This has been one amazing year for video games. We've seen the release of more great games in two months (September and November) than all of last year. As usual, racing games have received a lot of attention this year, but with the release of Gran Turismo 3, NASCAR Thunder 2002, Extreme G3 and many, many others, the racing genre deserves more credit than most. Along with the standard racing games are a slew of stunt racers. Sony released Kinetica last month, and Nintendo unleashed Wave Race: Blue Storm just a couple of weeks ago. Now another stunt racer has entered the fray -- Stunt GP. Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as good as what the competition has to offer.

There are three types of tracks and vehicles in Stunt GP -- Aeroblasters, Speed Demons and Wild Wheels. Aeroblasters are the most well rounded of the bunch, featuring a nice mixture of speed, power and stunts. The tracks have been designed with the stunt performer in mind. Speed Demon tracks and vehicles are for anyone who likes to speed. Well, sort of. The name suggests that these vehicles are able to reach speeds much higher than the rest, which they do, but it still isn't fast enough. Lastly there are the Wild Wheels. Wild Wheels are the roughest and toughest of the bunch and can take quite a beating and still keep on ticking. Knocking one of these bad boys off the track is more difficult than knocking off one of the other, less stable vehicle types.

Stunt GP's game modes include: Arcade, Exhibition, Time Trial, Stunt Challenge and Championship. You have two 2-player modes to choose from as well -- Tournament and Quick Start. All of these modes are self-explanatory. None of them do anything that hasn't been done before. That would have been okay, except that none of these modes are executed overly well...

Stunt GP should have been called Snail GP because the cars move so slow. I don't care if they're supposed to be radio-controlled vehicles or not -- this is a video game, and developers are supposed to take advantage of this virtual world and create fun and entertaining games. Speed is the most important thing in a racing game. Not depth (Gran Turismo 3 is great, but if all of the cars moved at a snail-like pace, no amount of depth in the world could have made it a good game). Not the graphics. And certainly not the music (though a good soundtrack never hurts). Stunt GP doesn't have any of the former, and on top of that it lacks the high amount of speed necessary to make it a fun game. They call it a "racing" game for a reason! The speedometer said 200, but it felt like I was doing less than 50. Anything below a 60mph sensation of speed is unacceptable. If I wanted to drive slowly, I would have went to a parking lot.

The stunt system is awful. Each stunt should be executed seamlessly, never faltering unless you make a mistake. The controls are sluggish enough as is and become even worse when a stunt is thrown into the mix. Bad controls or not though, performing a stunt isn't much fun. It doesn't matter what you think of Stunt GP's basic play mechanics because its stunt system is bad enough for the entire game.

But there is one redeeming quality in Stunt GP -- the Arcade mode. It is certainly not as arcade-like as it should have been, but the controls are a little better. I even got a hint of excitement from time to time. But then it fizzled. The excitement faded and the boredom returned. I have no desire to play this game anymore. I wish I did, because I really hate bad games. They're bad for the industry and bad for gamers who waste their hard-earned cash on them. Everyone makes mistakes. It would be nearly impossible for every game developer to develop a great game every time. Like anything in life, game ideas always look great on paper. Without mistakes though, no one would have ever figured out how to get it right. Titus should look past this game and move forward. If a sequel is going to be made, concentrate on developing a better Arcade mode, refine the controls and increase the speed. Then you could have a real winner on your hands.

Graphics: 4.5
Stunt GP's graphics are so bad, you may question whether or not this is really a PlayStation 2 game. I haven't seen textures this bland since the days of the Nintendo 64. Come to think of it, there were games on that console that actually looked better than Stunt GP. The car models are fairly decent, but they look too cartoony for my tastes. Ridge Racer V was a launch title in both Japan and the United States and even it looked better than Stunt GP. RRV moved a lot faster, too.

Sound: 5
One word can describe Stunt GP's sound: generic. The music is just as bland as the rest of the game and the sound effects aren't much better.

Difficulty: 7
If the less-than-entertaining gameplay doesn't turn you off, the hard difficulty will. Your opponents are way too unforgiving. I don't mind this kind of challenge later on in a game, but the second course should never be this difficult, especially on the easiest mode in the game.

Concept: 5
Stunt GP is about radio-controlled cars that do crazy stunts. Sounds like a promotion for Tyco's latest RC, I know. Unfortunately, Stunt GP isn't nearly as entertaining as the RC I had when I was a child.

Multiplayer: 5
I hate to kick a game when it's down, but Stunt GP's two-player mode stinks. PlayStation 2 is fully capable of supporting four players at once, so I don't understand why this game can't be played by four gamers simultaneously.

Overall: 5
It all comes down to the entertainment value. Sadly, there isn't much to value about Stunt GP. You could play them until you're blue in the face, but I might as well save you the trouble and tell you that it isn't going to get any better. There are lot of great stunt racing games out right now (such as Kinetica), so there is no excuse to get this game. Do not bother renting it either. I've played more racing games this year than I care to remember, and none of them are as bad as this.