Super Monaco GP 2 review - Sega Megadrive

Following the phenomenal success of the original Megadrive conversion of the Super Monaco Grand Prix coin-op, a console-only follow up has now been designed.

Once again you are thrown into the hot seat as a hopeful unknown on the world racing scene aiming for global victory by the end of the season. However, you are not alone in your quest for world tarmac domination. That wily old racer, Ayrton Senna, from whom the game is licensed is having a crack at yet another global title and doesn't want any race virgins standing in his way. Thus he has singled you out as his rival to publicly ridicule your failures and generally make you look like an utter dimwit. Can you reverse the compliment by dusting Ayrton's monkey exhaust pipe?

What the Mean Machines staff thought

It must be said that great though this is, it's far too much like the original Super Monaco GP for its own good. The programmers have obviously used large chunks of the original Super Monaco GP program and simply added a few extra features. The in-game graphics are virtually identical, it plays in exactly the same way and even the sound is very similar indeed. When you consider what could have been done to the game - new graphics, an F1 Exhaust Heat-style car setup system, record tables, maybe even a split-screen two-player mode - it's painfully obvious that Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II is an opportunity missed in a big way. At the end of the day, it's a fun and exciting race game, one of the best available on the Megadrive, but it's definitely nowhere near different enough to be worth buying if you've already got Super Monaco GP. If you haven't, though, check it out.

Super Monaco GP still ranks as one of the best racers on the Megadrive, and great things were expected from the sequel. The main body of the game remains the same as the original, with the same choice of transmissions, most of the same tracks, the same graphics and pretty much the same gameplay. Herein lies the problem with Super Monaco II. Although there are some new tracks and the Senna GP option, there really isn't much difference between this and the original. In fact the Super Challenge option which appeared in the first game has been left out! That's not to say Super Monaco II is a bad game, because it's really very good. The problem is if you own the original, there's nothing here which would warrant the extra expense of buying the follow-up. If you don't have the first title this might be worth a look, but to be quite honest the original provided better value for money.