Carmageddon is to driving and racing games as Postal 2 is to FPSs and South Park is to TV shows. It's violent, gory, and punny. AND I LOVE IT.
Carma: Where it all began. DOS and Win95 only, but since it can run on DOS, it can be made compatible with almost any operating system. The DOS executable can be run with the -hires modifier to force what appears to be 640X480, but this seems to make it slower.
Cars: There aren't many cars that are Stealworthy, but the ones that can be stolen fall between "ARGH I HATE THIS CAR" and "Okay this is useful". You obtain every car by beating the game.
Tracks: The tracks tend to be a mix of cakewalks and hellholes, but each one has its own merits.
Peds: Sprite-based. Waa-waa-wawawawaaaaaaa.
Gameplay: I like to call Carmageddon a "Capitalism Game", i.e. your survival and your abilities are dependent on how much cash you have; you never really die, but you can theoretically run out of money. "Forgiving" (which applies to the Carmageddon series) means that you can grind for cash when you have nothing, and "Cruel" (which applies to Street Rod 1 and 2) means that running out of money equals death.
Physics: Every mid-size, mid-weight car is exceptionally prone to sliding, but it makes things more fun. Collision physics are EXCELLENT.
Carma 2: Win98? only, which makes for some horrendous compatibility on anything that isn't Windows and limited compatibility on Windows. I've managed to get it to run with nGlide under Lubuntu using PlayOnLinux 1.1.32 (Win98 compatibility, 640X480 emulated desktop, hardware support for vertex lighting, and ALSA audio drivers (you have to visit the Audio tab to have them autoconfigured) with Full sound emulation), but the minimap and regular map are useless (the minimap won't draw, and the map itself refuses to show up, causing lag and doing nothing useful).
Cars: EVERY car can be bought, and almost every car is at least marginally useful. Even the Bugga is useful for specific challenges. Cars seem to take a lot less punishment, and body deformation is a lot more obvious, but most cars slide less than in Carma 1.
Tracks: Tougher to handle than Carma 1, that's for sure. At least most tracks have multiple ways to get from A to B.
Peds: Fully 3D, acting like breakable, animated physics objects when they're not just walking around. They run (though slower than in Carma 1), they dodge (again, they're slower than their Carma 1 counterparts), they can be dissected or pushed around (and can take a lot more punishment than the sprites could), making for some interesting new mechanics.
Gameplay: Massively improved from Carma 1, I'd say. All sorts of new powerups have been added, affecting cars, peds, and even the physics of everything on the map.
Physics: Cars handle better and grip better, but at the cost of being able to be split (usually by being pushed into a wall by an opponent, but sometimes just due to bad luck or bad driving). The new pedestrian physics and breakable walls make things a lot more interesting.
I have yet to get Carmageddon Reincarnation, and Carmageddon TDR is nowhere to be found (legally or otherwise), but I'd love to get my hands on either of those. If you're interested in either Carma 1 or Carma 2, though, just bug me and I'll discreetly pass you a .zip.
