Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

"BMX at its best"

A while ago, I spent 50 dollars on a game called Summoner. I've had heard that it was an RPG, and because I love RPGs, I bought it out. However there was an irreversible bug on it, which prevented me from advancing further into the game. I went back to my local shop, and tried to change the game. I was going to change it for a better game, as I had noticed Summoner wasn't that good. Being a fan of extreme sports game, I selected a game called Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2. I rushed back to my house, and played the game. At first, I felt it was a little... bad. But, as I learned how its mechanics were, I totally fell in love with it. DMFSBMX2 is like ''how to make a good BMX game''.

Let me start up by talking about the graphics. Character models, based on real life skaters, aren't that great, and they look ugly. Their faces are Perfect Dark-ized with a static expresion on the face, which looks handraw. Their clothes and hair look very blocky, in it its like you could look through your bikers. The level, however are EXTREMELY well, graphic wise. Even though there IS pop up, you can look miles away, and the game doesn't lose detail. The grass looks bright and realistic. The ramps and gondolas on the Gallon Water Park look awesome, and the whole city at the commercial district will leave you astonished. Now that I'm talking about the commercial district, I must add that car models are ugly. When I say ugly, I mean ugly!.

You may say when you first play the game ''damn, this game is so damn hard to control'', specially if you have been playing Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman, because, you'll be pressing X in order to accelerate. But, you'll be slowing down!. Let me explain you. Z-Axis apparently wanted the game controls be as realistic as possible, as the way bikers move depends on how you move the stick, how much strength you apply to it, etc. To run, you must push the stick to the direction you want to move FULL FORCE. Pressing X will slow you down, and releasing it will make you jump. The other buttons are practically the same than THPS's. For the breakdown:

D-Pad: Used to move. If you press any of the arrows full force, you'll run.

Left stick: Used to move. Depending the force you apply, you may run.

Right stick: As far as I know, this has no use.

Start: Used to pause the game.

Circle: Used to do modiphiers. You can hold them up and rotate them in order to increase your points.

Square: Used to do air tricks. You cnd hold them up and rotate them in order to increase your points.

Triangle: Used to grind.

Woah, I must have way too much time to type out the game controls on a review. Hehe. Now, let's talk about the game's soundtrack. Here, I can't give you a solid score. My DMFSBMX2 is buggish, like my Summoner one. A song starts, and then another song starts, and neither one of them finishes. But, sometimes, I get some lucky shots, and I can hear the whole song. For what I've listened so far... the soundtrack is good, but the songs could be better. There a few good ones that will hook you on, but other ones make you re start the run. Yes indeed. As stated above, the soundtrack is good, but nothing compared to THPS's.

Lastly, gotta talk about the gameplay, the most important point about a game. You start on the woodward camp, where you must jump across a gap, jump a certain amount of feet, and knock over four ladders(you must first get a certain amount of points, though). Once you complete these objectives, the trainyard levels appear, as well as the woodward camp's pro challenges. Then, you'll have to complete the hardcore challenges, and ultimately, the insane challenges. Each time you complete a challenge, you get a certain amount of respect points, and when you reach a certain amount, you'll get a new bike.

So, summarized is like this: you complete five types of challenges on a level, you clear gaps, you beat records, you unlock levels, and repeat.

Overall, I must say that DMFSBMX 2 is THE BMX, as it contains all you could wish: good graphics, tons of options and tricks, huge levels, and good graphics. If you are a fan of bikes, extreme sports, of Dave Mirra, I suggests you to buy this game. If you want to tes it out, then rent it, to see if you like it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/02, Updated 02/21/02