Tag Archives: Biking

2XTreme Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a title that lets you play different sports. So that part’s pretty fun since you get to really switch things up all the time. That said, none of the games will really wow you and there isn’t a ton of variety to be found here. For the most parts the games are just standard so you will have a good time but you won’t be sticking around for very long. Before you know it you will be gone and this game will vanish from your memories.

I decided to play a few levels in each gameplay style to really get the hang of it. My favorite mode was bike riding. I felt like the controls worked best for this setup. It is really hard to win though so I feel like I’m still doing something wrong. No matter how much I would accelerate, I would never catch up to my opponent. Simply put, he was just way too fast. Nobody was lapping me or anything like that but I would usually be sticking to last place. At least I still got some trophies by driving quickly and staying inside of the gates but I would have liked some more wins along with that.

The other gameplay modes like skating and blading were also pretty fun. It could be a little harder to turn in those modes but still nothing crazy. Your main objective in each mode is to go ahead and win the race. Along the way you can pull off some advanced tricks like going through each gate or keeping up a top speed. If you do that then you can earn some trophies. There isn’t much of a tournament mode here though or at least it isn’t unlocked yet. The way you select the match isn’t great though so the menus could use some work.

You have to one by one go down each setting to set them up for the match and then you can start. The problem with this? That means you can’t just jump into a match with ease. It’s probably something where you won’t even notice it once you are used to the setup for a while but it definitely could have been a lot better. Just let me have my settings straight and I can keep on switching levels with ease. This is the definition of a minor problem though and not something that actually hurts anything all that much.

As far as the graphics are concerned, the game looks good. It is definitely on the older side and of course you can tell that but it’s not sloppy or low budget. It holds up as well as I would expect. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I can’t recall any of the themes at all which is definitely a problem. So the technicals are okay but nothing to write home about which fits in with the rest of the game as well. This is a game that lets you play some sports and that’s exactly what you get. Nothing more and nothing less. So you will be satisfied if that is why you have selected this title.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the game otherwise since it is very direct. There are no real gimmicks or items here either. It all comes down to your individual skills. How do you handle the turns and unexpected obstacles? You have to always react quickly or else that is it for you. You will be surpassed by all of the other racers and then it’s game over. Although I thought I reacted quickly and I still lost every time so it is what it is.

Overall, 2XTreme is a reasonable game. I wouldn’t call it all that good but it’s certainly not bad. There’s just not a whole lot of bang for your buck here. So you will play it a bit and get accustomed to what’s going on but that’s about it. Before long you will be ready for the next title. So if you have PS+ then you should definitely check this one out but otherwise you’re not missing much if you decide to just skip it outright. You just can’t really go wrong with the game being free.

Overall 5/10

Jeremy McGrath Super Cross 98 Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time to look at a very old PS1 game. I actually have a few of them that have been waiting for their chance, but since the bulk of them don’t have any story modes and aren’t even recognized on the backlog there isn’t much of an incentive to playing them. Still, while I wait for Undertale to show up it’s a great opportunity to blast through this one. It’s a fairly fun game although it’s one that is naturally quite limited.

There are a few main modes here like Time Trials and Single race, but you’ll be spending most of your time in the quick career mode. There are 11 races in this mode, but you only get to keep going if you have enough points. I had to retry one of the races real quick since I didn’t qualify so make sure you save after each race in case the next one doesn’t go as you planned. As long as you average in the top 3 out of 6 you will typically be okay to keep going. I ended up with 3rd in the tournament but apparently that wasn’t quite good enough so then you get a cutscene of the main character crashing. It feels pretty bad, but I like how the game has a sense of humor. Even when you pause the game there are extra options in case you are confused and the game tells you to make up your mind or go ask a friend.

There aren’t enough stages for 11 levels though so a few of the levels are used twice. I think there were maybe 8 unique levels which isn’t too bad I suppose. To make the final 2 stages a little harder they made them take place at night time. I don’t think that was the best move as it’s just super hard to see where you’re going. If a computer is going to beat me then I want it to be legit, not because I’m just crashing into everything. Still, I guess I appreciate the fact that they did something to make the level experience a little unique. That’s still pretty cool of them.

The graphics are really old. This game certainly doesn’t hold up nearly as well as the original Spider Man game but I guess it doesn’t look bad either. Everyone just seems a little blurry and of course it can be hard to see the turns in the level in time. When it comes to the soundtrack it is fairly generic. The game once again adds a little personality with how enthusiastic the announcer is. I think the game did a good job there.

I don’t think I really need to describe the gameplay here as you could understand it with a glance. You are driving a motorcycle/bike and trying to be the fastest to make it through the course by the end of the laps. You can go for style points by pulling off tricks after jumps, but it is risky since if you mess up you will crash and lose a lot of time. You can also target players by performing a wheelie but if you don’t hit them at just the right angle then you’ll be the one who crashes. I couldn’t quite get the angle right so I gave up after a while, but it does give some nice depth to the gameplay. If you manage to master all of the extra gameplay techniques and such then I think you will be quite ready to take on these computer opponents.

There isn’t much replay value here though. Most of it will come from the multiplayer mode of course, but your friends will probably be playing some other racing games instead so I’m not sure if it’ll be enough. The single player content is only good enough for around 1-2 hours so you just need to make sure that you’re getting a good price. If so, then it’s time to pull the trigger on this game.

Overall, I think the game is reasonably fun. It may not be a racing game that you will particularly remember after playing it, but there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a situation where there are now many more solid options to play for racing games. If you can find this game for a dollar or two then by all means you should check it out. It’s a good game and I’d recommend it. I do think that I should have gotten a medal or something for 3rd place though.

Overall 6/10