It's Tony Hawk meets crap

Why do video game companies release bad games? They must know whether it is good or not, but apparently this is not the case in my scenarios: Superman 64, Iridion 3-D, etc. Same thing with Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX. Now, before you get the wrong ideas, this is NOT a Tony Hawk 2 copy. If anything, it is more like the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater which I cannot bear to play anymore now that I have fully beaten its sequel.

First, let's start with the good...

The music is good. It's really good. It's better than THPS2. I won't go into detail about how it sounds, because music generally isn't really regarded in video games. I'll just point out the standout tracks: Outkast - "B.O.B.", Plainhead - "I Will Refuse", Pennywise - "Wouldn't It Be Nice". There are probably some others but I can't really recall them from the top of my head. Anyways, the point is that these songs are so... "last year." The sound effects are decent, from grinding to... well, grinding's the only one that really sounds good. What I find odd is that when you come back down onto a quarterpipe or halfpipe, you don't make any noise. Though I am quite fond of the noise where you hit the ground.

The level's are pretty interesting. Though I didn't really bother to finish the game (heh), the three that I unlocked were pretty rad. The first one is a course for Hoffman Bikes which is pretty straightforward. There is a secret area where you can go into the backyard and there is a dirt path waiting for you. I love doing a tailwhip on the funbox next to the halfpipe, mainly because it reminds me of the 2001 X-Games and Jay Miron's (I think, I could be mistaken) 360 tailwhip. Next is the Construction Yard which is a really big level where there are Porta-John's, steel bars, yellow cranes, and a broken bridge that provides for really cool gaps. The last one I unlocked is London Underground which deals with Britain's famous subway station (I've been there; looks a LOT like it, except that the escalators are usually steeper). It's fairly boring throughout because it's a "one-way" level where you can only go through the level instead of thoroughly riding through it. This pretty much means the only thing to really do is grind, which is a drag because it is much harder to do in this game than in Tony Hawk.

And now, onto the bad...

Even though Mat Hoffman is more like the original Tony Hawk, it does include the beloved manual. Unfortunately, it's not as smooth or as easy to use. For those that score huge points in THPS2, you'll get really frustrated at this game. The manual is really hard to control and, if you slip your finger from the A button to the X button, you will not perform a trick. In the end, one is forced to push downwards onto the button. It's a minor thing, but definitely different from THPS2. Another thing is that it's really hard to land. Bikes can rotate faster than skateboards you really have to get used to the new speed. Also, the camera only sometimes helps you get a good perspective on things. Unlike skateboards, on bikes you cannot ride switch (duh!). MHPB uses a system where when you are fakie, you press UP to return to the correct position. It sounds fine and dandy, but sometimes it doesn't even work.

I hate to keep bringing bad things but: grinding. You don't get a visible balance scale so you must judge whether or not your character will bail. This sounds simple enough, but add this to the jerky camera, and you'll have some problems even in the first level when you are trying to open the door to the backyard. Sure, there's a code where you can get the scale, but who wants to enter a code in everytime? Now that we're on the subject, why the hell did Activision even keep it out? Bah.

Most people agree with me here that grinding and flip tricks in THPS2 were really cool. Well, in MHPB, you have FOUR choices of grinds. Not very impressive. You have 8 tricks, but they are rather boring and cannot be changed. You are really limited to tricks unless you are riding vert, and that can get very old. You better keep your finger off the B button unless you are riding vert or have some major air. This opens up some major predicaments, because riding verts has its issues. For one thing, if you go off a halfpipe (or even quarterpipe), you might go off the edge and land past the lip, forcing you to crash. More often than not, you'll find yourself trying to land back in the vert pipe. That's pretty sad.

Graphics are somewhat good. Textures are grainy and are pretty much lifeless. This is a port from the PSX version so don't be expecting a framerate of 60 frames per second. The characters are detailed, so I don't really have a problem with that. The thing is, this game doesn't look like a Dreamcast game. Anyone that just walks into the room would assume that you are playing on a Nintendo 64.

No, I'm not going to do a fancy last paragraph where I summarize my thesis in a catchy, witty way that would Dave Barry weep. I'm just going to say this: don't get this game. Whatever you do, don't get it. Better yet, why don't you save up your money for a Nintendo GameCube? Wink, wink.