MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael

"Furiously fast and frantic motocross racing. Triple back flips anyone?"

Motocross riders. Many people would wonder why these seemingly mad people would risk breaking various bones in their bodies by launching off massive dirt jumps, performing a trick in the air and then landing on another dirt jump 120 ft away. No, they don't seem happy with simply launching over these jumps, they have to take their hands off the handles or their legs off the pedals, or hey, why not do both at the same time and let go of the bike altogether? I mean, pah, we won't be needing that useless thing for a few seconds.

Other more death-defying tricks include launching into the air and actually letting the bike fly forward so that the rider catches onto the saddle, only pulling himself up in the nick of time. And of course, two of the newest tricks in motocross riding: The back flip (called the Hart flip in the game after Carey Hart, the first person to successfully land a back flip in competition) and the 360, a full spin in the air. Now it should be obvious at this point that there are many, many tricks in motocross riding, and the problems with many games is that they fail to show all of them, or show them but implement the controls incorrectly. And so it was with some hesitation that I popped the MX 2002 disc into my PS2 and started to play.

To start with, the player is greeted with an easy to navigate menu where they can select exhibition mode (these are all of the normal races that have been unlocked), freestyle mode (stunt courses), or career mode. A number of sponsors have been put into this game, so motocross fans will be pleased to see the numerous sponsors that can be chosen for the helmets, goggles, riding suits, boots and bikes. Each of the items makes the rider look different in some small way, and each bike performs in it's own way to result in various riding styles. The Suzuki for example works extremely well on the exhibition courses due to it's high speed, whereas the Kawasaki can lead to some huge jumps in freestyle mode.

Career mode will likely be the first choice of players. This is completely different from the Tony Hawk's style career mode where goals have to be completed to advance, but some challenges that are shown in the options menu can be completed in order to unlock new movies. Unfortunately, these movies are very short and are often not worth the effort it takes to get them. The challenges include such things as winning three consecutive career races without crashing, scoring a vast amount of points in a freestyle competition or doing a 720. A calendar is used throughout career mode. When selected, the calendar will show how many weeks there are in the season, and what races or stunt events there are in each week.

The control is very easy to get used to. The left analog stick makes the bike smoothly turn in a chosen direction on the ground, while in the air it is used to make the bike turn left or right and to flip up or down. The X button is used to accelerate and the square button is used to brake, but in the air these buttons (along with circle and triangle) are used to make the rider perform a variety of tricks. To actually launch high up into the air though is more complex than it sounds, as at the right side of the playing area is a special boost bar that rises when the R2 button is held. Riding over a jump normally will result in a reasonably high air, but with this boost bar filled to the maximum riders can launch high into the air and perform many more tricks than usual.

And what tricks there are! Can cans, Nac nacs, supermans, rodeo airs and rocket airs are just some of the 28 moves that can be done while in the air. Each of these moves looks very realistic when done in the game. The tricks are performed by using a combination of the four shape buttons at the right side of the controller. Square is a nac nac for example, square twice is a can can and square three times is a disco can. All of these tricks can be combined with spins and flips to make some great looking tricks in the game, which can be viewed by way of the brilliant replay system.

The replay can be viewed in many different ways: From close-up, behind, side-on, from the front of the bike or from a long distance away (which looks spectacular when big tricks are performed). The left analog stick rotates the camera around the bike, the square button replays the action that has happened in the last few seconds, the circle button fast forwards and the triangle button pauses the action. When the triangle button has been pressed, the left analog stick can still be used to move the camera around the bike, which allows the player to closely examine the many tricks that can be done in the game. The replays look astounding, especially in exhibition mode when up to six other opponents race at a time.

There are two types of events in the game: Freestyle and exhibition. Freestyle features a variety of stunt courses which range from massive stunt areas filled with dirt jumps to specific events like the bus jump and high jump. The normal stunt courses include a small course in San Diego, the large and tremendously fun Shaffer Arena with big jumps, the Vulture Gulch canyon with its vast open areas and huge jumps over tall rocks, and the warehouse which seems to be one of the most well designed out of the stunt areas, and even includes a big secret area. The bus jump and high jump events consist of an object that gradually increases in distance or height as the event progresses.

