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
user avatarAdded by @cagey
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.
3 622
Trailers and screenshots
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Stories about this game (7)
What’s your memory of Midtown Madness?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
user avatar@placeholder

Make sure to follow our Guidelines when adding new Stories.

If not sure what to write:
  • What made this game unforgettable?
  • Who did you play this game with?
  • What made it fun or challenging?
  • Why do you want this game on GOG?
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.
Those games also need your vote!
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century CombatYou are the genetically engineered Clan Mechwarrior. The Clans are invading the Inner Sphere. Join either the Wolf Clan or the Jade Falcon Clan as they pursue their own agenda against the Inner Sphere and other Clans. Take your advanced Omnimechs into battle against all comers. Win high warrior ratings (by using less mechs or smaller mechs than needed, completing secondary objectives, etc.) and you'll get chance at a promotion trial where you face superior odds in an arena. If you win, you advance in rank. If you are very successfully, you can make it all the way up to Khan, leader of the Clan! Mechwarrior II was developed in-house by Activision as the successor to their original Mechwarrior. While this time there are no dynamic campaign and mercenary actions, the Clan culture is integrated into the two campaigns. Different clans have different mechs and different rules, even different weapons. You can customize your mechs in order to use less than the "par" force in order to get a higher rating. The full 3D environment wasn't pretty as this was before the 3D accelerators made their debut, but it's still better than anything that came before. Let addition of NetMech allowed users to fight each other online. When 3D cards came along, special versions were created to take advantage of 3D texturing. While not QUITE as replayable as Mechwarrior, it's nonetheless a classic. If you want them now, get the Titanium Edition, which is 3D accelerated.
Action
Science fiction
Action
Science fiction
11 088
17
Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: UndergroundNeed for Speed: Underground is a 2003 racing video game and the seventh installment in the Need for Speed series. It rebooted the franchise, ignoring previous Need for Speed games that featured sports cars and exotics. Underground is the first game in the series to offer a career mode that features a comprehensive storyline, as well as a garage mode that allows players to fully customize their cars with a large variety of brand-name performance and visual upgrades.
5 405
17
Freelancer
FreelancerEight hundred years prior to the start of our story, bitter conflict divided all of mankind. A handful of colonists struck out on their own to begin anew - far away from the Earth and its turmoil. Several ships were launched with enough equipment and supplies to give the hundreds onboard a fighting chance - but since the area around far-off Sirius had never been surveyed, no one really knew what to expect. What they found was a new frontier of free-flowing natural resources, unexplored territories, great wonders and lurking dangers. Each ship, representing the clusters of people and their earthly place of origin, settled into different parts of the galaxy pre-selected by their ship-board computer to give them the best chance of survival. Life was hard in the beginning, but over the 800 years the different colonies prospered and expanded their territories, claiming more and more systems for their own. Survival and propagation eventually led to growth and profit as each of the colonies developed specialties and fostered commerce. As the colonies grew and time passed their connections with their roots on Earth dwindled and they lost their memories of the conflicts of the past. Soon their attention was dominated by new, more immediate conflicts. Feelings of lost ancestral connection spurred anachronism in the look of the great cities, and created a somewhat distorted image of each colony's cultural heritage. In the ever-expanding outer edge of the territories, frontier lawlessness prevailed. The Houses: Each shipboard colony that left Earth carried some memory of its origins in its name. The Liberty carried Americans, The Bretonia flew from The United Kingdom and surrounding territory, The Kusari from Asia, and the Rheinland launched with Germanic cargo. As each ship settled and colonies began to expand, they knew little about each other and their advancing development. Finally, little by little, the individual colonies found each other and began to set up trade routes to link their systems for commerce and solidarity. Today, with each colony firmly rooted in its respective corner of the galaxy, the colonies rely heavily on each other for trade and industry but also compete for resources and new territories in the Border Worlds. The colonies mandate member governments in "The New Alliance" within the Sirius sector. To control conflicts, each colony has forged alliances and treaties with others as they have grown. Competition remains fierce, however. Struggles rage for supremacy in business, commerce, resources, power and control. There can be tenuous peace between colonies' political agendas, but the grabs for holdings constantly unsettle the volatile frontier.
