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 BRAAP! BRAAP! FREEKSTYLE Written By Shaun McCracken The late summer, early fall season of 2002 saw a bit of a flood of motocross titles for the Gamecube. Any game that pertains to the racing genre is much needed on the GCN, but it doesn't hurt to have some MX games available, either. Currently, as of April 2003, there are 4 motocross games on the GCN I know of. This, Jeremy McGrath Supercross World (which was dubbed the worst game of the year for the GCN, as well as for the PS2 by a few publications), MX Superfly (which I will later review) and the mediocre Big Air that was released before Freekstyle. So which one is currently the better MX game? It depends on what you want. If you wish to play a realistic MX game, then go with MX Superfly. But if you want more of a motocross rush, then pick up Freekstyle. And in my opinion, Freekstyle is a more energetic and overall accessible game (despite the difficulty level). Freekstyle is the next game in the EA Big series, which means that everything is fast, loud and pretty much acrobatic. Freekstyle tries to be SSX Tricky with dirt bikes, and many make that comparison, but when you really compare the two, Freekstyle is so much more difficult, and lacks the courses SSX has (SSX had 10, Freekstyle has 6 plus 3 freestyle arenas). The stunts are as easy to pull, if not easier, and both have a boost-for-trick system. I don't know. Comparing snowboarding to motocross seems kind of bizzare, they're two different things, but in the case of these two games, they seem to mimic each other. I would say that Freekstyle resembles a more enhanced version of the newer Sled Storm, which was also under the EA Big label. Freekstyle contains 6 main courses, that range from canyons to burning forests, and the outskirts of Laughlin (even though it looks nothing like it). Even though they're pretty long (some go for about 3 minutes each lap), it didn't seem like enough, especially when you compare it to the amount MX Superfly had. I would rather have 12 unique 1-minute lap courses than have 6 3-minute lap courses. And when these courses have to be played 3 times in a row in the championship mode, it gets very redundant. There are 3 freestyle courses which allow you to pull as many stunts as you can in 3 minutes. And as funny as it seems, they made one of the courses in Menifee, which is where I lived for a few years, went to high school and where I attended college. And even funnier, it doesn't really look like Menifee. Menifee is not a foresty-area, sure, there are trees, but it's mostly dirt roads until you get near the college or Sun City. Just pointing out how accurate this game is not. But, this is an EA Big game, and reality left out the door as soon as you mention EA Big. There is a sizable amount of real-life personalities such as Mike Metzger, LeAnn Tweeden and others. And they look kind of close to the people they portray. The game looks pretty sharp, although I think a little more could have been pulled off on the system. The game does run at a constant 60fps, which is very good, but lacks some of what MX Superfly has, such as bump-mapping and lighting effects. But Freekstyle is actually more playable on my TV, because it's much brighter than MXS, and I don't have to guess where a turn is in darkness. The textures are kind of flat, but do look like they should. Much like Extreme G 3, the game moves pretty damn fast, so fast, that you may not notice all the details. On a whole, Freekstyle does look better than some other games I've played, but I think it could have had a little more potential in the graphics department. Not bad, and the better of the 4 current motocross games. The sound, for a lesser word, is loud. The bikes are loud, as it the music. Most of the music is rock, which may not appeal to some. The bikes sound like very throaty dirt bikes, but I actually prefer this sound effect than the one in MX Superfly. The bikes in that game kind of sound a little weak. Then we have the sound bites from each rider, and that pretty much makes up the sound package. It's ok to leave it on, just expect repetition. The control is actually done well for this game. Bikes handle pretty well, and the stunts are laid out on the X,Y, L and R buttons with Z being a modifier. I'm sure the layout is better in the PS2 version, but the stunt functions here make a lot more sense than what they did in MX Superfly. As for game play, it's there. It seems like standard procedure for an extreme sport game. Freekstyle is currently the best motocross game available for the GCN, and is also one of the fastest racers I've played in awhile. I really would have like to have seen more courses, and shorter ones at that. Also, I think the AI difficulty could have been tuned down. SSX Tricky was beatable, so why not Freekstyle? A little challenge is fine, but forcing someone to play the same courses over and over is a little much. Still, it's a fine package, and now for less than $20, it makes for a great budget title. It's kind of sad to see a quality game like this not getting the attention it deserves, but to the select few who play it, they may be satisfied, if not a little irritated. . |
  Published By : EA SPORTS BIG Developed By: EA Year Published : 2002 Players : 1-2 ESRB Rating: EVERYONE  OVERALL
SCORE
8.1
It's a solid dirt bike racer, with controls that are more forgiving than other games in the genre, but the ridiculous difficulty and lack of courses hurt this game a bit.  MX Superfly ATV Quad Power Racing 2  MX Unleashed ATV Offroad Fury 2 ATV Offroad Fury 3 |
