Beach Buggy Racing 2: Island Adventure

Beach Buggy Racing 2 Island Adventure comes as part of a series that's about as straightforward as you can get when it comes to kart racing games. That's not necessarily a bad thing either. It keeps racing mechanics simple for everyone to enjoy and builds upon those foundations adding weird and wacky stuff into the mix - hence, the mysterious island setting for this entry.

The problem remains how entertaining Beach Buggy Racing 2 Island Adventure can remain after numerous releases of the same vain. Is the racer going to be just another skin? Or is there going to be some epic adventure afoot? Players are guaranteed solid racing mechanics, but will they get a good game?

Get Your Heart Racing

So what's new in this increasingly popular casual racing franchise? Well, as you can gather by the title, our racers now find themselves competing in a unique, mysterious island setting. But that's the bare minimum of what we should expect from Beach Buggy Racing 2 Island Adventure. What about new assets, karts, and mechanics? Are there even any new game modes or objectives?

Funny you should ask - but yes, there's quite a bit of content thrown into the mix despite the game running on the same platform as the others. Apart from exploring temples, dragon-filled castles, and bizarre island locations, you'll have a plethora of new karts to unlock. Who doesn't like competing in a racing league with moon buggies and monster trucks?

But the new unlockables and collectibles are almost redundant compared to the most significant new feature - customizable game modes! That's right; now, you can make your casual racing sessions with friends more enjoyable, creating your racing rules. It can be equally as humorous as frustrating.

Beach Buggy Racing 2 Island Adventure adds big to the franchise. Still, like the others, it's one best played with others rather than yourself. Single players might quickly get bored with repetitive gameplay and frustratingly difficult races in story mode. But other than that, it's a fine casual race that sees itself even more refined than other entries to the series.

No Man is an Island

I'll admit that Beach Buggy Racing 2 Island Adventure doesn't have the competitive prowess of Mario Kart 64. But what we have here is a hugely entertaining casual racer. The level of customizability is fun, the races are challenging, and it's wacky enough that groups of friends can get a good laugh. It's a party game in its purest form, and it's bound to impress for more sessions than just one.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• A well-adjusted casual racing game
• Assets and strange environment make the game interesting
• The custom game mode adds a significant dynamic to the overall gameplay

Cons:

• Not great for single players
• Inherently the same game as the other franchise entries