Classic is a mod for Tribes 2 made by ZOD and z0dd that was intended to replicate the physics and feeling of Tribes 1. The initial mod of Tribes 2 was Base, and it was incredibly slow compared to the game's predecessor. The first community response was the creation of Base++, which sped up the game significantly. However, as time passed, more players started to think the best idea would be to just copy Tribes 1's physics and gameplay mechanics exactly and release it as a mod for Tribes 2. As a result, Classic was born. Ever since it was released, Classic became the official standard of competition for all serious Capture the Flag ladders.
Classic was released in 2002 as part of the last official patch of Tribes 2, and it comes with the game if you download the official free release of the game online. The creators of Classic were actually commissioned by Sierra to create a mod designed for competitive CTF for the final patch. In other words, Classic is not just another user-created mod, it was officially sponsored by Tribes 2's creators.
Criticism
Most classic weapons have a very high projectile speed and minimal spread. This was by intention as the Zods wanted players to be able to chase cappers moving at very high speeds. However, it leads to easy targeting vs opponents moving under 100 kph. In addition, mediums have a high speed over the ground which makes skilled medium shielders difficult to kill. Because of this, Base remains the preferred mod for the Arena and Duel game types.
Less experienced and less skilled players can find classic's movement speed difficult to master and its CTF gameplay too offensive oriented for their taste. In addition, great speed cannot be generated by the jetpack like in base, base++, and V2. This has lead lower level players to create alternative CTF ladders using such mods as V2.