Better than the 1st in many ways but I still prefer the original.
If you've played both the first Burnout and this one you'll notice this game has a lot more stuff from the start. It's got the Championship Mode and Single Race a long with multiplayer and Time Attack. There are two new modes, Crash and a Driving Test (which I can't remember the name of).
You have to complete the Driving Test first to be able to play the championship mode and a few other modes but the Test is quite easy. It's made up of a few different driving skills, like drifing, using your boost and Driving in to oncoming traffic. It's a pretty good addition to the game as you can go back to it again and try and beat your records.
The Championship mode is generally the same as in the first. You unlock Tracks Cars and Face Offs by completing Races. The Races are a bit more challenging this time around and take a few attempts just to get a silver medal. In each Race you compete against 3 AI Cars that range from Pick Up Trucks to Roadsters, depending on the Track.
What you unlock depends on what place you finish. If You Finish 1st and get gold you will unlock the next round, Face Offs and most of the time extra cars. Coming in 2nd unlocks the next round and maybe a face off while coming in 3rd just takes you to the next round.
Overall the Championship Mode is a lot longer and more varied than last time.
Single race and Multiplayer are pretty much the same as last time and are great if you just want a quick Race.
the Crash mode is a great feature to the game which would be on all other Burnout games since this one. You basically just crash in to a load of other cars for crash points. There are certain weak points that you can attack for Massive Damage to gain loads of points.
There are lots of different zones to go through and all feature various different types of traffic situations.
Most of the Cars handle well and the controls are very responsive. All the buttons are analog compatible which helps a lot for the brakes (and steering, if you are using the D-Pad).
The Graphics in this game are great. Even now, 4 years after it's release these visuals compare to a lot of the later PS2 titles. While the cars look mostly the same as in the previous game (only shinier), the environments are more detailed and there seems to be more action going on around you.
Crashes are also greatly improved and have a much better "wow" factor.
The music is also very good but I don't think it compares with the original soundtrack. It features a lot of the same kind of music but just doesn't seem as good.
Sound effects are great though compared to the first game. The crashes sounded quite weak in the original but this time have much more impact.
Overall this game is great. It has a lot more modes and features than the first game but for some reason I still prefer the first. It's very cheap now though and well worth the money.