Supercross 2000 Review

Turning problems aside, the game features a pretty nice physics model, and the bikes buckle and bounce in a realistic fashion after big jumps.

Supercross and the Nintendo 64 haven't really gone hand in hand. Supercross fans looking for gaming goodness have been all but forced toward the PlayStation. EA Sports' Supercross 2000 strives to fill the gap with a heavily licensed endeavor.

The game is broken up into two styles. The racing mode puts you on lots of different tracks, while the freestyle mode puts you in a large area populated with jumps, bowls, and other air-enablers. On paper, both modes look really cool, but the game's control really isn't up to snuff, and this takes a lot away from what otherwise would have been a pretty good game. The problems surface when you make turns. The game tries to make turning realistic, in that your rider will put his foot down if you jam the stick all the way to one side, but you never seem to turn with a tight enough radius to feel fully in control of your bike. Turning problems aside, the game features a pretty nice physics model, and the bikes buckle and bounce in a realistic fashion after big jumps.

Graphically, the game looks a little boxy, especially the racers' legs and torsos, but everything runs at a good frame rate with or without the expansion pak, which lets you run in a higher resolution. It's a fair trade-off, as a lower frame rate at the expense of better-looking models would have hurt the gameplay quite a bit, especially in the two-player split-screen mode. The game's sound is every bit as annoying as real supercross races, complete with grinding, buzzing motors. The play-by-play is low on the personality meter, sticking strictly to calling out passes, tricks, and other semi-important events.

If you're a fan of supercross, and you've been waiting for a good game to come along on the N64, Supercross 2000 is good enough as a first effort, but hopefully we'll see some control tweaks and some improved performance in the sound and graphics departments in the unannounced-but-you-know-EA-will-eventually-do-it sequel.

The Good

  • N/A

The Bad

About the Author

Jeff Gerstmann has been professionally covering the video game industry since 1994.