Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX Hands-On

Activision is running with the success of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and is creating four new extreme sports games based on the Tony Hawk engine. While Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was an obvious success, it's still unclear if Activision will be able to mimic the game's success by replacing Hawk's skateboard with a BMX, a surfboard, or a snowboard. And after we played an early version of the game at E3 as well as the demo version found in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, it seemed as if Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX, which was originally scheduled for release in November of last year, was going to be nothing more than Tony Hawk on bikes. But after playing a brand-new demo version of the game, it's now easy to see that developer Runecraft is taking the extra time to ensure that Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is more than just a Tony Hawk rip-off.

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is set up similarly to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The game has several single-player modes, including a career mode that takes you from an unknown BMX rider to the world champion and a free mode that lets you ride around any arena you've unlocked in the career mode without having to worry about completing objectives. The career mode is reminiscent of the one found in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: You'll start as a fairly skilled rider with only one course open to you, then you'll complete objectives to unlock more levels and add more skill to your rider. There are eight riders in the game, including Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla, Cory Nastazio, Joe "Butcher" Kowalski, and of course, Mat Hoffman himself. The riders not only look different from each other, but they also have different tricks that match their personal riding styles. The game also features several multiplayer modes, including the HORSE and graffiti modes found in Tony Hawk and a completely new demolition derby mode. You'll be able to play each of these modes in any one of the game's eight levels. Additionally, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX will feature a level editor similar to the one found in Tony Hawk 2. The editor will let you make your own courses, then you can save and ride them at your leisure.

The game features a modified version of Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater engine. As such, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX looks and plays a lot like the original game. The basic objective of the game is to ride around the various levels busting individual tricks, grabbing certain items, and performing specific stunts. The controller layout is exactly like that in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. You'll perform smaller tricks with the square button and larger tricks with the circle button. You can grind pretty much any edge or rail with the triangle button, and ollie with the X button. While in the air you can spin with the R1 and L1 buttons. This control layout should be easy to pick up for anyone who's played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and it gives Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX an extremely simple and intuitive interface. The game tries to pull away from the Tony Hawk stereotype not only by including real BMX tricks but also by ensuring that the level design is conducive to BMX riding more so than skateboarding. The levels in the game feature plenty of grinds, but more importantly, they have lots of big jumps and rhythm sections to encourage lots of wild air. Also, the levels really take advantage of height and feature plenty of obstacles and grinds that lead up to high places. The game doesn't seem to have the big drop element--the gameplay mechanic found in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 that made it difficult to land large falls. As such, the game seems to encourage launching off of high reaches and performing ridiculous tricks on your way to the ground. The game features the manual system from Tony Hawk 2, which can be used to string some particularly nasty tricks together.

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX has been refined a lot since we last saw it in the Tony Hawk 2 demo. The game is much faster this time around, and after a few tricks you can really notice the speed. Additionally, the balance and flow of the game have been enhanced. The flow of jumps is much better, and it gives you more control through transfers. The game is more forgiving than Tony Hawk 2 regarding landing and moving from one surface to the next, and it accurately reflects actual BMX physics. Still, even with the changed physics and the BMX tricks, the game can't seem to shake the Tony Hawk feel. The indoor BMX parks are extremely similar to skateparks found in Tony Hawk, and the dirt areas aren't different enough to really make it stand out. Still, if there were one extreme game to emulate, it would be Tony Hawk. Not only does the game already look like it could be better than other BMX offerings, but it should also please fans of the Tony Hawk series looking for something new.

At this point the graphics are a bit under par when compared with Tony Hawk 2. Based on the original Tony Hawk engine, the graphics in the game look good, but they don't have the texture quality that Tony Hawk 2 has. Still, the levels are all put together very well: There's no pop-up and very little polygonal breakup. Also, the levels are very big in Hoffman, and they feature plenty of room to maneuver. The riders themselves look nice and feature a ton of animations. From supermans to tail whips, the tricks look exactly like they do in real life, and they are very clean and fluid. Additionally, one of the details Runecraft is particularly proud of is that each rider not only has unique special moves but performs each individual move with his own unique style. The game features tons of bails, most of which are pretty awesome. Riders have a tendency to get caught up in their bikes and often twist up into painful positions and spit blood when they bail. Plenty of great animations combined with big levels and nice-looking riders make Hoffman a fairly pretty game.

The licensed soundtrack features an odd assortment of rock, punk, and rap. While Activision hasn't nailed down the final soundtrack to the game, it's a good bet that Hoffman will feature a few big-name acts and plenty of lesser-known bands. The game has some very nice sound effects, with different sounds for the different surfaces you ride on. Additionally, tires whizzing through the air and spoke noises help round out the sound effects package.

While Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is different enough from the game that inspired it, the similar play style and familiar engine give the game a rehashed feel. Still, Mat Hoffman is at least a spin-off of a fantastic game, and it has the same basic gameplay elements that made Tony Hawk such an appealing game. Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX is currently scheduled for a May 2001 release.