Motocross
Stunt Racer, by Dig-Concepts (ported
to Linux by Eon
Games)$19.99
Reviewed October 2002
After gluing yourself to the TV watching
X-Games VIII, here is a chance to get into some action yourself!
No, I’m not talking about scraping your knees and breaking
your elbows kind of action. I’m talking about doing
verts in real locations, beating courses in different shapes
and complexity, blasting your way through some windy curves
and muddy pits while avoiding collision with other riders…in
Motocross Stunt Racer by the talented Digital Concepts folks.
You will be ripping through some fast races and leaping some
big air tricks, yet leaving yourself in one piece.
Digital Concepts brings you the full motocross
experience in Motocross Stunt Racer (MSR) with racing and
stunt courses. The 45-level course design is one of the reasons
you want to check out this game. Even though you won’t
get the lengthy courses like the ones in console motocross
games, MSR jams in all the major course attractions in its
compact window. You will see jump ramps and tight corners
on racing courses, and variety of vert jump locations in
stunt courses. You must complete the requirements in each
level to unlock future courses. The true thrill seekers will
enjoy some really crazy racing mud pits like the Short Cut
where you seem to be the only rider who knows the secret
of shortcut, or the Suicide Run where the course winds like
a letter B and every rider rounds up the corner in any direction,
which makes your heart beats faster riding head on with other
bikes.
Another reason you want to check out MSR
is the graphics. The top-view rushing is super smooth while
maintaining nice frame rates. The rider figure seems very
small compare to the gorgeous and detailed course layouts.
The 20 Racing courses, 20 Stunt courses and 5 Free Ride courses
all have their distinct styles and setups, while you can
pick colors for your ride. You can play the game in both
portrait and landscape (for lefties or righties) modes with
real time gamma correction.
MSR relies heavily on the stylus to control
the game. It will take you a while to get used to the control
if you prefer the D-pad. The stylus control gives the rider
a smooth and realistic feeling of the bike’s movements,
especially in racing mode. As long as you don’t crash
into other riders, you will pretty much have a nice ride
and are likely to unlock the next courses. The stunt courses
require more control on sudden accelerations and brakes.
I can do flips and big air almost in every stunt course,
but I had hard time sticking to the landing after a big jump.
The game does not give you that much of granularity in controlling
the landing or performing more complicated tricks like Catwalk
from Clifford Adoptante or Tsunami from Nate Adams, if you
have come to admire them after past X-Games.
The sound FX are very realistic, adding
the powerful feeling of your engine roaring. The music tracks
are engaging. Both have several volume levels as well as
the ability to turn the sound for each on or off. MSR supports
all Pocket PC, Pocket PC 2002, XScale, Smartphone, and desktop
platforms. It takes a little over 2 MB space.
Even though I can’t mimic the “Mad” Mike
Jones’ Kiss of Death trick in MSR, this game is the
first real Motocross game we have on the Pocket PC and
I couldn’t have asked for a better start. And as
an Extreme sports video game fan, you can’t help
but hope that this is the first of many great Extreme sports
games to come. Hey, it only took one guy named Tony Hawk
to bring skateboarding to millions of console gamers.
Playing Hints and Tips
Use the stylus control if you can,
it will save you lots of time practicing the controls.
Not all racing courses give you generous shortcut breaks;
so don’t
always shorten the courses. |
