A classic, underestimated game.
In 2002, Edios released their tribute to the classic film. And it is surprisingly good, even to this day.
The storyline consists thusly; using 3 Mini Coopers, Charlie Croker and his gang of rough and tumble lads follow the plan of the late Roger Beckerman (cause of death: Traffic Collision with The Mafia), which involves stealing $4 Million in gold bullion right from underneath the noses of The Mafia and the Turin Police. In order to do this, they must cause the traffic jam from hell.
The game follows closely to the story, with brand new additions to it mostly in the London chapter of the game, a location in the film seen very briefly compared to the Italian city. The London Chapter consists mostly of driving to point A, picking up someone who must help you for the Job, and drive back to base while avoiding the rozzers. Other missions in the chapter include nicking a vehicle and delivering two ladies to Prof. Peach's abode. While this chapter may get boring, you'll soon be outrunning the Mafia and the Police with a couple of Mill in the boot while other poor people are sat in their vehicles. However, I must warn you, watch out for the Turin Mission "Interference", probably the most diabolical mission in a driving game yet. Locating the traffic cameras all over the city in the time limit, with absolutely no indication of where they are until you get near them proves to be almost as easy as trying to hammer a nail into a board with a flimsy sponge.
Owning both versions of the game (the PS1 and PC versions), I can confidently say that the PC graphics far outshine the blocky, pixelated PS1 graphics. The cars give off a nice shine, and the cars deteriorate with damage strikingly well. However, the blurred textures for shop fronts and the occasionaly shoddy skybox texture may detract visually from the experience.
The gameplay is your basic racing controls, using the arrow keys to maneuvre your car to victory. However, handbrake turns usually result in you spinning out of control over the streets of London or Turin.
The sound is great. The music is either ripped straight from Quincy Jones' original score, or a very close approximation to it. The cars' engines all sound unique. Though why every female pedestrian sounds American in London and Turin is beyond me. But then I'm just splitting hairs.
Overall, the game is great, save for a few graphical and control errors, and the odd obscenely difficult mission. Remake, anyone?