It’s for sure that Supercross won’t win awards for incredible graphics, but the music will kill you! And I mean that in a good way. Sure, the motion-capture is awesome. And, for fans of motocross, checking out crazy tricks is probably 75% of the game. So, EA got that part of Supercross down. The backgrounds, bikes, and costumes are where the graphics break down. Even though track design is good and there’s plenty of cool stuff in both Racing and Freestyle modes, I was a little disappointed by how uninspired and blocky the graphics were for riders and their machines. But, to elaborate on the music, EA not only brought in killer bands like Kottonmouth Kings and Kittie, they also included music videos for most of the feature songs! I haven’t seen this before, but I hope more companies start doing it. The videos and the general “pumpedness” of the tunes bring some much needed adrenaline to Supercross which match the over-the-top aesthetic of this crazy sport. Along with music features, EA had some nice video footage plugging other games in the EA Sports series as well as real-life motocross footage. I’m a sucker for these little extras, but they wouldn’t matter unless Supercross was a decent game.

If Road Rash isn’t your thing and Moto GP seems too involved, Supercross may have just what you’re looking for. Anyone familiar with the sport should have that image of high performance dirt-bikes scrambling through the mud, aggressively elbowing for position, and getting HUGE air. If you’ve never seen motocross, you’re missing out on a major spectacle. And, if that weren’t enough, when these riders aren’t racing, you’ll find them jumping the same bikes off half-pipes doing tricks that would make Tony Hawk cry. To be fair, the trick portion of Supercross isn’t on the level of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, but Supercross isn’t just about tricks. The racing modes are good fun, and neither Racing nor Freestyle feels like an add-on.

For racing, Supercross offers any single track to race for placement or best time, and then there’s the big stuff. Out of nine series races, which basically put you through a number of tracks against a field of racers competing for points, only four are available initially. It takes some time to get used to the pace of motocross since there’s plenty of action in the air along with managing track conditions and tight turns. In fact, the real trick to placing first is making sure you come down as gracefully as you go up, which is not always easy. Choose a racer from a ridiculous number of pros, or make your own rider. Freestyle Mode is shared for Single- and Two-Player, but I wish the Series Mode was there for two. If you’re playing with a friend, any single race is open, but Freestyle Practice or Freestyle Competition are the goodies for Two-Player. Whether alone or with a friend, tricks are fun on performance motorcycles. A completely different set of tracks are open for Freestyle modes, and there’s more variety than most of the racing tracks. Freestyle Competition is all about you, the jumps, and the trick-points. Tricks are scored for difficulty, length, and combinations, and after multiple tries, the lowest score is dropped to give you placement.

Sports games tend to be as difficult as you make them, but Supercross suffers from a few control and technical issues that can raise the bar on difficulty. First, although the trick control is easy, riders respond too slowly. Stringing together tricks is crucial to winning in Freestyle Mode, but response time is so slow, you’ll be lucky to make more than a two- or three-trick combo. In the racing modes, my beef is with bad physics and collision detection. Bikes either bounce off you like they’d hit a wall, or somehow transport you to the back of the pack when collisions happen. It’s okay for getting the general idea of slugging it out on a dirt track, but anybody looking for realistic handling or simulation won’t find it here.

Since at least half of Supercross finds you up in the air, special attention was given to controlling lean. Although it can feel strange, making sure you come down from jumps the right way is one of the first skills to master. Moving with analog lets you have precision, but the biggest thing is trying not to land too far forward or avoiding coming down on the uphill side of a jump. So, you really work with the landscape. At the same time, the flexibility of Freestyle Mode is not lost during races. If a jump takes you a little off-course, applying some lean along with the R1 button moves the bike in the air. R1 also handles tight turns on the ground and gives you a powerslide. Sliding around tight corners is a surefire way to win races, but mastering the many, many jumps in Supercross makes for a fairly unique experience.

Freestyle Competition removes any concern for cornering or controlling speed, and makes you concentrate on getting air and pulling off tricks. Tricks all work by some combination of the Circle button and the D-Pad or analog stick. Holding tricks for longer periods or getting big air on jumps result in more points, but the real money is in stringing together trick after trick. EA balanced each Freestyle level to reflect the number of jumps and how extreme each jump is. So, competing in a level with mild jumps means your opponents will have lower scores than the times you face off in a level with extreme jump potential. Custom tricks can be discovered, which is good considering only 12 are listed in the manual. The manual as a whole is fairly weak, although tips are given between races during the game. A full bunch of options let you customize elements in Supercross and turn off some really annoying announcers.

PS2: This is my first PlayStation game that refused to run when settings were changed to Smooth and Fast under the PlayStation driver options.

Supercross pulls off good motocross action, but falls short in some areas. Depth of play in both Freestyle and Series Mode help pull the title out of mediocrity, but only hardcore fans of the sport will need to rush out and buy this one. For the rest of the world, Supercross is a fun rental, and I do believe this franchise could make an awesome showing on PS2.