Dave Mirra Hands-On

The Dreamcast version of Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, currently listed as 60 percent complete, stays true to the original PlayStation version of the game, as it contains the same levels, tricks, and quirky physics.

Dave Mirra's main mode, the proquest, is a very goal-oriented mode. You start each level with four amateur challenges to complete. They are usually reasonably simple, such as score challenges, simple jumps, or knocking over items. Once those are completed, the pro challenges become available. The pro challenges are, as you might imagine, a little more difficult, and they'll ask you to do things like grind for 50 feet, make long transfers, or get a reasonably high score. Most of the challenges are fairly inventive and do a lot for the gameplay. The levels range from dirt tracks to street settings to full-out professional competition arenas, and most of them are fairly well designed. The game's other modes include the now-standard free-ride and single-session modes, as well as a two-player mode with lots of different variants, such as best run, farthest jump, highest walltap, and so on.

The most interesting part about Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is its trick system. Rather than be content to simply clone the Tony Hawk style of moves, Mirra has a move-modifier button, which lets you alter the tricks and create some pretty nice combos.

Graphically, the game looks a lot cleaner than its PlayStation counterpart, with smoother models and sharper, more colorful textures. The sound isn't complete in the current version of the game, but what is there sounds pretty good.

The Dreamcast version of Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is scheduled to ship in November.