Top Gear 2

There are racing games you remember for their graphics, and then those that stick with you for their music and sense of speed. Top Gear 2 belongs unequivocally to the second group. This sequel to the popular sixteen-bit racer hurls you into a series of tracks across continents, where speed mixes with an unexpected dose of strategy and where every mistake hurts on the results table.

The core of the game is racing from a behind-the-car view along winding tracks full of rivals. Compared to plain arcade driving, Top Gear 2 adds a layer of depth: between races you spend your earned money on upgrades to the engine, tires, transmission, or nitro. You have to reckon with fuel consumption, varying weather, and vehicle damage, so each event is a bit of a managerial calculation too. This combination of arcade action and light car building made the game an above-average complex experience for its time.

Behind the game stands the studio Gremlin Graphics, a British developer with a rich racing tradition, and it builds on the success of the first installment. The Top Gear series (known under different names in some regions) was one of the flagships of the racing genre on the Super Nintendo at a time when the console did not yet have many strong representatives of this style.

An inseparable part of its renown is the stirring music. The dynamic soundtrack is among the most cited examples of how the SNES sound chip could conjure an energetic, almost rock-like atmosphere that drives the player forward perhaps even more than the speed on screen itself. Many fans to this day rank these tracks among the best that sixteen-bit racing had to offer.

Top Gear 2 earned a reputation as an honest, addictive, and surprisingly extensive racer for one or two players in split-screen. For a whole generation of players who had no access to the later 3D racers, it represented the peak of what they expected from the genre, and it is remembered to this day as one of the gems of the SNES library.

Why play: For the feeling of pure speed, an infectious soundtrack, and unexpected tactical depth in upgrades and car management.