Motocross Madness 2 is a
motocrossMotocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. Motocross is derived from the French, and traces its origins to British scrambling competitions...
racing computer game that was developed by
Rainbow StudiosTHQ Inc. is a worldwide international American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices.The company publishes internally created and externally...
and published by Microsoft Games. It is one of Microsoft's most popular games and also one of the most well-received.
This sequel to
Motocross MadnessMotocross Madness is a motocross racing computer game that was developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Microsoft Games. It was released on August 14, 1998. A sequel, Motocross Madness 2, was released in 2000...
was released on May 25, 2000, with improved graphics, which included better textures and many landscape objects like trees, roadsigns and caravans.
Motocross Madness 2 is a
motocrossMotocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. Motocross is derived from the French, and traces its origins to British scrambling competitions...
racing computer game that was developed by
Rainbow StudiosTHQ Inc. is a worldwide international American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices.The company publishes internally created and externally...
and published by Microsoft Games. It is one of Microsoft's most popular games and also one of the most well-received.
This sequel to
Motocross MadnessMotocross Madness is a motocross racing computer game that was developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Microsoft Games. It was released on August 14, 1998. A sequel, Motocross Madness 2, was released in 2000...
was released on May 25, 2000, with improved graphics, which included better textures and many landscape objects like trees, roadsigns and caravans. It has over 40 tracks in 6 event types, over 50,000 3D objects and a new career mode. Players as well as bikes are easily customized. Motocross Madness also supports network play over a
LANA local area network is a computer network covering a small physical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a school, or an airport...
environment and, until June 19, 2006,
multiplayerAn online game is a game played over some forms of computer network. At the present, this almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology; but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
gameplay through the
MSN Gaming NetworkMSN Games is an online games site devoted primarily to casual games, both stand-alone and multi-player online games. Games are available in free on-line versions, trial versions, and full feature pay-to-play versions...
.
Gameplay
In MCM2, there are six types of racing: Stunts, Enduro, Baja, Supercross and Nationals, and the campaign-style Pro-Circuit Mode.
In Pro-Circuit mode, a single player follows a series of events and courses in an effort to win prize money and upgrade equipment. Unlike the single-player mode, the multiplayer mode is completely lacking in structure. Players can race against each other on the same map, play
tagTag is a playground game played worldwide that involves one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" or touch them, usually with their hands...
and can choose from
SupercrossSupercross is a motorcycle racing sport involving off-road motorcycles on an artificially-made dirt tracks consisting of steep jumps and obstacles. Professional supercross contest races are held almost exclusively within professional baseball and football stadiums.-History:Supercross was derived...
or
EnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
. In either mode, players are not limited to track space, and are free to play amongst the terrain and inanimate objects or moving features such as trains, cars and farm tractors.
In baja mode, the player races against other opponents to ride through checkpoints (called "gates") until all of the gates have been ridden through - this is one complete lap. The first player to complete a certain amount of laps is the winner. Baja, unlike Nationals or Enduro, takes place in massive, open wilderness.
In enduro mode, which is similar to baja, the player also races against other opponents to ride through gates, with the goal of being the first to complete a certain amount of laps. Except, in this mode, the races take place in urban or rural maps, which is smaller and more variable than baja.
In nationals mode, the player is restricted to racing within a dirtbiking track against other opponents, with the goal of completing a certain amount of laps first (there are no gates in this mode).
In stunts mode, the player, in order to win, must accumulate the highest amount of points by performing successful stunts. To perform a stunt, a rider must gain enough height in mid-air and then is able to perform any of the six stunts. A failed stunt results from the rider crashing while attempting to perform a stunt. In stunts, there is no restriction as to where the player may go, and so he may also roam freely across the map.
In supercross mode, the player must race against other opponents within a dirtbiking track in a large stadium watched by an audience. It features an extreme sports-like atmosphere, with the crowd reacting to the player's performance. Supercross is similar to nationals, except for the location as well as nationals tracks are far broader and thinner, whereas Supercross tracks are large yet the track is compact.
While creating a custom game in single-player, players can select the amount of computer opponents to compete against, which range from 0, the minumum, to 10 - the maximum amount of opponents in a game (This makes a full race in MM2 eleven players maximum.) They may also select the difficulty, which ranges from easy and normal to hard. They may then also select the map/track, game mode and toggle vegetation collision (whether players can crash into solid objects, such as trees or buildings) and whether they want to record a replay of the game they're about to play. Players can also select which bike they want to compete with as well as the appearance of the suit of their rider. Players can also select the style of the game they want to play: practice, single event, ghost or tournament. Practice games never end and no players can win. Single events finish right after all players complete the track. Ghost races allow players to race against their own times (how long it took them to finish the track). Tournaments are composed of various single events.
Customization
Unlike its predecessor, Motocross Madness 2 allows players to create terrains (referred to as 'maps' or 'tracks') using
Adobe PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems...
and the Armadillo terrain editor. These maps can be utilized by players who download them to their PCs. Players can create their own clothing and customize their motorcycles. Microsoft added to the realism of the game by securing
licensedBrand licensing is the process of creating and managing contracts between the owner of a brand and a company or individual who wants to use the brand in association with a product, for an agreed period of time, within an agreed territory...
motorcycles from
Yamaha, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yahama Motor is part of the Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
,
KTMKTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle manufacturer.The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattighofen. It started out as a metalworking shop and was named Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen...
,
Suzukiis a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
, and
Hondais a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
.
Soundtrack
The band
IncubusAn incubus is a male demon that has sexual intercourse with sleeping women.Incubus can also refer to:In film:*Incubus , a number of films with a similar titles:* Incubus , a film in Esperanto starring William Shatner...
recorded most of the game's soundtrack , their song which was primarily featured in MCM2 as its introductory song being New Skin. Most of the in-game sounds, such as the bikers crying out in pain when falling or radios playing in nearby caravans, were recorded from real-life sources. There is no ambient soundtrack playing in-game.
Graphics And Physics
Motocross Madness 2 is popular for its superb next-generation (for its time) graphics, and is often praised for its 3-D visual texturing and rendering. MCM's graphics engine may be adjusted to increase or decrease the level of visual quality in-game. At its highest, there are detailed shadows emitted from objects as well as lighting effects. The textures are more sharply defined and the particle emission, such as smoke, are better. Surprisingly, MCM is one of the few classic games which has shadow-rendering graphics capabilities that are able to match most light-rendering visuals in 21st century games.
The physics engine is often admired for its simulation of realism as well as its accurate depiction of gravity and aerodynamics, going so far as to include distance, hang time and even weight in its gravity parabola.
Reception
Motocross Madness 2 received generally positive reviews, with
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
giving the game an overall rating of 8.6 out of 10, remarking "In the end though, it's about fun, and MM2 provides this in piles and piles. The crash animations never (and I mean never) stop being anything less than hilarious, and the action is always as a pretty relentless pace. 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."
GamespotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which purchased...
gave Motocross Madness 2 an 8.8 out of ten, stating "Motocross Madness 2 isn't the most realistic motorcycle simulation you can buy, but it's definitely one of the most enjoyable."
MM2 also won the Editor's Choice Award from
PC GamerPC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
, who stated "The PC's pre-eminent bike sim."