|
on 22nd December 2000
" Okay, who remembers the BBC television children's programme
from the 1980s called Kick Start. Okay, keep your hands up
if you ever wanted to be on BBC television children's programme
called Kick Start. I'll put my hand down now."
"Well, if this game had been around at the time I'm sure
it would've saved my parents frequent bouts of earache as
each time the series came on, I would ask for a £1,000
scrambler bike so I could take part. Although not the real
thing, Motocross Mania offers you the chance to perform a
number of death-defying stunts - far more exciting that balancing
across a log, while Peter Purvis commentates. Nowadays, a
game that has any suggestion of racing is often met with the
moan: "Oh no, not another racing game". True, the
market is saturated with samey racers, so the developers are
having to pull out the stops to find something different."
"Motocross Mania has a very good try and would certainly
be in the grand final if it was entered into a Kick Start
series competition. The game has been developed by Deibus
Studio - the same developers who came up with Edgar Torronteras
Extreme Biker" and "Moto-X 200" - the latter
which even inspired new real-life stunts in the sport such
as the "one-handed chicken" (sounds like something
you'd get at the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet next to a nuclear
power plant) and the 360 degree rotation."
"This game contains four distinct game styles, with players
competing in fast and furious races on stadium-based supercross
circuits and across a multitude of wild outdoor motocross
tracks. The game also has an extensive and unlimited stunt
mode - where the humble "bunny hop", which is about
the best I could do in real life, would be met by an embarrassed
silence from the judges. But if your head is so big you have
difficulty getting your crash helmet on - you can even replay
your best stunts and then post them on the web for all to
see."
"The graphics on this game are quite superb, with environments
ranging from tropical landscapes to dune-filled deserts -
perhaps it says something for my abilities - I seem to spend
most of my time on the game in the scenery somewhere. Although
this game is only available on the PC at the moment, there
are plans this year to extend it to the console. If the transfer
is successful then this should be a game to look out for -
but might I suggest some comedy St John's Ambulance crews
be added to the game - fans of Kick Start will know what I'm
talking about. "
 Back
to Press Reviews
|
