MX vs. ATV Supercross (360) Review

They still make these?!

I’m not a huge fan of motocross as a sport, so when I was asked to give MX Vs ATV: Supercross a chance for review, “Why not?” I said. I enjoy racing games, and while I prefer more of an arcade experience to simulators, I do love offloading in real life and have had my time on an ATV or two. So I popped in the disc and was greeted with a fairly basic menu… which had me wondering if I had made a mistake? There was only one way to find out, dig in.

When I started my first race, things were a bit rough. Sliding all over the place, I didn’t know exactly how the game controlled, and with no prior experience with the series, it was a bit of a rough start. Realizing that the right stick was extremely important to racing was a key factor in finding more enjoyment from the races. The right stick is the weight and balance. Pushing left and right for tighter turns and up and down for more momentum during jumps, the reliance on the right stick was extremely different but enjoyable.

Yup, that is an MX vs. ATV game alright.

MSRP: $29.99
Time to beat: 6 hours
Multiplayer: 1-2 splitscreen, Online 2-12
Price I would pay: $20.00

After a few hours with it all, things became a bit clearer on exactly why I was having so much fun. The game gave me feelings similar to the old Nintendo game Excitebike. Racing other ATV’s or MX bikes, up and down wavering dirt hills, adjusting speed to line up jumps and dips; it became an almost cathartic experience. Not exactly expected, but definitely welcomed out of a budget title.

As much as the flow of the game had dug its way into my veins, the negatives couldn’t be overlooked. While the bikes control fairly well, the ATV’s seemed a tad jumpy. Perhaps this is exactly what they were going for since ATV’s realistically can be extremely hard to control at higher speeds. The turning just seemed to be super sensitive, even more so than on the bikes. Maybe this is something expected of the previous titles, but it seemed a bit too loose for my tastes.

Yup, not much has changed.

Players can also perform tricks in the game, but would never know it since the game doesn’t tell anyone. If I hadn’t looked into the controls option, I’d have never known. Then again, it’s hard to pull them off, and it becomes a guessing game as to how to achieve the tricks. I tried finding a tutorial or somewhere that taught me, but came up dry. There also seems to be no incentive to doing tricks other than just for show as there is no scoring system, so it’s not a necessity.

My time with Mx VS ATV: Supercross was unexpectedly fun, and for fans of MX Supercross it seems like a no-brainer. I stepped into a world I’m not overly familiar with, but it actually heightened my interest in checking out the real sport. While the visuals can be a bit lackluster and repetitive in design, that’s the nature of the beast. For a budget title, I’d say it fits right in with offering fans exactly what they want: Dirt, mud, bikes, ATV’s and racing under the arena spotlight.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Racing mechanics
  • Motocross authenticity
  • 17 tracks
Bad
  • ATV Physics
  • No trick tutorial
  • Average graphics
6.5
Decent
Written by
Justin is a long time passionate fan of games, not gaming drama. He loves anything horror related, archaeology inspired adventures, RPG goodness, Dr Pepper, and of course his family. When it comes to crunch time, he is a beast, yet rabies free we promise.