Midtown Madness

Midtown Madness (1999)

by Angel Studios, Microsoft
Genres:Simulator, Racing
Themes:Open world, Action
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:Midtown Madness (also known as Midtown Madness: Chicago Edition) is a racing game developed for Windows by Angel Studios (now Rockstar San Diego) and published by Microsoft. The demo version was released via download on May 1, 1999 and the completed game was released toward the end of May 1999.[1] Two sequels followed, with Midtown Madness 2 released in September 2000 and Midtown Madness 3 released in June 2003 for the Xbox. The game is set in Chicago and its objective is to win street races and obtain new cars. Unlike racing games that restrict the player to a race track, Midtown Madness offers an open world recreation of Chicago. This setting was said to provide "an unprecedented degree of freedom to drive around in a virtual city".[2] Players can explore the city via one of several modes, and can determine the weather and traffic conditions for each race. The game supports multiplayer races over a local area network or the Internet. The game received generally positive reviews from gaming websites.[3]Show more
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Stories about this game (9)
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The Midtown Madness trilogy were simply the most fun driving games of all time. Maybe Burnout 3 surpassed the mayhem, but for a hilarious sandbox racing game, that ticked all the car-lovers' boxes, there was no substitute. PLUS, big plus, it introduced me to modding. The community used to be so big, if this ever comes to GOG, I hope someone has a harddive with all the mods on there, because most of the hosting websites are dead now lmao, which is even more of a reason to get them here on GOG, now!!!!
user avatar@Cluckeruser avatar@Clucker
January 29, 2025
One of the games of my childhood, and one of my closest friends which i lost back in the day. Sadly this game was never available anywhere else, so i hope you can bring it back
I played the demo of this game for hours and hours just roaming around the city and driving like I was preparing for my drivers license. I even bought a wheel to play this game.
user avatar@DJ_Zephyruser avatar@DJ_Zephyr
January 30, 2025
Not my first racing game, but I think this mighta been one of my (if not THE) first open-world racers. I spent countless hours just driving around, smashing windows and scaring pedestrians. It was highly moddable, too, with tons of cars and tracks to play with. This and its sequel deserve more love.
Midtown Madness was an absolute classic! It was one of those games that felt way ahead of its time. Free roaming throughout the windy city of Chicago was just amazing. The police chase and the pure joy of causing chaos were also amazing! GOG should really add it to the collection. It defines an entire generation
user avatar@Gnatratuser avatar@Gnatrat
February 03, 2025
I didn't play this game much. If I recall correctly, it tried to have a more realistic traffic model than most of the driving games before it. It also tried to be more realistic in other ways. For example, if you peeled out in a FWD car, it would make sure to lay the tire strip from the front wheels.
user avatar@pmaloneyuser avatar@pmaloney
March 22, 2025
This was an excellent game. Very fun! Would love to see this back on GOG. Good graphics for the time. Lots of fun trying out different jumps! Microsoft had a streak of good games back then.
user avatar@xcile92user avatar@xcile92
May 17, 2025
The game i spent my whole childhood with. The game i pleaded my father get for me after playing the demo on pcgamer cd. I modded the heck out of this back in the 90s.
user avatar@Smyrkeruser avatar@Smyrker
June 01, 2025
This was my first open world experience before TES Oblivion (years later!). The gameplay was incredible for the time it was released in, with street walkers avoiding your car, bridges going up and throwing you into the air as you were chased by the police. Both the racing mode and the full simulation mode were fun to play. I even remember trying to drive carefully instead of dashing wildly around xD
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