Published by Ultimate Games, Mad Skills BMX 2 isn’t your typical racing game. Presented with simple-to-play-but-hard-to-master controls, this bike rider has more in common with ExciteBike’s boosting/tilting mechanic as opposed to the balancing/trick gameplay of Trials.
Instead of focusing on accelerating, breaking, power-ups, turning, boosts, or even weapons, Mad Skills BMX 2 simplifies everything by only relying on two forms of input – up and down (which is also mapped to the triggers if you prefer). In short, to gain speed, you want to hold down on the analog stick, also known and pumping. Then, when the time comes, flicking up causes the racer to jump to glide through the air. Holding down on the stick while in the air causes faster falls.
The challenge comes from determining when to pump, when to jump, when to fall, and when to fly. While the first few stages are easy enough, completing challenges toward the end of the first cup almost turns into a reaction-based puzzle game as you need to hit jumps in specific ways to clear gaps. On top of that, the player always races against one AI player. So not only do you need to complete each track, you need to do it fast enough to beat the AI.
Completing stages rewards the player with cash that is mostly used to unlock cosmetic changes but there are some new bikes to unlock over time. I wish there were more unlockable upgrades because there are some steep difficulty spikes. Once the bike is maxed out, it is up to the player to beat the AI with skill. Unfortunately, some of these races demand perfection. So much so that it can easily turn into frustration. Having the ability to make the bikes faster would have eased this blow. There is the option to purchase more temporary boosts, but this also can be frustrating when you use them and still lose. Then you need to grind previous levels to get more cash only to buy more boosts and still get smoked by the AI, preventing progression. I almost wish the AI racer component was removed entirely to put the focus solely on beating your own ghost time. The individual level gating can be exhausting.
Mad Skills BMX 2 is far from a must-play racer but this pump and jump control scheme is interesting and different. While the AI opponent can be brutal at times, causing heated trial-and-error frustration, there are moments of joy and satisfaction when you pull off a high-flying, fully pumped leap over a gap. In other words, one moment you will punch your pillow. The next squealing with delight. The highs don’t fully cover the lows, but it is still an intriguing, unique racing game that deserves respect for trying something different.
SCORE: 6/10
More Interesting Than: Super Woden GP
Not As Good As: Excitebike World Rally (WiiWare)
Wait For It: Garfield Kart 2
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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