Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX

"It's on the Tony Hawk engine.............so why isn't it fun?"

I was browsing through the pre-played games at my local Blockbuster a few days ago, when I found a copy of Mat Hoffman Pro BMX for 20 bucks. I thought ''what a bargain'', and I picked it up. Thinking that the game was an improved version of the Tony Hawk game, I was having high expectations from it, I thought it was going to be amazing. Then, when it booted up in my PSX, I noticed something. This is the EXACT SAME menu as in Tony Hawk 1, aside from maybe the level editor. So, I started a game in career mode, only to find more menus, exactly the same as THPS. So, I think ''big deal, the gameplay will be tweaked better''. Wrong! As soon as I started playing the first level, I could very well tell something was very wrong.

The first thing that got to me was the objective screen. It has 5 objectives, just like THPS 1. Everything was completely taken from THPS 1, it seems that Activison wasn't going for originality. Instead of spelling out S-K-A-T-E, you spell out T-R-I-C-K. Instead of tapes, you have covers. You have pro score and champion score, and you have a silly objective like ''knock down 5 portaloos''. So why am I complaining? This was all established in THPS 1. When THPS 2 came out, it added about 5 more objectives to each level. Mat Hoffman came out many months later, and still, it's nothing new. It's practically the same game as THPS 1, except THPS 2 is out now, and is much better than 1. So technically, Mat Hoffman's game is a step behind.

The game runs on the THPS engine, except this time, it's loaded with problems. One being the control issues. Many times, you will start a trick, and land in time, but still fall. This is because you must land perfectly on the bike. In THPS, even if you landed a bit off the skateboard, you still made it. Here, it's the opposite, one small turn to the other side, and you fall nuts first into the handlebars. Sure, it adds to the realism, but it takes away from the fun.

There are 8 levels, 2 are competition. Each level is uninspired and bland. They aren't very big, and it ends up being repetitive. The amount of sheer depth in each level in THPS 2 was amazing, here, it's just small and uninspired.

Another thing is the soundtrack. Many rave about it being ''The best licensed soundtrack ever''. Nope, it's not even close, aside from maybe the Pennywise song and a few others, it's nowhere near as good as good as the soundtrack in THPS 1, which features The Vandals, Goldfinger, Dead Kennedys, and Primus. Even THPS 2's soundtrack beats it.

Yes, there is a level editor, but who cares? THPS 2 has a level editor, and is much more fun to play.

So, the game you waited months for ended up being a lousy THPS 1 rehash. Now that THPS 2 is out and surpassed 1 by a milestone, it's obvious that Mat Hoffman's game just doesn’t hold anything original. The game is just a waste of time, because it's not as good as either Tony Hawk. Heck, it's not even made by Neversoft. It's made by Runecraft and Shaba, another reason why it probably was dead on target.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/01, Updated 08/08/01