Where it stumbles, and badly, is in the AI department. The opponents of the main career mode lag so far behind in power and basic intelligence that it's not unusual to reach the checkered flag with a full minute or more to spare. The cops that join the chase when you hit a certain mayhem threshold aren't much better, since a simple nudge into the track boundary will sideline them immediately, and timed taps of the nitrous button power you out of any helicopter's instant-arrest spotlight. Even with arcade mode difficulty set to "hard," there's absolutely no challenge whatsoever to be found.

Still, though this lack of real opposition can make the whole affair seem pointless after a while, it doesn't get in the way of enjoying the convincing sense of speed and twisting tracks. The same could also be said for the questionable collision detection, barely intelligible cop vocals, and shoddy sound effects. Asphalt: Urban GT 2 may be forgettable in the grand scheme of things, but it still manages to be fun in small doses.