was a big proponent of the original Smuggler’s Run released back in the early days of the PS2, when its huge, open environments were an awe-inspiring feat of technology. Of course, now we all take stuff like that for granted. Fortunately, SR’s basic off-road racing action remains some of the fastest and most fun on the market. If you’re a Nintendo stalwart that hasn’t had a chance to play this series yet – you’re in luck. For a console that has perhaps the most piss-poor selection of driving games of any in history, Warzones should do the trick nicely.

Warzones is essentially an enhanced edition of Smuggler’s Run 2, and most of the single-player missions are slightly tweaked versions of the ones from that PS2 title. Fortunately, the framerate has been bumped up to a full 60 fps, and some of the new countermeasures (like Acid Drop and Vertical Boost) add a new dimension to some of the vehicles. Also, the new Fox and Hounds minigame is the best of the multiplayer mode (which can now be experienced in four-player split-screen mode). There’s only one thing that prevents Smuggler’s Run from joining the ranks of the elite – the lack of mission variety. A great majority of the stages revolve around getting packages and dropping them off somewhere. Compared to the intense and demanding levels in Stuntman, it’s a bit thin. However, accept Warzones for what it is and you’ll have a fine time.   

ANDREW REINER   7.5 No matter how you cut it, Warzones is a director’s cut of Smuggler’s Run 2. Given the fact that the series is new to the GameCube, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The main bulk of the game may appear to be the same, but if you took the time to analyze every facet of it, you’ll discover that the learning curve, balance of difficulty, and graphical prowess have all been tweaked significantly. On the outskirts, the array of multiplayer modes now support four players and hidden goodies have been added to the Joyride mode as well. Unfortunately, even with all of these enhancements in place, the gameplay still suffers from monotony. The missions are filled with variety, and each stage proves to be more hair-raising than the last, but the fact that you’re racing across the same terrain formations through the entire game is a major buzz-kill. It’s a decent title, but a little too repetitive for my blood.