Andrew Newton on the video games we were playing back in February 2000…

To veteran gamers the year 2000 isn’t even on the radar when it comes to retro-gaming, but to many it was the time they first experienced gaming computers and consoles, the first time they got to race, chase and shoot their way through virtual worlds. The systems of the time gave rise to some excellent and memorable games and some of those that we were playing this time 20 years ago can be seen below…

Crazy Taxi – SEGA

Back in 1999 SEGA released Crazy Taxi into the arcades and it proved to be such a hit that they decided to port it to their Dreamcast console in February 2000. It was later ported to PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and PC at a later date and has managed to spawn many sequels (most of which are rubbish), yet the original Dreamcast release will go down as the one everyone remembers.

This racing game sees players take the role of a taxi driver who needs to make as much money as they can by ferrying around passengers to their destinations in the quickest time possible. Passengers can be picked up from off the street at random locations and an arrow will indicate where to go. However, unlike regular racing games (and certainly not like any taxi) players don’t have to stick to roads or keep all 4 wheels on the road as making money quick is the aim of the game and performing stunts will bring in tips.

Mention Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast to some gamers even now and they will go misty-eyed.

Check out the Crazy Taxi video from Steve Benway here…

Cool Boarders 4 – 989 Studios

First there was Cool Boarders which was great, then came Cool Boarders 2 which was decent enough, goodness knows what they did wrong with Cool Boarders 3 but they finally got back up to form with the 4th title in the series. Sure, it wasn’t as good as the original (few franchises can boast that) but it was a pretty decent snowboarding game.

Cool Boarders 4 provided a number of new features with one of the most popular being the ability to create their own boarder, altering their height, weight and clothing, and customising the board with not just a different colour but also tweaking its shape to get greater speed, stability and response. Players also had 5 new mountains to race down and also a number of game modes, such as Downhill Race, Slope Style, Big Air and the popular Half Pipe.

Although the game still didn’t live up to the fan’s expectations it still earned a 7.3/10 on veteran gaming site, Gamespot.

The Sims – Electronic Arts

No list of games from February 2000 would be complete without mentioning The Sims. Originally developed by Maxis (creators of the equally popular Sim City), The Sims was a life simulation game that practically allowed gamers to play God and control their little ‘Sim’ (or ‘Sims’ if they felt ambitious). Having designed the Sim and giving them a name, they would be placed in their own little suburb where players could then design a home and either let them live in peace and happiness or literally torture them by refusing to build a toilet.

Numerous expansion packs were released, such as Livin’ It Up and House Party, which added extra features including new purchasable items and NPCs to the game. The Sims proved to be so popular with gamers around the world and has remained so for 20 years with The Sims 4 still making EA a tidy profit.

Gran Turismo 2 – Sony Computer Entertainment

Gran Turismo 2 is one of the best (if not the best) racing games on the Playstation and really improved upon its predecessor with the inclusion of many new features, including a huge number of cars, tracks and races. The game featured two different modes: an Arcade Mode and Simulation Mode, although to play the latter mode players had to earn their driver’s license.

At the time of release Gran Turismo 2 featured one of the largest rosters of cars, totaling nearly 650 cars from 36 manufacturers including BMW, Peugeot and Vauxhall. In the Simulation Mode all these vehicles had to be purchased from race winnings, while all were freely available in Arcade Mode.

Gran Turismo 2 is still beloved by those who played it back in the day, and few love the game more than Steve Benway in the video below.

Game & Watch Gallery 3 – Nintendo

Game & Watch Gallery 3 consisted of a number of different games from the Game & Watch series of LCD handheld games that Nintendo released in the 80s and which they decided to release in bundles on the Game Boy Colour. This compilation allowed games to be played in two styles: a Classic style that faithfully reproduced the look of the original games in all their LCD glory, and modern style which gave the games a visually updated look using characters from the Mario games. Game & Watch Gallery 3 also featured a Museum where screenshots could be viewed of several Game & Watch games.

The games included in the compilation (along with 6 unlockable games) were: Egg, Green House, Turtle Bridge, Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Judge, Flagman, Lion, Spitball Sparky, Donkey Kong II, Fire.

The likes of the Playstation, Dreamcast and PCs made the days of loading games by cassette or floppy disks nothing but a distant memory, and even cartridges were starting to become a thing of the past for all but Nintendo and handheld systems. For the average gamer the fifth generation of consoles, PCs and CDs and their quick load times and large storage capacity were the way forward.

SEE ALSO: Back in the Day: The Video Games We Were Playing in February 1990

Thanks once again to Steve Benway for allowing us to use his gameplay videos. If you haven’t subscribed to him yet he is certainly a chap to follow.

Join us next month for more games we enjoyed back in the day.

Andrew Newton