Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

"The ultimate BMX game; no household should be without it."

This is the next generation of the “extreme sports” games era, as in DMFB2 and THPS3. The two are supposed to be equal. Are they equal? I haven’t played THPS3 yet, but it has to come a long way to beat Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2! DM2 is just like the original, yet so much better it’s unbelievable. This is how my mind works: skateboarding was just BEGGING to be made into a video game. THPS1 did this, and it succeeded extremely well. Then BMX biking games came along. They were very fun, but not as much fun as boarding games. Then came those damn scooter games. They’re obviously trying to cash in on the “extreme sports” era of video games. And now, there are plans to make an in-line skating game, as in roller blading. If they do, I will laugh so hard. In-line blading is not even a sport!! Anyway, onto the review.

What can I say about the graphics except impeccable? Acclaim really did a great job on the visuals. The only complaint I have, along with many other gamers, is that there is random slowdown at some points. It is, however, not a big flaw, and is mainly just superficial. But the graphics are colorful, bright, crisp, clear, and very detailed. The bikers themselves could not get any better; it looks like 30 million polygons per character. Also, the game runs at a nice framerate. You’re weird if you can find something wrong with the graphics, basically.

The soundtrack is that of a typical extreme sports game. Punk rock. Gotta love it :) Very well fitting, and it made me like Ozzy Osbourne and Godsmack. The sounds are much improved over the original game, and they sound incredibly realistic. Grinds sound like they should, bunny hopping and landing sound like they should, pretty much everything. Especially the biker’s groans and grunts when he falls :)

The replay value is incredibly high. I’ve been playing the first two levels ALONE for the last two weeks, and STILL haven’t grown bored of them yet! This is because the levels are in general about four times as big as the biggest level in THPS2. FOUR TIMES!!!!! It literally takes me about 40 seconds to bike from one end of the level to the other end. This can prove to be both good and bad. You can guess why for both. Anyway, if you’re a casual gamer, the game will last for months. That’s right, months. Hardcore gamers will swallow the game in a few days, maybe even just hours. Great replay value.

Controls? If you could pull of 20,000 point combos in the first, you‘ll be able to do that plus more in the sequel. Control is the same as before. Exactly the same. Which is pretty good. Enough said.

Gameplay is very good, the part where the game shines the most. Same as original, basically. You ride around I believe eight huge-ass levels, completing objectives. They start our pretty hard from level one and grow to be ridiculously impossible until level eight, which is one big joke. Whatever, I just like free-riding around the levels :)

Overall, Dave Mirra 2 is an outstanding game. It is a sequel that is truly better than its predecessor. That is just how games should be, getting better and better with each game. I vote that it is a well-spent $50. However, you should familiarize yourself with the gameplay and controls of the first Dave Mirra before you go playing the second, just like all games.

Visuals: 97/100
Audio: 90/10
Replay: 100/100
Controls: 100/100
Gameplay: 95/100
Overall GameFAQs Score: 10/10

Another fine review by *~*Aristotle*~*.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/01, Updated 11/07/01