Top Secret Magazine Urban Assault

Microsoft has done quite a job on Motocross Madness. This is one of the most entertaining games I've ever played. Its full of features and options that make it very replayable, over and over again, including a built in map maker/editor.

Starting at the main menu screen, I was impressed by the creative animated menus, and buttons, though the screens where a little fuzzy. I started off with the Stunt Quarry. This is basically the kind of place that most people with dirt bikes go.. Out in the middle of nowhere, with lots of hills. As I entered the arena I was immediately impressed with the graphics quality. The terrain was smooth and the lighting effects where spectacular.

I found myself in a large flat area speeding away at 80MPH. In this game, you can really feel the speed, with the ground flashing by at incredible speed. I pulled off the flats and onto the hills to log some airtime (I wonder if 40 hours of this would land me my pilots license :) The physics are awesome, and make for some cool stunts and wipe-outs. Speaking of stunts, there are several that the player can do, though I found then extremely hard to pull off successfully. Its still fun to try, and when you finally nail it, I'm sure it'll be really cool to show your friends in multiplayer.

2motocross.jpg (6922 bytes)

I also stumbled across what might be an Easter egg. At the ends of every map, there are steep cliffs to keep the player in the arena. After several tries, I finally got on top, and I tried to continue going away from the arena. I almost died laughing when I was launched through the air back to the middle of the map...

There are several modes of play in MCM, including Stunts Quarry, Baja Race, National Race, and Supercross. You can race against up to 10 opponents, although it seems the number of opponents drastically changes game performance. I found that 5 opponents was the most I could have and still have the game run smoothly. The opponents difficulty settings can be changed, to offer a good introduction to newbies, while challenging the more experienced players.

The sounds are also great in MCM. With everything from the high pitched, inconsistent, hollow whine of the engine, to the grunts of the player when he falls off his bike. The gameplay is great for both newbies, and pros alike.

Unless you absolutely hate dirtbikes, this game is for anyone and everyone. Its easy to learn and play, yet hard to master, and is very entertaining. This game is definitely worth a try.

Company:
Microsoft
www.microsoft.com

Category:
Racing/Simulation

NOTES:

Interest: 85%
Maniability : 88%
Graphics: 89%
Sound : 86%
Originality : 70%

TOTAL : 84%

Requirements:

Operating System:
Windows 95/98

Processor:
Pentium 133MHz or higher

Memory:
16 MB of RAM

Hard Drive:
60 MB for minimum install;
180 MB for typical install
(50 MB for swap file)

Sound Card:
Windows compatible sound card

Video:
Direct X 5.x compatible 3D accelerator with 4 MB of memory

Joshua Westhoven

DEMO