Featured Game: Motocross Madness

This was hot stuff back in the day

Year: 1998

Genre: Vehicle Simulation + Racing

Recommend: YES

Maybe you're nostalgic. Maybe you want to see what game graphics were like a decade and a half ago. Maybe you tried Motocross Madness 2 on your Cedar Trail netbook and were disappointed by how poorly it ran, but still wanted to experience the action of motocross (hint hint). Whatever your reason for trying the original Motocross Madness, you will find that it's a fine game that's plenty of fun. Sure, it pales in comparison to its sequel, but come on, this was 1998. This game was da bomb, and it's still enjoyable today. 

What you'll need

For being such an old game, Motocross Madness works well right off the bat. You don't need to mess with compatibility settings, no-CD patches, or anything else that tends to plague games of this age. The only problem I can see so far is the invisibility of player names above the AI's heads and on the scoreboard. Whether this is a driver or a Windows issue, I don't know. (I'll look into it.) The game runs very smoothly, as a game with such simple graphics should.

Reviews and Awards

Motocross Madness has garnered positive feedback from reviewers. IGN gave the game 8/10 (a 'great' score), praising the realism of the game by saying it "portrays the sport in all its agonizing glory -- a fast, maniacal sport that's more fun (and much safer) to watch than it is to participate." Gamespot awarded an even higher score of 8.4/10, still great, proclaiming "this is pretty much everything you could hope for in a motocross simulation, and then some."

Tips

From here on out, I will make my best effort to more tightly integrate this blog and my YouTube channel. That's why I've embedded my gameplay video of Motocross Madness below. Screenshots, like I've used in previous posts, are a dime a dozen, but a video really shows what you can expect from a game. Feel free to check out my other videos here, and their descriptions. I put important info in the descriptions (because I don't like too much fluff in my videos, and text uses next to no bandwidth), so read them!

Featured Game: Motocross Madness 2

Oh, come on! I should've landed that!

Year: 2000

Genre: Vehicle Simulation + Racing

Recommend: YES

I'm sure you'll be saying that over and over again as you play Motocross Madness 2. I've been playing this game for years, and it never gets old. Meet the Wall of Death and you'll see what I mean. MCM2 is sure to provide you with hours of wipeouts and action.

What you'll need

Any netbook should do nicely for MCM2. (EDIT: Except for Cedar Trail netbooks...see video below, or better yet, it's description on YouTube. Technically, it's playable, but it looks very ugly.) The game provides some nice settings sliders for your customization pleasure. 

Reviews and Awards

For the time, this was the coolest motorcycle game in existence. IGN, in its 8.6/10 review, said "The eye-candy is constantly impressive, the physics are crazy enough to be fun but real enough to look right, and the multiplayer game is a blast, especially if you've got devious friends." GameSpot gave an even better rating of 8.8/10, saying "it's definitely one of the most enjoyable...motorcycle simulations you can buy." PC Gamer awarded MCM2 the 2000 Editor's Award for being "the PC's pre-eminent bike sim."

Tips

If you want to become a pro at this game quickly, load up a Stunts session with 10 opponents on Hard. You'll be able to land those stunts in no time in an effort to beat the bots.