Motocross Madness

I've never had much interest in sports, yet I've always loved the idea of sports and playing sports-related video games (with the exception of football...I can't get into any variety of football).  One sport that has always caught my attention and been something that I feel like I could actually get in to (assuming I had the free time and the money) is motocross.  There's just something exciting about the concept of jumping onto a dirt bike and racing and jumping over terrain that seems designed for anything but a race.  The first motocross games I can recall playing were side-scrollers: Kick-Start on the Commodore 64 and Excitebike on the NES.

Then, in 1998, came Motocross Madness, a game published by Microsoft in the days when their creativity was not hampered by trying to contrive another chapter of Halo.  Motocross Madness took dirt bikes and introduced them into an open 3D arena that can best be described as fun.

The game did not provide much in the way of customization.  Basically you could change the color of your bike and the outfit of your biker.  Environments were broad and open, but lacked features beyond the ground, as though the whole world were a desert.  Yet, once the game started and you experienced the roar of your engine and the overwhelming sense of speed, none of that mattered.

Motocross Madness offered several methods of play.  You could execute mid-air stunts for points (points being awarded for the difficulty of the stunt, and how many you could string together in one jump) in a timed stunt arena.  You could enjoy a checkpoint race in Baja mode across varied terrain, or race laps on special terrain maps or in supercross arenas.  Either way you chose to play, the speed and the ridiculous amount of air-time you could achieve made it a rush.  Adding in other racers made it even more challenging as you strove not only to win, but to avoid collisions.

The game's environment was expansive, but did have its limits.  The common, outdoor area much of the game takes place on is walled on all sides by cliffs.  With the game's crazy physics, however, it is possible to launch yourself close to the tops of these cliffs, dig in with your tires and make it to the top.  Does the map end?  No, it keeps stretching on as far as you can see.  That's not to say there is no real boundary, though.  Attempt to drive very far past the cliff's edge and the game suddenly and unexpectedly launches your biker a couple hundred feet into the air to send him crashing like a rag doll back in the play area.  The first time I experienced this, it caught me completely by surprise and I couldn't help but repeat the action several times thereafter.  It's little touches like that which let you know the developers had as much fun making the game as you have playing it.

Motocross Madness had a sequel in 2000 which added additional play modes and enhancements such as buildings and trees to the otherwise lifeless landscapes of the first.  I never played this title but reviews laud it as a significant improvement over the original, which had already received excellent reviews in its time.  After that it was a period of silence and it looked like the series was done, until 2013 when Microsoft revived the series with an XBox Live release.  Also titled Motocross Madness, it brings the game into the current generation and uses your Live avatars as the racers.  I still need to check this one out, but it looks impressive and reviews have been high.