The programmers behind this Dreamcast version were no slouches San Francisco Rush 2049 clips along at an amazing rate. Pumping out an impressive and incredibly constant 60 frames per second at a resolution of 640x480, the title is a graphical powerhouse in nearly, every sense of the word. It might not have that realistic touch of Sega’s Ferrari 355 Challenge, but the futuristic worlds that Midway and Atari Games have created are able to truly come alive with the game’s engine. And nope, there’s no slowdown or any of that nasty fog that occupies the boundaries of the game’s view like in other versions of San Francisco Rush – even during the hectic four player multiplayer modes.

Players should keep in mind that before making judgments about the games length be aware that much of the game is buried beneath secrets that are awaiting discovery. Before even completing a single lap around a given track it’s obvious that the designers developed this as a title that gamers will not be putting down anytime soon; finding the secrets themselves might be easy enough, but actually obtaining their rewards are far more challenging. Scattered throughout each of the game’s tracks are, eight gold icons and eight silver icons. Some of them are sitting in the path of shortcuts but it’s more common to find them far off the beaten path and they won’t be obtained during a normal race. Even after persistent trying for over 45 minutes on a single track, I was hard pressed to grab more than around four icons.

The original San Francisco Rush didn’t have much in the multiplayer department other than the mandatory racing mode, and the sequel on the Nintendo 64 expanded upon the idea with the inclusion, of a stunt mode and such, but San Francisco Rush 2049 is where the series truly turns into a party game. The stunt mode has made a return, but Atari Games has evolved it with the addition of wings being attached to the vehicles. There are two kinds of wings to choose from, which change both the speed of turning the car in different directions and how much overall control you have over the vehicle’s stunts. As with the actual racing tracks, there are hidden icons in the stunt mode that can unlock secret materials, though most of the time is spent concentrating on the actual stunts. Each time you pull a stunt off (flipping, turning your car over on the ground barrel rolls, etc.) you are awarded a little medal, but unless you land the stunts you don’t receive anything for your work.

Other than the stunt mode, the Battle mode is where the other half of the multiplayer fun lies. It basically takes San Francisco Rush 2049 and adds in elements of Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8. Weapon power ups are thrown all about the arenas of destruction, with weapons ranging from a heavy machine gun to a green ball grenade launcher. None of the weapons are all that unique, but the actual idea is already intriguing, and Atari Games did a great job of implementing it into the game. It isn't quite as fun as it could be because of the control being too restricting, but it works, good enough.

Each time that I’ve laid hands on a San Francisco Rush title, there is one prevalent complaint that always happens to rear its head, and has yet to entirely disappear: the control. San Francisco Rush 2049 gives the player a ton of options tweak how much overall control they have over maneuvering their vehicle by adjusting certain options, but even after taking away much of the car’s speed and applying it to handling, it can’t fix the problem. The track designs and shortcuts have been made with some tight corners that are simply too hard to turn on with the game’s vehicles unless you come to a complete stop, or start turning from far away, and that’s not even a viable solution in many cases. Thus, the game then forces you to crash into a wall and explode; exiting you out of the shortcut you’d worked hard to make it into, or throwing you back into sixth place. And unfortunately, the computer AI is somehow able to turn so much sharper than you, and have no trouble navigating the game’s turns.

And secondly, the control has a tendency to be a bit too sensitive. Meaning, that if you merely tap the vehicle either way it will loose its traction and spin out. This becomes particularly frustrating in areas before large jumps. If you happen to time it right when you hit a jump however, you can actually use the wings primarily used during the stunt mode to your advantage by straightening yourself out for the upcoming landing.

San Francisco Rush was an absurdly fun racing/stunt title when it was released a few years back, and instead of falling into the trap of rehashing with a few new cars and tracks each year, Midway and, Atari Games have been able to renovate their series to get with the times. San Francisco Rush 2049 is easily the best installment yet with slick and fast visuals, an awsome multiplayer mode and an enormous amount of modes, tracks and secrets to explore. You’ll be playing this one for a while to come.