History VideoGame / MidnightClub

* 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 UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 /Xbox 360 owners, however).

** In ''Midnight Club II'', they did this to Tokyo, since real-life Japanese streets are clogged, narrow, and horribly unfit for racing.

* DownLADrain: Both incarnations of ''Los Angeles'' in the series contains the LA River.

%% * DrivesLikeCrazy: The main premise of the game.

* DynamicDifficulty: The type of car you bring to race determines what kind of opponents you face-i.e., if you bring, say, a Lamborghini, expect to face off against other exotics. Zigzagged in ''3'', which includes an option in Arcade mode to face any vehicle in the game except for the cop cars and the [[SuperPrototype Cadillac Sixteen]]. If you set that option to default, then don't get disappointed if you say, race in a Class B Muscle Car and only get Exotic opponents, or race in any SUV/Truck and only get Luxury Sedan opponents.

%% * CoolCar: The point of the game.

%% * DeadpanSnarker: The player character in ''LA''.
%% ** Along with every other character.

* VanityLicencePlate: Possible to give yourself one of these in ''3'' and ''LA''. ''3'' truly does take it up to eleven; 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.

* ApatheticCitizens: Averted in all of the games. In 1 through L.A., pedestrians will actively try to get out of the way of your car and will make comments about you trying to run them over. In the third and fourth game (L.A.), they will stop and admire your car if you leave it parked in an area for long enough, which can be quite amusing when you are driving a stock Scion Tc or Volkswagen Jetta.
* ArtifactTitle: ''Midnight Club: Los Angeles'' has a full [[InUniverseGameClock day and night cycle]]. The previous games were AlwaysNight.

* 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 fully averted InvulnerableCivilians, as you could run pedestrians over and have other racers call you out on it.

* FragileSpeedster: The motorcycles in 2, 3, and L.A. all fall under this trope. They are blindingly fast, can take most corners flat out, and can fit into areas that other cars cannot. However, one mistake on one and you will be flung off, letting the game's {{rubberband AI}} easily catch up.
* FrenchJerk: Stephane in ''II'', an arrogant Parisian[[note]]in fact, the only challenger in Paris who actually lives there[[/note]] who belittles you for not having as many girlfriends as him and for being an American.

%% * GenkiGirl: Gina in ''Midnight Club II''. Bonus points: she's Japanese.
* GracefulLoser: In ''Midnight Club II'' a certain portion of the racers you beat will end up as this. The most notable example is [[BigFun Moses]] and Blog.

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

* MightyGlacier: The [=SUVs=] in L.A. and 3 count as this as well as some of the luxury sedans. They don't have the high maneuverability or acceleration as many of the sports cars or sports bikes, but they can easily smash through most objects with minimal speed loss and damage. Combine that with the agro ability and they become nigh unstoppable.

* MissionPackSequel: ''L.A Remix'' to DUB Edition and II, as the latter two share the same graphics engine and cities, L.A (albeit altered from the original MCII map to match the one from the main console versions) and Tokyo (which is identical to its depiction from II and DUB Edition Remix).

