Codemasters continues its successful formula with Micro Maniacs, but the game's true hook is its multiplayer mode. Two players can each have his or her own controller, or they can opt to "split" their controller buttons, enabling up to four people to race at one time. By using a Multitap peripheral, up to eight players can take part. Although there are tournament, single race, and team race modes, they all boil down to the same thing - hustle to the finish line and kick your opponent's butt. Things can get somewhat frantic with eight players onscreen at once, especially with multiple special attacks flying around at the same time. Factor in painful penalties for going offscreen, and what you've got is uproarious multiplayer mayhem. The lack of a split-screen mode makes things confusing at times, but the thrill factor more than makes up for such a complaint. Better still, there's no draw-in or texture loss, even with an army of human-controlled opponents.
Although the game's overly dramatic music and vaudevillian sound effects provide a decent auditory backdrop, it's Micro Maniac's visuals that strive to catch one's eye. Everything is cute, colorful, and rendered in a distinctly whimsical style. The winding, twisting, and obstacle-laden courses overflow with such giant-sized objects as lotion bottles, steak knives, scurrying rats, and flittering bugs. Record players become launching ramps, playtime blocks fill in for checkpoint markers, and unattended power tools serve as gut-wrenching surprises in the heat of competition. The top-down camera viewpoint does limit things a bit, but not horribly so. Other than the characters, which are at times too grotesque, the game's greatest visual flaw is simply having to learn the courses ahead of time to predict oncoming turns. You can't really see that far ahead of you, so constant replay is your only hope if you want to get out of the mess alive. Some will find this a bonus. Some, a curse. Learn your way around, however, and you'll gradually begin to notice just how detailed and diverse each of the game's 41 unique courses are.
When all is said and done, Micro Maniacs is just another Micro Machines game. Even though you're running around with miniature monsters this time, the gameplay, graphical feel, and challenge are the same. As such, those new to the Micro series will have a lot of joyous discovery ahead of them, while fans of the series will continue to be delighted. Unfortunately, those frustrated by the series' restrictive camera angles and dated gameplay won't find anything new to change their minds. The game's made-up cartoon license gives it a refreshing edge, though, a fact that will no doubt endear it to younger gamers.
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