Yes, Micro machines for the Mega Drive. What an achievement from the studio that now gives us the Grid and Dirt series of games. Not only does it give you an extra 2 controller ports (built into the cartridge!) for 4-player madness, it came with an absolutely excellent track editor that simply let you go crazy with placing objects and laying out huge tracks.
With a massive variety, not only in the generous list of vehicles to choose from (from F1 style racers, to hovercrafts and helicopters), but also the locations that went with each one. Personal favourites being the kitchen sideboard complete with cheerio track markers (see below) and the garden, which could double as an off-road course for the big 4x4s and a Pond for the power boats.
If racing is Codemaster's forte, then they most certainly started showing it here, creating one of the finest top-down racing games ever made, with excellent handling (dare I say, realistic in some places) on everything but the damn hovercrafts, which I'm aware do handle like fully loaded shopping trolleys, but still manage to bash around on every single corner. The A.I had a penchant for cheating, too but mostly they could be outraced by all but the most cautious of sunday drivers. Which meant I lost, a lot. :(
All in all, if you still have a Mega Drive, and you don't own this game and four controllers, I ask you why. If you do own it, break it out and invite your 3 most competitive friends around for a go on the most fun multiplayer racer quite possibly ever. (And you can quote that on the box, if you want).
For me, I think the MM series really came into it's own with V3 on the PS1. A beautiful game. And let's not forget the unfairly maligned and often overlooked Micro Maniacs.
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