Product Description: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater from Activision became a megahit last fall. Since then, dozens of companies have tried to bring fringe sports like surfing, sky diving, and other "me, too" extreme sports titles to market, and all of them looking to cash in on the craze. Up until now, none have matched the quality or replayability of Tony Hawk, and only a small few have come close, including this month's challenger, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX from Acclaim.
Instead of using a skateboard to race against the clock and perform dangerous midair stunts for points and prestige, this game is all about daredevil BMX bike riding, so that players can aim to pull off a "Superman," "Icepick," "Tailwhip," or "Toothpick." In total, there are over a dozen unique environments, such as Camp Woodward's backbreaking "Lot 8" or the San Jose Ramp Club, to name two.
First, players must select their rider of choice, be it repeated World Champion biker Dave Mirra, 1999 Dirt Circuit Champion Ryan Nyquist, or eight other stars of the sport. Each of the riders enjoys his own signature moves, plus even more riders can be unlocked over time. However, there is no create-a-player feature, as there is with a few other games of this kind.
Fortunately, controlling the rider is a cinch to learn for younger or novice gamers, and there's enough substance here to keep players pedaling long after the goals are met. In fact, along with the "Free Ride" mode, the timed "Session" mode, and the challenging, career-based "Proquest" mode, there are 10 different two-player games, including our favorite, dubbed "B-M-X", in which the second player has to mimic the first rider's moves (remember basketball's H-O-R-S-E variant?).
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX's visuals
Amazon.com Review: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater from Activision became a megahit last fall. Since then, dozens of companies have tried to bring fringe sports like surfing, sky diving, and other "me, too" extreme sports titles to market, and all of them looking to cash in on the craze. Up until now, none have matched the quality or replayability of Tony Hawk, and only a small few have come close, including this month's challenger, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX from Acclaim.
Instead of using a skateboard to race against the clock and perform dangerous midair stunts for points and prestige, this game is all about daredevil BMX bike riding, so that players can aim to pull off a "Superman," "Icepick," "Tailwhip," or "Toothpick." In total, there are over a dozen unique environments, such as Camp Woodward's backbreaking "Lot 8" or the San Jose Ramp Club, to name two.
First, players must select their rider of choice, be it repeated World Champion biker Dave Mirra, 1999 Dirt Circuit Champion Ryan Nyquist, or eight other stars of the sport. Each of the riders enjoys his own signature moves, plus even more riders can be unlocked over time. However, there is no create-a-player feature, as there is with a few other games of this kind.
Fortunately, controlling the rider is a cinch to learn for younger or novice gamers, and there's enough substance here to keep players pedaling long after the goals are met. In fact, along with the "Free Ride" mode, the timed "Session" mode, and the challenging, career-based "Proquest" mode, there are 10 different two-player games, including our favorite, dubbed "B-M-X", in which the second player has to mimic the first rider's moves (remember basketball's H-O-R-S-E variant?).
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX's visuals are only satisfactory, with nothing really to kick heels about. The 3-D engine brings a few annoying screen "pop-ups" (objects and backgrounds awkwardly disappear on occasion, as riders move in relation to the "camera") and "clipping" problems (in which the rider gets stuck mysteriously) that probably could've been ironed out with a few more weeks in development. And, while the midair stunts and crashes look painfully real, the game also seems to lack a convincing sensation of speed.
But, even with its shortcomings, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is a rad BMX arcade sim that proves that the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, while still the king, is not the only game in town. --Todd Mowatt
Pros:
Controls are easy to learn
Great two-player games
Cons:
Annoying "pop-up" and "clipping" problems
No create-a-player feature
Amazon.com Product Description: Ride as Dave Mirra, 10-time World BMX Champion and Gold Medal Winner, in the 2000 X Games Street Competition; Ryan Nyquist, Gold Medal Winner in the 2000 X Games Bike Stunt Dirt Jump; or any of a group of other pros in this BMX game for your PlayStation. The open trick system lets you start with basic tricks and modify them to create new moves. More than 1,300 different tricks are available, resulting in infinite combinations. Make your way through Vert, dirt, and street-riding levels, each of which has multiple objectives and hidden areas. Master levels to earn support from such sponsors as Slim Jim, Adidas, Haro, and Specialized. Ten different multiplayer games are available, including B-M-X (a variation of HORSE), Longest Grind, Sickest Trick, and Gnarliest Crash. The soundtrack includes selections from Sublime, Cypress Hill, Rancid, Social Distortion, Deftones, Pennywise, and Dropkick Murphys.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - cool
This is the best game EVER. Get it or be square j-nf
Rating: - A good game
Ok so here is the deal. I bought this game on amazon, took it out of the box, and started to play. I noticed the graphics were very bad but the game is pretty neat. Over all, this game is worth every penny you pay.
