MX Superfly
featuring Ricky Carmichael has wheelied its way onto the Xbox, and is
making quite an impact on those who actually take the time to appreciate
it. MX Superfly is an underrated marvel that is undeservingly being
passed over. It arrives at what seems to be a prolonged peak of the
motocross sports climax. I hear more commercials on the radio for these
events than I do for literally anything else--and rightly so. There
cant be anyone alive who isnt bewildered at a rider who dashes off the
edge of a ramp at breakneck speeds and, while in the air, stands on his
seat, sits on the handlebars, or does a "superman seat grab" before
righting himself to land. Its gravity defying stunts and spectacles
like these that are awesome to watch, and now can be performed from the
safety of your own comfy recliner. MX Superflys sheer amount of options
and goodies alone make it worth the purchase--theres way too much stuff
here to accomplish in a mere five-day rental. Of course there are plenty
of riders to choose from: how about twenty-seven of them, each and every
one of them customizable. Add into the mix 11 mini-games, 22 motocross,
supercross, and freestyle courses, boatloads of unlockables, the option
to play your own soundtrack, downloadable content via Xbox Live, and an
ingenious park editor, and you have one of the hottest extreme sports
games to come around in a long time. Regrettably, its not without its
fair share of flaws, but anyone looking for a good, solid,
feature-packed motocross title should look no further than MX Superfly.
The first thing to
notice in this game is the slick, easy-to-navigate interface and stylish
techno-industrial riffs that accompany it. Ive played a lot of games
with this type of interface setup and music, but none have left the
impression that this game has. Maybe its the fact that I just upgraded
to a thirty-two inch super flat TV with an S-video cable that make it
seem really cool; I dont know. Im impressed anyway.
That said, the
graphics are tight for the most part, but wont completely blow you out
of the water. They dont need to. Everything runs at a smooth 30 FPS
without a single millisecond of slowdown, even with all of the riders
on-screen at once. One of my biggest gripes, however, is the weak
animation when a rider takes a spill. It seems stiff and choppy, and
nothing like the real-life physics in the Tony Hawk or Dave Mirra
series. On the other hand, if you practice enough youll mostly be
staying on your bike anyway, so for most people it shouldnt be a
critical concern. Racetracks look great, making you want to race over
and over again, and the arenas look like, well, dirt. Thats what
motocross is all about. Dirt and ramps. I cant honestly say that
dirt-mapping or clod-bumping was used. I can say its the best looking
dirt Ive ever seen in a motocross game, fair enough?
Of course,
whats a dirt bike game without dirt bikes? There are plenty of them to
choose from, everything from Yamaha and Kawasaki to Suzuki and KTM. Each
of them controls a little bit differently, depending on what youre
trying to accomplish. Which leads me to my last main gripe of this game.
The controls, like most games, take some getting used to, but seem a
little overly sluggish and unresponsive here. I would like to see a
tighter reaction when I try to turn without power sliding. Dont get me
wrong; power sliding is wonderful and quite necessary throughout the
game, but I cant tell you how many times Ive tried hitting a ramp
coming out of a full circle around the arena only to sway way right or
left because I didnt power slide, thus losing momentum and missing my
jump. If youre like me, your frustration meter will probably skyrocket.
Like I said though, it all just takes some good, old-fashioned getting
used to, and youll be power sliding and hitting ramps like a real pro.
I really like
the use of the suspension meter. This basically allows you some extra
"kick" via pressing and holding the right trigger button just before
shooting off the end of a ramp to really get air born to pull off huge
combos and high scoring tricks. Its also useful in the mini-games,
especially "Step-up", where you have to clear a bar that raises a foot
or two every turn.
MX Superfly
works on a cash system, meaning you need to earn dough before your
considered real competition. You cant compete in any season unless you
make the bucks, so its critical that you do. Besides, earning cash is
basically segmented tutorials in all areas of the game including jumping
off ramps, landing, trick combos, power sliding and so forth, so its a
great way to get familiar with the ins and outs of the game. The better
you do in these tutorials the more cash you accumulate. Of course you
can compete in races and mini-games for cash as well, which is probably
where youll earn the bulk of it. There are eleven mini-games to choose
from, including, as was mentioned earlier, "Step-up", where you jump
over a bar of increasing height, "Stranded", where you pick up gas cans
and deliver them to your stranded buddies before time expires, "Moto-Golf",
where you tear up a golf course by following the designated arrows all
the way to each holes flag before time expires, and eight more such as
"Balloon Toss", "Horse", "Wheelball", and "Moto-Slalom" that really add
variety to an already feature-packed game and are a lot of fun to play.
Out of all of
these things, though, I find the career mode to be the most fun. This is
the meat of the game, and where youll probably spend most of your time.
Only in MX Superfly do you get to race in real life arenas, such as
Loretta Lynns, the Outdoor Nationals, the Free Ride Moto-X
Championships, and the THQ US Open. Hit jump after jump, power slide
around corners, and race the best riders in the sport, all the while
flinging mud and filth everywhere just like the real thing. These races
get intense, and I literally feel drained and exhausted of strength
after finishing one.
The sound
effects in the game are what is expected: screaming dirt bike engines,
the roaring of the crowd, and a commentator who, surprisingly, isnt
that annoying, but spews just the right amount of banter to make things
interesting without being overly annoying--which anyone who plays a lot
of racing games can certainly appreciate. However, I find the in game
soundtrack completely unworthy of such a great title as MX Superfly. As
is typical with extreme sports games, its littered with the usual
helping of punk and metal tunes, most of which are horrible at best. The
option to use your own soundtrack saves the day. It gives me great pride
to barrel off the ends of ramps and dirt hills with "They Might Be
Giants" and "Ben Folds Five" blasting through the arena.
Honestly, I
dont find a lot of excitement in "build your own track" editors, mainly
because its just too painstaking and tedious for me to really care. The
fact that one is included here, and a pretty cool one at that, just
serves to round out this especially attractive set of in game features,
the likes I havent seen in a videogame in quite some time. There is a
lot to offer those who do care, however, and I can see where you could
really get lost creating your own stunt course.
MX Superfly has it where it counts, and in droves. You would be doing
yourself a great injustice to dismiss this game as merely "another
motocross title." This is the pinnacle of motocross gaming. Its also a
game that die-hard fans will appreciate and even the most casual of
casual players can pick up and play and have a blast with, especially
with a group of friends. I shorted this game one star because of the
control and animation, which is a very important aspect of gameplay.
However, for those looking for a great motocross game, or a great game
period, should be able to excuse these faults and have one heck of a
good time.