Hands-on With Motocross Madness 2

Rainbow Studios is putting the finishing touches on Motocross Madness 2, the update to the company's original off-road bike game, released back in 1998. The game retains the same fast-paced action and free-roaming gameplay that made the original a success, but builds on the gameplay by incorporating a brand-new graphics engine, licensed bikes, two new modes of gameplay, and a track editor.

Motocross Madness 2's terrain engine is as impressive as the first one was for its time. The ground is completely contoured, and polygon edges are nearly impossible to make out. The engine removes the "horizon fog" of most 3D racing game, which completely eliminates polygon pop-up and draw-in. The individual 3D models have also been reworked, and bike and rider now boast four times as many polygons as they did in the original Motocross Madness.

Another welcomed addition to the series is the inclusion of licensed motorcycles. Developer Rainbow Studios was able to get the nod from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and an undisclosed manufacturer. The only factory bike that won't be in Motocross Madness is Kawasaki because of the company's exclusive deal with THQ. Any racing fan will attest that licensed vehicles, whether they're cars or bikes, add a whole level of realism into racing games that just can't be had with fantasy vehicles.

Motocross Madness 2 will have two distinct modes of play. The first, called Pro-Circuit racing, is a career mode that starts players off as rookies, who must then race their way to becoming Supercross champs. Rainbow will add a financial aspect to the career mode, so players will be able to upgrade their bikes or buy new ones altogether with the prize money from each circuit's purse. The second gameplay mode is called Enduro racing and is basically made up of a handful of highly interactive levels. Players will be able to jump over trains, between bails of hay, and underneath airplanes at a Costa Rican airport. We found Enduro to be extremely addictive.

The game is scheduled for a summer 2000 release and will be bundled with a complete track editor.