Rating: - Mediocre title
It's common for game developers to borrow ideas from other popular games - in hopes that their own game receives the same kind of widespread success. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX represents Acclaim's attempt to cash in on the extreme sports phenomenon started by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and, as a result, the basic game mechanics should seem very familiar to fans of the skateboarding game. To its credit, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX introduces some new elements to the extreme sports subgenre. Unfortunately, the game has a number of both major and minor flaws. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX's options are typical of an extreme sports game. The proquest mode is essentially a career mode that lets you select from a lineup of the world's best BMX freestylists to play as. It also lets you earn new sponsored clothing, new levels, and new bikes. Each track has a series of objectives that start at an amateur difficulty level and then steadily increase in difficulty after you complete them. In fact, the default bike just isn't good enough for accomplishing some of the later, more difficult objectives, so there is substantial incentive for obtaining faster and more maneuverable bikes. Even so, the proquest mode may be a little too easy for extreme sports veterans, since the game visibly highlights the obstacles associated with objectives you need to complete. However, this should be a welcome feature for those who are new to the genre. The game's two remaining modes - freeride and session - are practice modes in which you can race around on a track, with or without a time limit. Unfortunately, these modes are mostly worthless for practicing in, since some tracks - particularly the backyard pools area - constantly change as new areas open up and as you complete more objectives. The gameplay in Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is solid, if perhaps lacking in originality. Just as in Tony Hawk, pressing a series of button combinations makes you perform tricks on your bike. The more complicated your combination is, the more points you receive. Unfortunately, even executing the simplest trick isn't as easy as it should be. The first problem is that when you're facing the camera, you have to press "up" to turn your bike around. In theory, it's the ideal way to address camera problems, but in practice, the sluggish controls really prevent this maneuver from being useful. Another minor problem is the game's collision detection. Most of the time, it's easy to judge your distance from the ground or from an obstacle, which makes trick execution ideal. However, there are times when your bike seems to clearly miss an obstacle, but you'll still crash as though you ran right into it. The inconsistent collision detection also becomes a problem when you attempt to perform grinds - sometimes your bike can connect with an obstacle from an unrealistic distance, and other times, you need to be very precise and land right on the object you want to grind. Visually, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is on par with other multiplatform ports of extreme sports games. A few impressive textures appear here and there, like on the various riders' helmets, but the rest of them are fairly bland and pixelated. The bike rider models are not incredibly detailed, but there are enough subtle differences to help you recognize the differences among each of the riders. Oddly enough, even though the various environments and the character models are essentially taken straight from the PlayStation version of the game, slowdown and drops in frame rate can still be a major problem in areas with numerous objects. The slowdown usually dissipates after a second or two, but it can affect gameplay, especially if you want to perform a complicated trick in a detailed area during the last seconds of the round. The game has plenty of other small visual problems as well, like the crash animations. Since there are no pre-scripted crash animations, your rider will just go flying like a limp rag doll whenever you hit something. It's humorous at times; however, it's generally very awkward and unrealistic. Other than the proquest mode, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX doesn't have much else to offer. There are no multiplayer modes, which is unfortunate since most of the latest extreme sports games have found ways to incorporate different types of multiplayer modes, either online or on a single computer. In the end, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX can be fun, but the occasional problems with the graphics and collision detection can quickly become a source of unnecessary frustration.
Rating: - OOOO!!!
I got this at a great price here...when it arrived,My boyfriend,My son & even the neighbor kids were all grabbing at it.I never knew just how popular this game is!!!
Rating: - OOOO!!!
I got this at a great price here...when it arrived,My boyfriend,My son & even the neighbor kids were all grabbing at it.I never knew just how popular this game is!!!
- cool
- A good game
- OOOO!!!
