Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense is the sequel to 1999's first vehicular combat title on the Nintendo 64, Vigilante 8. The story finds the same two rival gangs still at each other's throats even despite the Vigilantes triumphant victory over the Coyotes at the end of the first game. It seems the Coyotes have acquired the power to travel back in time, allowing them one last opportunity to take out the Vigilantes and claim the United States as their own. This means there's going to be more shooting, driving and smashing until the score is finally settled!

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense puts you behind the wheel of one of 18 tricked-out vehicles, from a Dakota Stunt Cycle to an Excelsior Stretch Limousine, each with its own special attacks and weapons. While the game is set in the 1970s, the time travel aspect means new power-ups that can morph your ride into a fully loaded hovercraft, watercraft or the equivalent of a plow. Other upgrades you can find will help you improve your vehicle's armor, target avoidance, acceleration and speed.

The main game is the Quest Mode, which can be played by yourself or with a friend. By choosing a character, you'll advance through the eight stages of the game set around the United States: a harbor in California, a meteor crater in Arizona, the site of the Winter Games in Utah, a bayou in Louisiana, a NASA launch site in Florida, a steel mill in Pennsylvania, a nuclear plant in Minnesota, and even the Alaskan Pipeline! As in the original Vigilante 8, all buildings are completely destructible as are the surroundings. Each stage also has unique danger elements such as sharks, crocodiles, and one giant ant!

Levels in the Quest Mode are broken down into a series of objectives which typically involve finding certain items, transporting them to a specific location, and destroying your opponents. By carrying out these objectives and advancing through the story, players can unlock hidden characters and vehicles. In addition to the Quest Mode, players can compete in an Arcade Mode, where they can set the number of opponents and choose the arena to fight in, or Survival Mode, which challenges you to see how long you can last after wave upon wave of enemy vehicles are thrown at you four at a time.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense also features a two-player Versus Mode and Cooperative Mode. Versus Mode is a standard seek-and-destroy game using a split-screen view, while Cooperative Mode lets you to team up with a friend against a group of computer drivers. For those with even more friends, three additional multi-player modes are available: Brawl, Team and Smear. Brawl is essentially a free-for-all with up to four players going at it without any computer drivers to worry about. Team mode splits up the drivers into two groups, while Smear pits one vehicle against up to three others!

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense for the Nintendo 64 supports the Expansion Pak for high resolution graphics, the Rumble Pak for vibration feedback and the Controller Pak to save game data.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense (Nintendo 64, 2000)