CAPTURE THE FLAG WITH CARS

One of my favorite video games of all time was Midtown Madness 3 for the original XBox. Back in 2003 when it came out, I couldn't get enough of its simple arcade-y gameplay, especially the incredibly fun online multiplayer. It was a simple driving game, elevated to near perfection by adding numerous online modes like capture-the-flag, zombie, cops-and-robbers, and deathmatch, for up to eight players.

Seriously, most of our online Midtown Madness sessions (with full voice chat) would have me laughing out loud for hours. It was that good. Where's my other LJ peeps who participated in some of those sessions to back me up?

For those of you who now have XBox 360s, you know that backwards compatibility with original XBox titles is spotty. One glaring omission from the list was my beloved Midtown Madness, with no next-gen sequels in sight. I literally have been jonesing for this kind of online gameplay again -- I'm tired of first-person shooters and zombie/orc hackfests, I want crazy chatoic speed and hilarious stunts and online gameplay with more than four players.

There are a few close-but-no-cigar options. First up would be Crimson Skies, also an original XBox title, now available for download on XBox360. It's basically the same kind of online play as Midtown Madness -- but flying in planes instead of driving around in cars. Still pretty fun, but the more complicated controls and vertigo-inducing visuals take the edge off of the simplistic fun of just driving around a city like in Midtown.

A second option, also downloadable for XBox, is Novodrome. It's similar to Midtown in terms of its massive multiplayer modes, and it gets extra points for being more combat-oriented, with cars that have weapons -- but it definitely gets points off for being limited to arena-based combat, not vast environments. The driving is far more limited than in Midtown, which literally traversed entire cities. Plus, the controls kinda suck. Novadrome is kinda fun, but not in the same league as Midtown.

A similar option to Novadrome is a downloadable for PS3 that just came out last month called Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars (seriously, that's its full name). Terrible title, but the gameplay is actually quite fun. It's still arena-based, but it has very simple, responsive controls (far better than Novadrome's) and some unique multiplayer modes.

A final option, also downloadable on PS3, is Calling All Cars (thanks for the recommendation, animbear!). This one is a total blast and definitely worth downloading (under ten bucks!). It only supports up to four players online, but it's fast, fun, simple, and highly addictive -- it's basically capture-the-flag with cars, exactly the part of Midtown that I loved so much.

If anyone has any other recommendation for XBox or PS3 online multiplayer games that fit this mold, by all means, let me know. There's one I haven't tried yet that looks promising on both PS3 and XBox, called GripShift. I've also had a few people offer some obvious recommendations of driving games like Project Gotham Racing, Midnight Club, and Need for Speed. The problem is, those are only about driving and racing -- I'm actually not a big fan of those kind of highly technical, realistic driving games at all. I hate the monotony of most race games, round-and-round a track ad infinitum. The point behind Midtown Madness was that it took the mechanics of a driving game and applied them in a very arcade-like way to other forms of competition (like capture-the-flag).

Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge are also good examples of this (they're two of my all-time favorite games as well), because they take the idea of "driving" and turn it completely on its ear. I'd love to start playing those online again, if anyone has them. But count me out for Burnout Paradise -- that latest installment left me cold (at least the demo did), so I haven't bothered buying it; is the online play for Paradise better? Should I give it a chance?

MAKIN' A LIST...

A fairly awesome Christmas Music Mix from my pal boringpostcards. Have a listen!

CUTE GIFT CARDS

For your holiday gift-giving enjoyment, may I suggest you pick up one of these handy Target gift cards, featuring a charming illustration from my pal (and MIB production designer) Jimmy Pickering!