 90%
| rev1 = The Cincinnati Enquirer
| rev1Score = 4/4
The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Total Video Games reviewer said the game seemed a good choice, but suggested that it would be outdone by GT Interactive's Driver, released soon after. In his book AI Game Engine Programming, Brian Schwab described Midtown Madness gameplay as "arcade style" and "fast and loose", and said the in-game traffic was satisfactory.
IGNs review described the in-game narration as "a nice touch", but noted some glitches among the otherwise "distinctive engine and horn sounds".
The staff of PC Gamer US nominated the game for their 1999 Best Racing Game award, which ultimately went to Re-Volt. They wrote that the game "lays down a racing milestone by creating a living, breathing 3D city — and then letting you trash it". It was also a nominee for Computer Gaming Worlds Racing Game of the Year award, and for CNET Gamecenters "Best Racing Game" award, but lost both of them to Need for Speed: High Stakes.
Legacy
Midtown Madness spawned a three-title series of the same name, the second entry of which, Midtown Madness 2, was developed by Angel Studios and released in September 2000. Another sequel, Midtown Madness 3, was developed by Digital Illusions CE for the Xbox and published in June 2003. The games' most-acclaimed elements were the detailed open-world environment, distinct visual presentation and sophisticated artificial intelligence.
In 2000, Angel Studios and Rockstar Games created Midnight Club: Street Racing, a PlayStation 2 video game also featuring open world recreations of urban cities. Its critical and commercial success spawned the Midnight Club series of street racing-themed games.