* 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 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.
** Also, despite being called ''Midnight Club'', the game works on a [[InUniverseGameClock 24 hour-like clock]], which means that means half of the time, you will be racing during the day. Hilariously, it is impossible to see traffic coming at you during the day (as half the cars blend into the road itself), but quite easy to see them at night (when their headlights and taillights are among the few things you can see on the road). Furthermore, ''LA'' slows down time to show your car spinning out of control as the AI races past you. Therefore, only race at night, stay close to the center of the map, and use the zone skill to keep your speed on turns, and you might just beat the game while only pressing the restart button 1500 times.
** If "{{rubberband AI}}" was in the dictionary, this game would be a listed example. Winning by milliseconds is the norm. After you cross the finish line, the others racers jump across it like they were waiting just off screen. If you screw up anywhere, you will go from first place to last before you can blink and be left in the dust for the rest of the race.
** In the first game, many people found chasing down the drivers to get the option of doing the race ''harder than the actual race''.
** To give another example of how Nintendo Hard effects players, if you search this game you'll see references to people preferring to play the game in Race Editor mode where the game just lets you drive around and not actually compete.
** Complaints over the game's difficulty led to Rockstar taking the unprecedented step of issuing a patch to make the game (allegedly) easier.
** Even those used to the game remark on the sometimes-impossible (as in actually physically impossible as in "even driving with nitro on all the time there isn't enough time to cross the map") nature of the car-delivery side missions.
*** ''However'' at the same time the game actually ''averts'' the trope because, reportedly, if the player loses enough races, missions, etc. the game actually scales down the difficulty somewhat. As a result, if you (intentionally or not) lose enough races, but still at least complete the races - as opposed to restarting a race every time you wipe out and the enemy AI gets an insurmountable lead - the game is, in theory, supposed to actually become easier.

Not to be confused with Creator/ChristopherPike's novel ''[[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]] Midnight Club'', or with [[Series/TheMidnightClub2022 its 2022 TV adaptation]].

* BeefGate: While the player can access the Tokyo campaign from the beginning of ''3 Remix'', many of its initial races require car types that are not unlocked until the later parts of the original campaign. Your mechanic even advises you to continue your career in the States if you have no suitable rides, and then return to Tokyo when you're more prepared.

''Midnight Club'' is a street-racing-based {{racing game}} series created by Rockstar San Diego - formerly known as Angel Studios and creators of the ''VideoGame/MidtownMadness'' franchise. The series includes the following titles:

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* DeliberatelyJumpingTheGun: One racer in ''II'', Ricky, has a tendency to jump the start when you race him. He's not a terribly good driver, so this doesn't really help him.

* {{Expy}}: Owen, the British inspector who is after Farid in ''II'', is clearly based on Franchise/JamesBond. Owen's car resembles Bond's Aston Martin [=DB5=].

* HateSink: Ricky in ''Midnight Club II'', a sleazy, Yakuza-affiliated nightclub owner who has no problem putting a woman under half his age in mortal danger.

** The Lusso XT (Lexus GS 300) can invoke this if used in the hands of a experienced player, regarding its ability to [[GoodBadBugs "fish tail"]] and handling very well during the races in the rain. Also, fishtailing the Lusso can allow the player outrun the [[GameBreaker SLF450X.]]

** The Monstruo (A third-gen Mazda [=RX-7=] lookalike) in the second game is a reference to Dom Toretto's [=RX-7=] in the original Film/TheFastAndTheFurious movie in two ways. The first is a very similar red colour scheme, while the second is a seemingly unintentional one. The Monstruo sounds like it's got an inline-6 engine under the hood instead of a Rotary. Dom's [=RX-7=] actually used [[https://youtu.be/-ya4jbT6obc?t=974 sound samples from a Toyota [=2JZ=] inline-6 engine]].

%% * AsianAirhead: Gina in ''II''.

* FrenchJerk: Stephane in ''II'', an arrogant Parisian[[note]]in fact, the only challenger in Paris who is actually from Paris[[/note]] who belittles you for not having as many girlfriends as him and for being an American.

** Angel in ''II''. He is a rich, entitled son of a Hollywood producer, and he isn't used to not getting his way. He actually calls himself a "[[SmallNameBigEgo human masterpiece]]" in one of his cutscenes.
** Shing, also from ''II'', is pretty loaded, and he claims to own ten other cars. He is so [[SmallNameBigEgo egotistical]] that he makes you complete a time trial and beat his friend Ichiro before you have the "privilege" of racing him. He proves to be a SoreLoser when you win.

Not to be confused with Creator/ChristopherPike's novel '''''The''' Midnight Club'', or with [[Series/TheMidnightClub2022 its 2022 TV adaptation]].