History VideoGame / MidnightClub

* MinusWorld: The cities of ''Midnight Club 2'' feature plenty of various ramps for jumping over buildings and rivers. With a sufficiently fast car, it is possible to overshoot the jump and fall through the non-solid (or even completely missing) rooftop of a faraway building, ending up inside it and driving on invisible floor. Outside the boundaries of the GatelessGhetto cities, the invisible floor is missing entirely, causing any car that somehow ended up there to fall into the empty void below street level. After a couple seconds, the car respawns in the center of the city, with all Nitrous slots miraculously replenished.
** Getting outside the city is most easily achieved in Paris, by using a car that can reach a top speed of 250 MPH / 402 KMH such as Lusso XT or Tokyo Cop, following the low road around the river counter-clockwise, and jumping at full speed from the terminal ramp that brings you back to regular street level in the south-east corner of the map. If you steer to the right, away from the river, the car will jump over the low wall next to the bridge, fall through the non-solid water surface inside what is supposed to be a brick building, and into the void below.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: How ''DUB Edition'' managed to have two songs called "Strip Tease" and "Sex in Zero Gravity" yet still get an E10+ rating is anyone's guess.
** In addition, most songs are partially censored in the game. "Put That S**t Up" has the word ''bitch'' uncut.
** A minor example in ''II''. Blu Warta's titular song feature the words ''weed'' and ''shit'' completely uncut. Also, certain characters for example: Maria tend to use profanities such as ''[[ForeignCussWord cabron]]'' or [[spoiler: Savo]] calling the player ''asswipe''. Even though the game recieved ESRB's Teen rating, however.
** And don't get us started on the strip clubs in the first three games.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: The Audi R8. It was originally obtainable via Rockstar's Social Club website until May 31th, 2014. Since then, it's currently impossible to obtain the said car without hacking/modifying the save file. Meanwhile in the PSP version ''LA Remix'', it's given for free after beating Booke in the LA career mode (which is also a very sore spot for the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 owners, however).

* DeveloperForesight: In ''LA'', there are several different variations of the 'getting arrested' cutscene depending on the circumstances of your arrest; including whether you willingly surrendered, got trapped, or if your car was totalled or flipped over.

** The first game starts with the player character driving a taxi, which is a joke reference to LucBesson's Film/{{Taxi}} series.

*** You can also have a Nissan Skyline in America.[[note]]The Skyline GTR was a sought-after import at the time, helped by the fact that it was featured in ''VideoGame/GrandTurismo'' among other things, but it wasn't until 2008 when Nissan would formally release the GTR outside of Japan.[[/note]]

'''''Midnight Club''''' is a street-racing-based [[DrivingGame Racing video game]] series created by Rockstar San Diego - formerly know as Angel Studios and creators of the ''VideoGame/MidtownMadness'' franchise. The series includes the following titles:

* ShoutOut: The title of this series is a reference to the Japanese street racing team [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_Night_Club Mid Night Club]]. In the late 90's, they were infamous for their high-speed runs down the Bayshore Route on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, which is why the "Wangan" (Bayshore) kanji is also included in the title, although it is also a shout-out to ''Manga/WanganMidnight'', as the "midnight" portion of the logo is stylized similarly. Curiously the few Japanese releases of the ''Midnight Club'' games (the first game and both ''Los Angeles'' and ''LA Remix'') omit the kanji from the logo, presumably to avoid potential rights issues with ''Wangan Midnight'' rights owners Kodansha.

* VanityLicencePlates: Possible to give yourself one of these in ''3'' and ''LA''. ''3'' truly does take it UpToEleven; you can place any 2005-era licence plate from all fifty states on your car, and for California, Georgia and Michigan you can select a range of historical plates as well.

* {{Fauxrrari}}: The cars in the first two games are fictional ones that bear a resemblance to real-life ones.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Invoked for example in Mannie Fresh's "Real Big" from ''3: DUB Edition'': The lyrics [[spoiler:"[[GagPenis Dick real big]]"]] were changed into "Belly real big".

* {{Jerkass}}: The NPC competitors in LA will treat you like an amateur regardless of the rank you've achieved and car you're driving

* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: Reviews have described ''LA'' as a fairly accurate representation of Los Angeles with certain modifications for better gameplay. This includes a metric buttload of real-life LA landmarks including the Hollywood sign, the Capitol Records Tower, Pink's Hot Dogs, the Viper Room, Rodeo Drive, Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Santa Monica pier, the {{LA River}} basin, UCLA campus and Paramount Studios to name just a fraction. The game even starts right outside of Carney's Express. However, there are notable exceptions, such as the Staples Center being given the more generic name of "Sports Center" and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum being renamed the "South Central Coliseum". Makes for an almost constant string of HeyItsThatPlace moments.

* {{Fauxrarri}}: The cars in the first two games are fictional ones that bear a resemblance to real-life ones.

* Fauxrarri: The cars in the first two games are fictional ones that bear a resemblance to real-life ones.

*** You can also have a Nissan Skyline in America.

* CaptainErsatz: The cars in the first two games are fictional ones that bear a resemblance to real-life ones.

* NintendoHard: To say that these games are tough is putting it nicely. ''Midnight Club: Los Angeles'' is considered second only to ''VideoGame/FZero GX'' in the NintendoHard racing game pantheon. The combination of [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard (allegedly) unstoppable AI opponents]], impossible-to-shake police chases, [[GoddamnedBats heavy, hard-to-dodge traffic]], and the [[QuicksandBox where-the-hell-am-I-going nature]] of the open-world races is enough to frustrate most gamers, even with a well-timed EMP or Roar attack to knock out the competition. [[http://kotaku.com/5067216/midnight-club-los-angeles-review-the-fast-and-the-infuriating Kotaku]] actually went so far as to call it "a ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' caliber challenge". Rockstar later [[http://www.giantbomb.com/news/midnight-club-makes-membership-easier/645/ patched the game]] to soften the difficulty curve in the early parts of the game. This patch is also integrated into the ''Complete Edition'' along with the ''South Central'' expansion and associated DLC.

** Doubles as CrowningMomentOfFunny when you are driving a stock Scion Tc or Volkswagen Jetta.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first two games had no licensed cars, and also lacked the detailed customisation that the latter two games are renowned for. The second game also averted InvulnerableCivilians, as you could run pedestrians over and have other racers call you out on it.

* NoNameGiven: The player character in ''LA'' is only really referred to as "Player".

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: most of the items listed under NintendoHard could be said to apply under this trope too. ''LA'' adds a few more examples, such as anytime you need a specific grade of vehicle in order to race, the vehicles driven by the AI always seem to be superior, faster, and are completely tricked out, whereas, especially with some C- and B-class races, the player is forced to make do with a the equivalent of a golf cart and hope the AI makes an error, wipes out, or is delayed by traffic (all of which, despite claims to the contrary can and does occur).