Considering how popular the sport of motorcross has become, it's a wonder that there haven't been more titles honoring the sport. Even more of a wonder is that there haven't been very many of them that are actually good. MX Rider hopes to change that with their PS2 effort.

When I first looked at MX Rider, my mouth turned sort of sideways and I let out a little 'Ugh' sound. Had I ignored the fact that I was holding a Dual Shock 2 and not read the package, I would be convinced that MX Rider is a Dreamcast title. First off, the textures were a little too sharp, making them look rough and very Dreamcast like. I don't want to rip on the Dreamcast (rest in peace) because it was a great system, but I expect my PS2 games to look like, well, PS2 games. I think it would have helped if there was more detail. The riders could have had more details in their clothing, and it would have been nice to see more sponsor logos on the bikes. On the outdoor courses, I noticed that the background didn't really move at the correct speed as the track as it rotated. If I had to guess why, I would say that they made the tracks and then put them inside a giant sphere with a mountain/sky texture on the inside of it. That's a little trick I learned in my 3D computer animation class to make it look like the horizon is really far out without having to actually make the ground go that far. The texture that was used for the sky was very uninspired and flat looking. After some time with the game, I hardly had time to notice the sub-par graphics, though, because of the fast gameplay, but I was still able to pick up on some of the more subtle details that were in the game. The biggest and most impressive was the fact that the players got dirtier and dirtier as the race went on. Not only the racer, but the bikes would get a healthy splash of mud every time they hit a puddle. Although it is probably because of the meager graphics, there wasn't any pop-up or slowdown, both of which are vital to the graphics of a game. I can't stand trying to figure out which way the next turn goes because the system hasn't even put the next four feet of track on the screen yet, and what fun is it to race when you are moving at Geo Metro speed? But this is not the case with MX Rider. If it has anything going for it, it is the fact that MX Rider is fast and you can see what's coming up.

If there is something dragging the game down, it is the sound. First off, the music is awful. None of it is recognizable, but worse than that, you can't understand any of it. Do you remember those kids in high school who wore black all of the time and had a band, but didn't really know how to play? Well, they finally made it big and they are on the MX Rider soundtrack. Many people say the worst part of the Madden football games is the fact that you have to listen to John and Pat's commentary. I'd rather listen to those guys when I consider how bad the commentary is in this game. It's only one guy, so he has both the job of doing the action and color commentary, and he can't do either very well. Action: 'That guy went really far off that jump!' Oh, you mean that guy on that jump - thanks for being specific. Color: 'Wow, this is good water. What, do you mean this isn't water?' I'm serious, he actually says that. I don't even know what that means. Wow, this is crappy commentary. What do you mean this isn't commentary? The only helpful thing he says is that you can turn off his voice if you find it too annoying. The sound effects are somewhat better. The most prevalent sound is the engine noise. It actually sounds a lot like the real thing with the standard high pitch squeal and quick shifting noise. Pretty much, the only other noise is the crowd. The crowd sounds great, but the only problem is that it seems that everyone is watching you and nobody else because they all let out an oooh! noise when you crash.

Even though the graphics may not be as good as you would expect, the gameplay of MX Rider more than makes up for it. The responsive controls are the best part. You say turn, and the rider, in the words of Conan O' Brien says 'I'm just a robot, I do what I'm told.' That isn't to say that your bikes scoot around like a remote control cars, but they act like their real life counterparts. There's nothing like slamming the brakes into a turn and then laying on the gas as the back end whips out. Adding even more to the realism is the fact that you have to pre-load the suspension like in ATV Off - Road Fury to make a good jump. For those of you not into the motorsports lingo, that means compressing the shocks on a jump and then releasing them at the top to get the most air. This can make for some realistic jumps, but the tricks can completely blow the effect. The biggest problem is that the controls don't respond nearly well enough when you push the appropriate buttons. Many a time I found myself thinking 'this game stinks' when I checked the manual and discovered that I had put in the correct button combination. Added to the fact that the tricks aren't all too inspiring, and even doing them seems like a waste of time. You can do either a barrel roll or a backflip plus modifiers like no hands or feet. When I think of motorcross, I imagine a rider slicing through the air with a tabletop. Not here. Even worse than the limited number of tricks is the fact that they look so mechanical. Instead of flowing smoothly off a kicker and doing a barrel roll, you can jump in the air, wait a second and roll over 360 degrees and then get this, roll over the other way. If Newton was playing this game, he would be so irritated, his wig would probably catch on fire. Quick! Go grab a glass of water from the commentator. What do you mean this isn't water!?

With a trick system that bad, you can guess how fun the Trick mode is. Fortunately, the other more racing oriented modes are a blast to play. The Career mode is the obvious best. Take a rider with custom uniform colors, buy a bike and start racing. Along the way you earn more money and have the opportunity to gain sponsors. Taking on a friend can be just as fun and thanks to the smallish stature of the graphics, there'll be no slowdown.

On the Easy setting, I was doing great on my first race and was in line for a first place finish until I got cocky and tried to do a trick over the last jump. After crashing, I got up and rolled my way down the hill to a seventh place finish. As long as you don't try anything fancy, winning races should be easy. The difficulty levels aren't adjustable, which can make the game seem too easy. Mostly, the pack runs together so if you do end up crashing, they'll all pass you. Fortunately, that means if you can catch up to one of them, you will most likely make it back into your position.

Other than the mechanical-looking tricks, there are a lot of other mechanics in MX Rider. The controls are great and give the player the ability to have their racer do whatever they want. Analog support works well and is very useful for making precise turns. For a lot of games, I like the Auto Save function that is usually included, but in the case of MX Rider, there were a few times when it was less than useful. The first reason is that it takes a while to save. If I could have just saved once when I was ready to turn off the console, I would have preferred that. The other problem with the Auto Saving is the fact that if you quit a race because it's not going so well, the game automatically saves it as a forfeit.

What Guys Thinks : I was immediately turned off by the Dreamcast caliber graphics, but MX Rider proved itself to be a fun game. I'd rather have a poor looking game with great gameplay than an unplayable game that is fun to look at.