If you were sitting in front of a CRT television in late 2001, you probably remember the moment the industry shifted. It wasn't just about the graphics. It was the sound of screeching metal. It was the high-pitched whine of a turbo boost. Specifically, it was the original Burnout for the PS2.
At the time, racing games were basically split into two camps. You had the hyper-serious simulators like Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, where if you tapped a wall at 40mph, your race was basically over and your pride was wounded. Then you had the kart racers. There wasn't a lot of middle ground for people who just wanted to drive like absolute maniacs through a fictionalized version of Interstate 5. Criterion Games, a small UK-based studio that eventually became the masters of the genre, decided that "safety" was a boring concept for a video game.
They were right.
Honestly, the first Burnout is a bit of a culture shock if you go back to it now. We’re so used to the open-world bloat of modern titles that the sheer simplicity of the original menu feels almost radical. You pick a car. You pick a track. You try not to die. But beneath that simplicity was a risk-reward mechanic that essentially defined the next decade of arcade racing.
The High-Stakes DNA of Burnout for the PS2
The "Burnout meter" is the heart of the machine. To fill it, you have to drive like a person who has completely given up on the idea of insurance. You drive into oncoming traffic. You narrow-miss semi-trucks. You drift until your tires are screaming. It’s a constant shot of adrenaline because the moment you stop being reckless, you lose your speed advantage.
Most people forget that in the first Burnout for the PS2, the crashes weren't actually the "point" yet. Not like they were in Takedown or Revenge. In the first game, crashing was a massive penalty. It was devastating. The screen would white out, the "Accumulator" would tally up your financial damage in dollars, and you’d watch your rivals disappear into the distance. It felt heavy. It felt like you’d actually messed up.
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Criterion used their proprietary RenderWare engine to pull off stuff that shouldn't have been possible on early PS2 hardware. While other games were struggling with "pop-in" (where buildings just appear out of nowhere), Burnout was rock solid. It ran at a blistering 60 frames per second. That frame rate is actually the secret sauce. When you're moving that fast, 30fps feels like a slideshow. 60fps feels like a blur of reality.
Why the "Near Miss" changed everything
The game tracks "Near Misses" with a little notification on the side of the screen. It sounds like a small detail, but it’s actually a psychological masterstroke. It gamifies the space between the obstacles. Usually, in a game, the space between cars is empty air. In Burnout, that empty air is a resource. You find yourself threading the needle between a bus and a concrete pillar just to get that extra sliver of boost.
It’s stressful. It makes your palms sweat. It’s also incredibly addictive.
I remember playing the "Marathon" mode and realizing that my heart rate was actually elevated. You aren't just racing the AI; you're racing the traffic patterns. The AI drivers in this game are notoriously aggressive, but the real enemy is a random taxi turning left at the wrong time. It’s chaotic in a way that modern Forza or Need for Speed games rarely capture because modern games want you to win. The original Burnout for the PS2 was perfectly happy to let you lose spectacularly.
The Technical Wizardry of Criterion Games
Back in 2001, the PS2 was still a bit of a beast to program for. The "Emotion Engine" was powerful but weird. Criterion didn't care. They built RenderWare to be the Swiss Army knife of game engines. In fact, RenderWare became so good that other developers started buying it to make their own games—including Rockstar North for Grand Theft Auto III.
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Think about that. The tech that powered the first Burnout basically paved the way for the open-world revolution.
When you look at the reflections on the cars in Burnout, they aren't "real" in the way ray-tracing is today, but they look right. They captured the vibe of a hot summer afternoon in a city that looks suspiciously like London or Paris or NYC. The lighting had a specific "bloom" to it before bloom was even a buzzword. It felt cinematic. It felt like you were playing a movie directed by someone who really, really likes Michael Bay.
- Traffic density: The game managed to pack dozens of independent vehicles on screen without the console catching fire.
- Deformation: While cars didn't crumple into a ball of tinfoil yet (that came later), the parts that flew off were physically modeled.
- Sound design: If you play this with a decent set of headphones, the "whoosh" of passing traffic is still one of the most satisfying sounds in gaming history.
The physics were "floaty" but predictable. You knew exactly how the car would react when you yanked the e-brake. It didn't try to simulate tire pressure or fuel weight. It simulated the feeling of being 17 years old and driving way too fast.
Comparison: Burnout vs. The Competition
| Feature | Burnout (2001) | Gran Turismo 3 | Ridge Racer V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Total Chaos | Mathematical Precision | Stylish Drifting |
| Penalty for Crashing | Financial Total & Time Loss | Usually none (walls are bouncy) | Loss of momentum |
| The "Gimmick" | Boosting in traffic | Tuning every bolt | Extreme "sideways" physics |
Ridge Racer was too "clean." Gran Turismo was too "dry." Burnout was the greasy cheeseburger of racing games. It was messy and loud and didn't apologize for it.
The Legacy of the First Game
Wait. Let’s be real. If you talk to a casual fan today, they’ll say Burnout 3: Takedown is the best one. And they have a point. That game perfected the formula. But the first Burnout for the PS2 is where the foundation was poured. It proved that there was a market for high-speed, high-consequence arcade racing that wasn't just about finishing first, but about surviving the trip.
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It’s also surprisingly short. You can probably see most of what the game has to offer in about five or six hours. In a world of 100-hour RPGs, there is something deeply refreshing about a game that knows exactly what it is, does it well, and then gets out of the way.
The soundtrack was... well, it was original MIDI-style music. It wasn't the licensed pop-punk of the later entries. Some people hate it. I actually think it fits the "arcade" vibe better than the Yellowcard tracks that came later. It feels like a fever dream.
How to Play It Today (and Why You Should)
If you have an old fat PS2 or a slim model gathering dust in the attic, this is the time to break it out. Playing Burnout for the PS2 on original hardware is a different experience than using an emulator. There’s a specific "crunchiness" to the analog sticks on a DualShock 2 that feels right for these cars.
However, if you are emulating on a PC, you can crank the internal resolution to 4K. It looks shockingly modern. The clean lines of the car models and the high-contrast lighting hold up better than almost any other game from 2001. It’s a testament to the art direction. They didn't go for realism; they went for an "idealized" version of reality.
Pro Tip: If you're playing for the first time, don't use the boost as soon as you get it. Wait for a straightaway. The steering sensitivity increases when you're boosting, and it's incredibly easy to over-correct and slam into a civilian station wagon.
Actionable Insights for Retro Collectors
- Check the Disc: Original black-label copies of Burnout are actually pretty cheap right now. It hasn't seen the massive price spikes that some other PS2 "classics" have. You can usually snag a CIB (Complete In Box) copy for under $20.
- Component Cables are Key: If you're playing on a modern TV, for the love of everything, don't use the yellow RCA composite cables. The image will be a blurry mess. Get some decent component cables or a dedicated PS2-to-HDMI adapter. The 60fps movement needs that clarity.
- The "Burnout" Challenge: Try to complete a three-lap race without using the brakes a single time. It sounds impossible. It isn't. It just requires you to memorize the traffic patterns and use the walls to "guide" your drifts. It's the purest way to experience the game.
The racing genre has changed a lot. We have Forza Horizon now, which is brilliant, but it's very "safe." It wants to be your friend. It gives you a trophy for coming in 12th. Burnout for the PS2 doesn't want to be your friend. It wants you to stay focused, keep your eyes on the road, and respect the speed. It’s a relic of an era when games were allowed to be punishingly fast and unapologetically simple.
Next time you’re looking through a bin of old games, don't skip over the one with the generic-looking car on the cover. It’s not just another racer. It’s the start of a revolution.