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This game is what Supercross is all about: bumps, turns, jumps, brakes, and low speed. The game does a good job of capturing supercross. The only problem? Realistic supercross is boring. As you have probably guessed, the basis of the game is to race and win. You can do this in a single race or a whole season. There are 21 tracks to race on and 24 different real riders to choose from. Most of the tracks seemed very similar to me though. They are all in stadiums so there isn’t much room to work with for the track layouts which causes them to all seem very similar. This also causes the tracks to be short. The stadiums used though are all real stadiums. As for the riders, I am not a supercross fan so I had no clue who each one was. The game does have a very nice picture of each rider and how he finished in the last two years in the rider select area. I couldn’t tell a difference between riders however, besides the fact that they each have a different number and wear different colors that is.

You can also do freestyle runs as well. The tricks range from easy button combinations to more difficult ones requiring precise timing. They all look distinct and you can actually see exactly what the rider is doing. When you perform a trick, a picture in picture pops up and lets you see it from a different angle as you perform it. The only problem with the freestyle mode is you don’t get to compete against anything but your old point totals.

The controls were good overall. They allowed you to lean back and forward to help with jumps, landings, and going over the bumps. The clutch allows you to slide through the corners. The Nintendo controller fails the game though. No analog gas was a big loss. Having to hold it full blast or tap it got very annoying quickly. To do tricks as well it is just the push of a C button and then directions on the D-pad. There are also controls for changing the camera view and looking behind you.

The racing itself is not the most exciting thing in the world. It is mostly you against the track. The pack spreads out very quickly after the start of the race so you are hardly ever battling with someone else for position. This is nice in a way though since the track is very narrow so there is not much room for negotiating. The game has great real world physics. You go as fast as you can for a short bit, then have to slam that brake and pop that clutch to make the corner. Then hit the gas once again to get over that next jump. You need to lean correctly too to get all the air you can from a jump or to help you turn that corner faster. This is good for being a real model but bad for fun. Always having to stop then go gets on your nerves. You just want to hit the gas once and make it over 50 MPH but that isn’t going to happen here. The game is way too forgiving to the player when it comes to crashes though. I could intentionally drive straight into another racer, wiping him out, and all that happened to me is that I slowed down. Wiping out on a landing is very difficult to do too.

The graphics for the game are excellent though. In medium resolution it looks good and on high resolution it looks great. You can see the numbers on each rider’s back and read the barriers nicely. The sound is fair. The commentator gets tiring quickly, saying the same things over and over again or not keeping up with the action. The music is okay, I felt it repeated too quickly and the songs seemed chopped short. As for the sound of a motorcycle, it is good. Not that the whine of a dirt bike is anything amazing but it sounds like it should.

The game does do a good job of simulating supercross. The player is allowed to adjust his bike. You can make changes to tires, suspension, and the gear ratios. It does not give you a reason to do well though. You always get to go to the next race and there wasn’t anything special if you won the season. The feel of déjà vu from track to track made playing dull. The game looks good and the controls are good but the feel that you have been here before and the slow speed of always gunning and then braking for that next corner, cause this game to lose its appeal quickly.