For many, Rockstar Games is most known for theGrand Theft Autofranchise which provides a sandbox for endless urban chaos, andRed Dead Redemption, which allows gamers to enjoy the pre-industrial American landscape as a cowboy. However, inRockstar’s history, there is a graveyard of franchises that once had their heyday but have since been left to be naught but memories in the past, with Rockstar seldom acknowledging how eager gamers are to see these dead franchises rebooted. This includes beloved IPs likeBully,Manhunt, and, for gear-heads,Midnight Club.
Midnight Clubarrived at the right time, as pop culture was deeply obsessed with fast and exotic cars and the series was able to capitalize on that to provide an exhilarating urban arcade racing experience alongside a catalog of customizable dream cars. Even alongside arcade racing juggernauts likeNeed for Speed,Midnight Clubwas still able to maintain its own personality, capturing the feeling of the street racing culture along with its eccentricities. Although it is unlikely that gamers will enjoy another title in the franchise afterMidnight Club: Los Angeles, the mark the franchise left on gaming is hard to ignore.
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The Origins of Midnight Club
Midnight Clubborrows its title from a Japanesestreet racinggroup of the same name. The Mid Night Club racing gang was notorious for hosting illegal street races in the late 1980s and throughout the 90s. They would drive at ridiculously high speeds down Japan’s Wangan highway, and though they had exotic foreign vehicles, they were especially fond of Japanese sports cars such as the Nissan GTR and the Toyota Supra. The club’s demise came to an end when a race in 1999 resulted in 2 people dying and 6 others being hospitalized. If the club still exists in any form, it is a far more secretive and underground one.
The firstMidnight Clubgame from Rockstar came in 2000, and the influence of its namesake is apparent. Though the game takes place in New York and London, it is still focused on illegal street racing and car customization. The sequel built upon the foundations of its predecessor by expanding the open-world map and increasing the car customization options. The franchise also started gaining its own personality through its soundtrack, which featuredheart-rate-raising technoalong with hip-hop that makes driving around and exploring the open world a joy.
The peak of the series arguably arrived withMidnight Club 3: Dub Edition, which was released in 2005. It leaned heavily into the American street racing culture at the time, and its authenticity was aided byRockstar’s partershipwith DUB Magazine, a publication focused on car customization culture. It was an era of candy-coated cars, Japanese imports with comically huge spoilers, and gaudy rims that never stopped spinning, andMidnight Club 3let gamers revel in it. The game offered the largest selection of vehicles yet, featuring tuners, sedans, luxury cars, muscle cars, and even sports bikes.
The first threeMidnight Clubgames are a time capsule of the golden era of urbanarcade racers, andMidnight Clubis one of the franchises that did it best. Its focus on replicating the feeling of being part of the street racing culture of its time made it an unmissable experience and its wide catalog of cars to race along windy city streets ensure that years later, the games can still be played for hours on end.Midnight Clubwent on its hiatus on a high note withMidnight Club: Los Angeles, but it has been gone too long, and its absence is felt.
Midnight Club’s Future
It has beenover a decade since the lastMidnight Clubrelease, but theMidnight Clubseries is remembered fondly among racing game enthusiasts. Rumors of newMidnight Clubgames being in development have generally been met with positive reception, and the franchise remains one of the defining entries in Rockstar’s portfolio. In the past,Midnight Clubhas been a lucrative IP for Rockstar, as the franchise is estimated to have sold over 18 million copies in its lifetime. While the street racing culture that provided the fertile grounds for the series may not be as prominent in pop culture any longer, there is still the opportunity for the series to reinvent itself and find a niche in the modern gaming landscape.
While Rockstar has not given any word on whether it intends to revitalize the franchise, its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has stated that it plans on releasing nine new iterations of previously released games. Already, theGrand Theft Autotrilogy has been remastered, as well asGTA 5andGTA: Online. Hopefully,Midnight Clubis one of the franchises that gets renewed attention.
Midnight Club: Los Angelesis available on PSP, PS3, and Xbox 360.
