Motocross Madness 2 has a special quality. It's fairly rare in this concentrated form, and I don't know the word for it. So bear with me as I describe this quality.

You're at a little party, just some friends getting together. There's a multimedia PC, and they start playing Motocross Madness 2. You watch, and you howl with the rest of the room when the driver takes a rough spill after a mile-high wheelie. Then you feel it—this quality taking hold of you. Your hands twitch for the joystick, and you can't wait for a turn. Let's call it "must play me."

Motocross Madness 2 has "must play me" in spades. Just try to watch somebody else play it. That's enjoyable, but the pull of "must play me" is strong indeed. Then you get your hands on the controls, and as soon as you see which button accelerates, you're riding like a champ, screaming through the air and roaring up tree-laden hillsides. That's the feature of "instant reward," going hand-in-hand with "zero training time." Nice.

It's been two years since the original Motocross Madness game from Microsoft hit the shelves, rocketing our chair-bound hides into the seats of these wildly leaping motorbikes. This follow-up effort, Motocross Madness 2, matches its predecessor in its uncommon ability to provide a thrilling game experience to a first-time player, with virtually no learning curve at all.

"It's going to be one of those painful Motocross Madness 2 landings."

Click the thumbnail for full image. (46K)

Graphically, MM2 is indeed farther along than its predecessor. The 3D environments are far richer, especially in the Enduro events that are filled with vehicles, planes, and other moving equipment. The diverting elements really bring a sense of life to the game world, and they add a wacky element of surprise to your races or explorations. Textures look quite realistic, and the polygon counts are high enough that most objects don't have an extreme "blocky" look.

The sound effects of MM2 are satisfying, with effective rider grunts, noisy crowds at the indoor events, and just the right bike engine noises. In-game music is entirely absent, which didn't bother me any.

The interface works very well indeed. It's easy to appreciate a game that lets you dive right in, and as soon as you learn three very basic controls you're ready to ride: accelerate, turn left, and turn right. Other controls can be picked up after your first breathless hours of racing, like brake (!), and stunt keys that make your driver do tricky things when his bike is sailing through midair.

The commands are configurable, and they map onto nearly any device you'd ever want to play with: keyboard, joysticks, gamepads, racing wheels, etc. Do you still have that SideWinder Freestyle that you used to use with the original Motocross Madness? It works beautifully here, as you'd expect.

Additional controls and larger 3D environments add some depth to the game. You'll also find that the opponent racers are quite difficult to beat, which can be discouraging. It'll take many races for you to catch up with those AI drivers, but you can look at that as game longevity also. You need to get to know those tracks. You can also play against human drivers on the Internet, using your free account at the Zone, but lag time (especially over a modem) affects playability on-line.

Also in the category of game depth, all the original game modes are available: baja, stunt quarry, nationals, and supercross. MM2 adds enduro racing, in which you're racing through populated areas and traffic, and pro-circuit races, providing a career mode where your driving talents can earn money for vehicle improvements as well as for doctor bills!

The physics of MM2 are mostly arcade-like, especially in your bike's tendency to sail miles into the air like the original game. Landings seem a bit trickier, but not insanely difficult to pull off. I can ride skyward, show off with some zany stunts, and then land from dizzying heights, pulling off feats that in real life would certainly land me in a hospital. Even the spills are surprisingly rewarding, evoking all kinds of out-loud groans and yells. Who can avoid a gasp when your rider separates from his bike in midair? Or when you make a madly rushing 70-mph leap, only to discover the location of some power lines?

Suffering in only a few areas, like a 3rd-person camera that can't always provide a useful viewpoint in steep hills, and some hard-driving AI opponents, Motocross Madness 2 is a real treat and a surprising improvement over the well-regarded original game. Even if you don't like real motocross racing, you should watch somebody else play this game for a few minutes. Just try to watch without twitching your hands… Grade A-.

Motocross Madness 2 shouldn't make you cross if your PC meets these minimum requirements: Multimedia PC with Pentium II 300 MHz, or a Pentium II 233 MHz equivalent with an 8 MB hardware accelerator; Windows 95 or later; 64 MB of RAM; 200 MB hard disk space; quad speed CD-ROM drive; Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device. Other hardware is optionally supported, and multiplayer modes have additional system requirements: See the bottom of the Motocross Madness 2 box for details.

Motocross Madness 2
[street: $40]
Microsoft/Rainbow Studios
ESRB rating: Everyone ("E")

Lighter Blue: Mini-Reviews

A Brief Look at Soldier of Fortune
by Randall Coots

At about halfway through Soldier of Fortune now, I have some impressions to share. Soldier of Fortune amazes me at how realistic it is, minus some nods to gameplay. You can set it on ultra-realistic, but I'll tell you what—it's darn easy to get killed. If you're wearing body armor, hits to the arms and legs wound you, and hits to the head—lights out.

I can see why it gives people fits, but you know what? It's no more graphic than it ought to be, and it's not gratuitous. Enemies don't die in a supposedly humorous fashion (like in Duke Nukem) even when shot in the groin (ahem, Duke Nukem). They go down hard and don't always stay down. It is gory, but follows reasonable logic as to mechanism of injury and result.

"Your Soldier of Fortune is a little outnumbered."

Click the thumbnail for full image. (57K)

One of the creepiest effects is that in cold weather you can see their breath. If they go down but not out, you can still see little puffs of breath coming out, then it stops. Very creepy and sobering.

On the proper settings, the weapons load out is restricted, and you have to exercise fire control and ammo conservation. I have ten friendlies killed on my stats, but I didn't hit any of them myself. Two were hostages I wasn't fast enough to rescue (one was a transient in the subway who just wouldn't get out of the crossfire). Eight were friendly soldiers in Kosovo who again got toasted as I tried to rescue them from an ambush. Rescue them? Heck, I could hardly rescue myself! Grade: B+.