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AMA Supercross Championship

Release Date: December 20, 2000
Genre: Racing
Style: Motocross
Similar Games: Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 (PlayStation), SuperCross Circuit (PlayStation), Freestyle Motocross: McGrath vs. Pastrana (PlayStation)

Game Description

Compared to its predecessor released a year earlier, Supercross features a more action-oriented style of gameplay. Tricks are smoother and may come a little more easily, but players will still have to hold the right line and perfect their timing if they're going to be real contenders in the Motocross circuit. Players will race through several indoor and outdoor tracks in this dirt bike simulation from EA SPORTS, and a freestyle mode is available as well, offering a perfect track for maximum air and wild tricks.

~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Of all the different sports franchises EA Sports has offered, probably none got off to a slower start than its dirt-bike racing series, in Supercross 2000. That title, which stayed clear of the arcade feel of racers like THQ's Championship Motocross featuring Ricky Carmichael and Acclaim's Jeremy McGrath Supercross, opted to go with a control scheme that was more true to the sport of motocross. Unfortunately, the game's complicated controls combined with sloppy animations, poor sound, and boring gameplay turned Supercross 2000 into a title EA Sports would rather forget. That said, with their follow-up title, generically titled Supercross, EA has gone back to the drawing board and put together a better offering for motocross fans.

The most notable change in Supercross is that EA opted to go with a more arcade-styled control scheme this time around. While this may come as a disappointment to gamers looking for the ultimate motocross sim, fact of the matter is, they tried the more realistic approach in the last game and it did not work well. Besides, with this game's new hold-the-accelerator-and-don't-let-go approach, gamers will get a better sense of the speed they would experience in they actually participated in a motocross event.

Also enhancing the speed of the game, EA has implemented a new speed boost gauge to help get more air off jumps. Gamers must press and hold the L1 button and then release it to get a boost. The trick is, once you hit L1, you must time your release perfectly to get the boost at its peak. It sounds complicated, but after practicing for a half hour or so, it becomes second nature.

While the above-mentioned changes to the gameplay for Supercross without a doubt improve the game over its predecessor, there are plenty of adjustments EA still needs to work on. In the Race mode of the game, the AI is sub-par. Playing with the difficulty setting on beginner or rookie, opposing bikers offer little competition, and within a few hours, gamers should be able to win each and every race with ease. Unfortunately, when gamers are ready to brave the challenges of the game's pro level, they will no doubt feel overmatched. This is because in pro mode, opposing bikers move at insane speeds that require gamers to achieve near perfect racing in order to win. On one hand this is a good thing, as gamers will need to spend days perfecting their racing skills in order to consistently win. On the other hand, it is very cheap, as the AI controlled racers are not any better; they were simply sped up by the programmers.

Aside from annoying AI, Supercross is also hampered by odd collision problems. Most notably, gamers will find there is no way to go off the track. No matter how badly one misses a jump or over-accelerates, the racer will not leave the course. Because of this, the courses feel more like a railroad tracks than motocross tracks. Even stranger, for a sport as dangerous as motocross, crashes are practically non-existent. The only time racers ever crash is if they attempt a trick. The problem is, in Race mode, there is no reason to ever attempt a trick.

Speaking of tricks, the other game mode in Supercross, Freestyle mode, is a complete waste of time. As one would expect, the mode give gamers a chance to pull off tricks to achieve high scores. Unfortunately, the trick courses are rather bland, and for that matter, so are the tricks. Requiring a few button taps followed by pressing the circle button, gamers will master the short list of tricks each character has in a few minutes. The only reason to ever play this mode is for a change of pace when playing with two players.

Despite its numerous flaws, Supercross is still a major improvement over its predecessor, and is better than most of the motocross games on the market, outside of the classic NES game Excitebike and its follow-up for the Nintendo 64. Featuring over 15 tracks and almost 30 racers, fans of the genre get plenty of replay value. The only catch is that you really need to be a fan of motocross to enjoy this game. Otherwise, you are best finding your "extreme" thrills elsewhere.