Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

"Tony Hawk? Gimme Mirra anyday!"

The other day I found myself walking through the mall to meet my girlfriend at the movies. Interestingly enough an Electronics Boutique had opened a new store since I had last been there. This was quite a surprise since this mall was rated the third ''ghettoest'' mall in America by Jay Leno. Hell, I don't need video games when I can go there and play counting games such as ''Mullet Watch'' and ''Teenage Pregancy Spotting''. They are very enjoyable games on their own.
Well anyways. I decided to walk into the EB and much to my chagrin, there was a rather large selection of cheap Dreamcast games and new Gamecube games. Again, to my chagrin, I discovered about eighty dollars in my wallet. The first thing to catch my eye while looking through the Gamecube section was a game called Luigi's Mansion for $40. I thought about it, but then said, nah, I'll pass. Then, I saw another game, Dave Mirra Pro BMX 2 for only $35! I had played the first one extensively during a rental and I had played and loved the second one at my cousin's house.
Well after some more browsing I ended up with Dave Mirra II for the Gamecube and a $10 copy of Phantasy Star Online V.1. I walked out of the store with a special little smile because I had just gotten two promising games, although I had to sit through a movie until I got to play them.
Lets just say I didn't touch Phantasy Star Online until about two weeks later. Dave Mirra Pro BMX 2 for the Gamecube is an unbelievable game. It hooks you immediately with great and easy control. Its fluid and forgiving to novices from the outset. The music also helps because it bounces some great tunes from Tribe Called Quest and Sublime. It was three hours later when my first session of Dave Mirra 2 was over.
So whats so amazing about this game? To tell you the truth, I was never really amazed by the game. Its just so rock-solid in every area it demands your attention. I have split game into seperate categories so I can give and indepth and clean vision of each part of the game.

Graphics:
Ok, so maybe the game is devoid of incredible bump-mapping and astounding lighting. Who cares, the game looks good and moves smooth like a baby's bottom. On only one level, once in a blue moon, do you experience slowdown(it actually looks cool though lol). The rest of the time, its locked at what I believe to be 60 frames per second.
Next we have the absolutely awesome levels. They are goliaths to anything you've ever seen. In comparison they are four times the size of levels in Tony Hawk. When my friends see levels for the first times, they exclaim ''Holy S&*@!''. They all are very diverse and unique in design as well. The textures, while not super high resolution, are very nice and there is little breakup. Also, there is never draw in and there is only one glitch that I have found and it actually helps you.
Lastly, the developers have created an awesome thing called the SIK system. Its a bone structure system that allows for fairly realistic bodily crashes. The bodies of rides(its SO FUNNY) react really realistically to the environments when thrown from their bikes. This also makes the game not as frustrating when you fall because its just so darn funny.

Sound:
Ok, if there is one part that needs any improvement in Dave Mirra 2, it has to be the sound effects. While it has great grunts and bone cracks. Its really just adequate in this area with nothing amazing to speak of. I guess I am nitpicking though because its all-around pretty solid.
Do you like licensed music? Well here's the list for Dave Mirra Pro BMX 2.....Also I rated each song out of 10 to the right of each song title.

Tribe Called Quest: Buggin' Out 10
Methods Of Mayhem: Hypocritcal 6
Rage Against The Machine: Wake Up 10
Sum 41: Makes No Difference 9
Fenix TX: All My Fault 9
Gang Starr: Can't remember 9
Sublime: Doin' Time 10
Godsmack: Awake 8

Out of all of those, the best song in my opinion if definitely the one by Tribe Called Quest. All said and done this is an amazing soundtrack the balances itself perfectly and doesn't have any really weak songs.

Control:
This won't take much of an explanation but Dave Mirra has the best control of any extreme sports game. Its equally as tight as Tony Hawk's but much more fluid. Its also much more forgiving but requires skill to actually do everything. When you learn the mechanics of the modifier button on tricks, it becomes a point fest because you can master the game to a great level in a small amount of play time.
If I had one gripe about the control it would be the difficulty of performing some diagonal tricks because of the smaller size of the DPAD.

Gameplay:
Unless you are allergic to fun, buy or at least play this game. This game offers so much to see and do its almost ludicrous. The main game called proquest offers a career type mode that allows you to gain 50,000 points! You say, ''Only 50,000? So?'' Well when you are moving by at 100 or so points a pop, thats pretty huge! From grinding bridges to hitting all the gaps in each level. Its an addicting and challenging single player experience.
Ok, well there is one downside to the multiplayer so I will start with it. There is no split screen, you must trade off. Personally it works fine because the big levels are just awesome. Well now for the good.
There are 14(YES 14) different types of games in multiplayer. Each one is good fun and my personal fave is wipeout. This is where you get to continually destroy your rider by crashing terribly. And trust me, there are huge and very high jumps to accomplish pure pain for your polygon counterpart.
There are also session and free ride modes that allow you test and just have fun the levels. Additionally there is a very functional and easy to learn park editor. The plus side is that you can fit 25 courses on one memory card! They are really easy to make and incredibly fun to ride around in. This is one of the best things I have seen in a game to add so much replay value.

Lasting Appeal and Depth:
1500+ Different tricks
10 Huge Levels 4x the size of Tony Hawk's
50,000 Point Career mode with 15 different characters who have different missions, attributes, bikes, secret moves and apparel.
Over 20 videos of riders
An AWESOME Park Editor that allows parks to made in 30 minutes!

Final Scores

Graphics: 9.6 out of 10

Ok, maybe its not incredibly beautiful,but it does everything very well and smooth. It does whats needed and the animation is so good. Plus the levels are insanely big!

Sound: 9.4 out of 10

The sound effects are very average, but GOOD LORD does the soundtrack rock!

Control: 10 out of 10

Seriously, this game is on par with Nintendo games in the quality and tightness of control. It really couldn't be any more well done, honestly.

Gameplay: 9.8 out of 10

Pure Addiction is a word to describe. Long, diverse, super-fun and cool. Best extreme sport game by far, ever.

Lasting Appeal and Depth: 10 out of 10

Um, I have logged about 35 Hours into it and yeah, well see I'm not even closed to being bored lol. AMAZING depth.

Score Overall: 10 out of 10 (not an average)

Final Word: You owe it to yourself to play this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/02, Updated 02/26/02