Jonny Moseley Mad Trix

"You know why Skiing as a sport doesn't have games portraying it? Here's your example, sukka!"

When you think about extreme sports games, you would think of games that revolve around the world of Tony Hawk Pro Skater and SSX. But then you get into the strange hybrid games such as Mad Trix in which you are in the extreme sports world again, but you’re on skies instead of on a skateboard or a snowboard. With the ability to select several different professional skiers, Mad Trix is a game that you have to take for what its worth, and try to have fun with it in the process. Although this is a Play Station 2 game, you may find that the visual presentation as well as the control configuration of the title is not exactly user friendly and requires more practice and patience than it’s worth!

Mad Trix tries hard to improve on the original theory of Dave Mirra in which you have several different tricks that you can link together through grinds and air/flip tricks. There is a small multiplayer option that you can play with that allows you and a friend to play through a trick mode, but the options that you have are exceptionally small. The control set up that you find here is another small problem in which the tricks themselves all have to be done with the directional pad and the facial buttons, but in order to move your skier, you have to use the analog sticks! All of these small things that you have to work with here makes for a rather displeasing play through considering the amount of challenge that it takes to simply play through the game.

When you actually get into the game, you may find that there really isn’t much here that helps you out in learning how to play the game. Much like SSX, you’ll find that the longer you hold the spin directional button, the faster you’ll spin through. Tricks are pretty much gauged by how many you can link together, and even though there is a tweaking option, there really isn’t much there that keeps the tricks moving in a smooth fashion. Other various game play options that you’ll find during the tracks is with point multipliers and jumps along with some speed power ups, but really there isn’t enough variation on the tracks or with the tricks to make the game play all that fun!

The control is what kills this game and it does it in a big way. While the game doesn’t take too much to learn in terms of tricks, it’s pulling off the tricks and gaining the points that you need that takes all the practice and patience in the world to complete! You use the directional pad in order to twist up for spins and flips, while the analog sticks control the movement of your skier down the slopes. What you’ll find here is that your timing and your line up has to be perfect enough in order to smash through the game and get the medals that you need, and that isn’t easy when you have to use two different control setups to get the job accomplished!

Visually, Mad Trix seems to fail in the way that the game is represented on the Play Station 2 with grainy characters and lack luster tricks. Although the game seems to take on some impressive visuals on the different tracks that you go through, there isn’t enough to see or enough to really do that shows off the potential that this title could have. Much like SSX, most of what you’ll see are some interesting variations on the different tricks and flips, but the hit detection that you find will send you sprawling into the powder if you’re not careful. All in all, you won’t find too much here that is impressive or that will make much of an impact on your eyes, so be ready for something of a disappointment!

The audio that you find here in Mad Trix though is something that will stick with you. The top name bands that perform some of the music for the game do some pretty impressive things with the music track and it keeps the pace of the game. What you’ll find here is that Mad Trix follows the same format of other extreme sports games in which you have plenty of punk/rock music. The sound effects are extremely minimal with nothing really going for it other than the slight swish of the snow in certain parts of the game. When you boil all of the aspects of the sound down, you have your cookie cutter format of sound to go along with the already played out game genre!

Although you won’t find too much that is terribly wrong with Mad Trix, there is just enough to make this an average game when you’re tired of playing SSX Tricky. With the skiing genre having very few, if any games attached to it, there are some points in which you may find that the game offers impressive game play possibilities, but presents them in the wrong way! The visuals are less than standard and not what you would expect out of a Play Station 2 game which makes it seem to be a rushed title. Audio wise, it follows the same standard as every other extreme sports game out there with the rock tunes added into the game play.

What truly kills this title is the way that the control is set up in which you have to work on practicing with the way that the controls are set up more than you actually have to play the game. Considering that the tricks are pretty much carbon copy tricks of other games such as Dave Mirra and Tony Hawk, those of you who have played those games will find nothing terribly different here. For those gamers who like extreme sports games, this could be a toss up on whether or not to buy or rent, simply because of the overall presentation of the game. However, if you’re looking for some considerably different game play than the rest of the pack, you won’t find it here and it’s been done better in other forms!

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/02, Updated 01/27/02