Our Pick
Top
Science fiction
Sandbox
Our Pick
Top
Science fiction
Sandbox
78 914
563
Black & White
Black & WhitePlay the role of a deity in a land where the surroundings are yours to shape and its people are yours to lord over. Be an evil, malevolent god and the natives will worship you with fear in their eyes. Play as a kind, benevolent god and they will worship you with love in their hearts. Your actions decide whether you create a heaven or hell for your worshipers. Then select a creature from the land to act as your representative in the world. Raise it to gigantic proportions and teach it to do your bidding--whether the animal grows into an evil colossus of mass destruction or a kind and gentle giant is up to you. Progress through the game's rich storyline performing powerful miracles to battle other deities and become the world's supreme god.
Top
Open world
Sandbox
Top
Open world
Sandbox
92 364
231
Digimon World
Digimon WorldDigimon world is a game that allows a player to raise their own Digimon and teach it to battle.
Our Pick
Top
Fantasy
Science fiction
Our Pick
Top
Fantasy
Science fiction
45 979
1197
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most WantedThe player arrives in Rockport City, driving a racing version of the BMW M3 GTR (E46). Following Mia Townsend (played by Josie Maran), the player proves his driving prowess as he is pursued by a veteran police officer named Sergeant Cross (played by Dean McKenzie), who vows to take down the player and end street racing in Rockport. Races seem to be in the player's favor until a particular group of racers, led by the game's antagonist, Clarence "Razor" Callahan (played by Derek Hamilton), sabotages and win the player's car in a race.
Open world
Open world
20 198
77
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Need for Speed: Underground 2Need For Speed Underground 2 takes place in Bayview after the events of Need for Speed: Underground. The prologue begins with the player driving in a Nissan Skyline R34 in Olympic City (though the racing scenes are actually in Bayview), the setting of NFS:UG. He then receives a race challenge from a rather ominous personality who offers him a spot on his crew, but "won't take 'no' for an answer." The player races off — despite Samantha's warnings — only to be ambushed by a mysterious driver in a rage that totals his Skyline. The driver, who has a unique scythe tattoo, makes a call confirming the accident, and the flashback fades out.
Action
Action
29 703
64
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
The Simpsons: Hit & RunStrange wasp-shaped spy cameras, shady black vans lingering about, and a brand new flavor of Buzz Cola that everyone seems a bit too excited about. What could it all mean? Find out as you take to the streets as America's most beloved dysfunctional animated family: The Simpsons! In this timeless action-adventure game, you can work to uncover the conspiracy taking place in Springfield while playing as these beloved characters. As you progress through the game, you'll explore 3 unique areas of Springfield made up of many locations from the show. You can ride around in style with a memorable array of vehicles from the show or take a walk around on foot. You'll stumble into adrenaline-pumping story missions, take part in some fast paced street races and help out some of the townsfolk in bonus missions. Around every corner there's pesky wasps to be destroyed, collector cards to find and secret gags to uncover.
Open world
Action
Comedy
Open world
Action
Comedy
31 156
59
The Movies
The MoviesBehind every box office hit and Hollywood star is a movie mogul who makes it happen. In The Movies, that mogul is you. Create your own studio from the ground up. Direct your own movies and call the shots on budgets, actors, locations and more. From script to screen, will your films be smash hits or break the bank? It's all up to you, baby.
Comedy
Business
Comedy
Business
16 308
56
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasReturning after his mother's murder to the semi-fictional city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), Carl Johnson, a former gang banger, must take back the streets for his family and friends by gaining respect and once again gaining control over the streets. However, a story filled with crime, lies and corruption will lead him to trudge the entire state of San Andreas (based on California and Nevada) to rebuild his life.
Open world
Action
Stealth
Open world
Action
Stealth
26 249
42