Jet Moto 2 - Development

Development

Jet Moto 2's original cut from 20 competitors to 10 was "to open the game up to a broader market, one that wasn’t driven by hardcore." Chef Boyardee was one of the new sponsors in the game, however the game's producer, Brian Wiklem fought to ensure the sponsor would not be a rider's sponsor. As a result, Chef Boyardee's logo was added to track advertisements throughout the tracks. Of the ten new tracks created for the Jet Moto 2, five concepts were designed by SingleTrac, and five by Wiklem and his assistant. Dual Analog Controllers and the accompanying vibration functions were supported for the first time, but DualShock Controllers were not. As with the first Jet Moto, Axiom Design created the user interface shell for the game. Pinnacle Music Group composed the music for the game. Jet Moto 2 would receive localized renames in Europe and Japan. Its European title is Jet Rider 2, and its Japanese title is Jet Moto '98.

The Greatest Hits version of the game was never meant to be released in its current form. As the game's production cycle was ending, Wiklem asked SingleTrac to modify the game for him a modified version of Jet Moto 2. This version increased the framerate to 30 frames per second by removing six competitors from races, thus putting less strain on the PlayStation hardware. Additionally, Wiklem requested that all of the original Jet Moto tracks be unlocked at the start of the game. It was branded in-game as Jet Moto 2: Championship Edition.

Due to their master disc being destroyed, Sony contacted Wiklem for a copy to use as a master disc for burning. Wiklem sent the altered disc SingleTrac had made for him, notifying Sony of the change and petitioning it be used as the Greatest Hits version. Sony replied that Greatest Hits titles must be the same as the original release version. Dismayed, Wiklem burned a copy of the original version and sent it to Sony for duplication. Due to a mixup in the duplication process, the modified version of the game was duplicated and not the original version. Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation contacted Sony Computer Entertainment about the mix up, and eventually the discussions trickled down to Wiklem himself. He told vice president of marketing Jeff Fox that he "did send the right disc, it was properly labeled, and it’s not my fault that DADC couldn’t read." The situation was put to rest shortly thereafter, with the decision being made not to make any further changes to the Greatest Hits disc.