For those of you who liked the first one, this one is definitely better. The physics are better, the graphics are somewhat better and the tracks are more interesting. They added a few varieties to the types of races as well: timed which gives you a time to beat, speed - which has gates and a time limit, eliminator which starts dropping the last place competitor every 10 seconds (selectable) until you finish or everyone is eliminated, and crash limit which gives you a limit on how many times you may crash; all a welcome change from the former version. You also have new environmental factors - water and lava. Lava makes your boost heat up faster, while water obviously cools you off extending your total boost a bit. Driving in deeper water slows you down though, and lava obviously is instant firey death. One of the biggest improvements is that you no longer have to wait for the vehicles to load!!!! They got rid of the 3D views, which is a BIG plus and time saver. There are a lot more songs and you have control over which songs play and which don't.
The ability to race splitscreen with multiple drivers is a nice addition as well. The vehicles aren't much more interesting, but there is at least a more interesting variety within each category. The new monster trucks are cool, but not the best choice for additon IMO - some really funny vehicles though. I picked it up on sale for $40, and it is safe to say that this one is worth it for fans.