The exhibition mode consists of fifteen courses which are a joy to play through. These range from dusty construction sites to indoor areas full of dirt jumps, from rock quarries to the icy yukon. Each race pits the player against up to six opponents, all of which are expertly controlled by the AI and never seem to follow a set path throughout the course. The first few seconds of each race are frantic, as opponents wildly try and swerve out of the way in order to knock other riders out of their path. This is a good time to ride into the distance, but before you know it another rider has caught up and unless you take that jump in the distance at exactly the right speed, you'll be in last place within a few seconds.

One of the most annoying things about the game is how accurate you have to be in every single race. It's a common occurrence to find yourself in 1st place only to hit a tiny bump at a slight wrong angle and veer off out of the track. Though the game does pick you up and put you back into the race, you will more often than not start off in the middle of the track where another rider will hit into you and make you fall off again. Jumps must be timed exactly, and every corner needs to be memorised in order to remember where these evil bumps, turns, jumps and obstacles are that so often get in the way. Tricks can fortunately be performed in the races, which can make thing much more fun as you bust a 360 McMetz through the finish line on the way to victory.

Despite the realistic look of the tricks in the game however, the huge jumps can lead to some very unrealistic looking moves if the player decides to do them. With a 150 cc bike, double back flips can be performed with ease, and combined with a long nothing (which can be held through the duration of the trick), the realism of the game is diminished. True, the tricks don't have to be done by the player, but given the extraordinary height given off most of the jumps in the game it's easy to perform a single back flip and still be rising up into the air. Now with the 250 cc bike things become different again, as triple back flips, triple front flips, and 720s are just some of a multitude of new tricks that can be done given the vast increase in air time.

Graphically, the game looks incredible. Having bought this game in 2004 and expecting it to be pixellated and slightly harsh by today's standard of PS2 games, I was pleased to find that the game graphics looks polished and smooth, with excellent detail being put onto the bikes and rider. The tricks look fantastic, with every trick looking realistic and well animated. The rider in particular looks excellent, as he crouches down on the bike to get ready for a jump, leans over to one side as he goes around a corner, and falls off the bike in some very painful looking ways. It actually looks similar to the fall system in Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX 2 when a rider bounces realistically after hitting the floor, and it definitely works well here. Graphics on levels is equally outstanding, from the icy tracks of the yukon with snow-covered mountains in the background to the stunt courses with their excellent design and thousands of cheering fans.

The sound in the game is superb, from the revving engines of the motorbikes to the various sounds used as the bikes ride over the different terrain in the levels. The bike sounds realistic as well when it accelerates, brakes and falls from a great height (as does the groan of pain from the rider when he falls off the bike and lands on the floor). The music suits the game well with artists like American Hi Fi, Injected, Relative Ash, Saliva and Sum 41, but unfortunately there are only seven music tracks in the entire game, and they can quickly get tiring to listen to.

The addition of a multiplayer mode does help matters somewhat, and it can be great fun to go up against a friend in some of the stunt levels to try and beat their scores, but the game is severely let down by not letting two people race against computer opponents in the race levels. Instead, the game only lets players race against each other through some of the massive tracks, which could have severely done with at least a few computer players to add more challenge and fun.

MX 2002 is unfortunately quite a small game however, featuring only three different career events: Amateur 150 cc, Pro 150 cc and Pro 250 cc. The first of these features four races, with the second and third featuring eight races. Despite having stunt events scattered around the calendar for fun, it's the races that really count and despite being big tracks which can sometimes take players over three minutes to complete a lap, they are over all too quickly. Winning 1st in the final event gives a small movie clip and players get the chance to race 250 cc bikes on some of the various stunt courses in the game, but no new levels or secret characters are unlocked because of this and apart from trying to complete some of the few challenges in the game, many people will be wondering exactly what there is left to do.

Overall though, MX 2002 is a brilliant motocross which was far better than I thought it would be when I picked up the seemingly outdated game in 2004. It features a great control system which allows for easy access to some incredible moves (just tilting the left analog stick to do flips and spins is a great touch), great graphics on courses and characters and a large variety of exhibition and stunt tracks to race or perform tricks on. Though the game is let down by having only seven music tracks and a multiplayer mode which lacks the option to race against other opponents, MX 2002 is a worthy addition to any racing game fan's collection, and fans of motocross games should definitely check this out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/04