I have to admit that when I first got Motocross Madness II from d0gmA, I wasn't all that enthused. I played the first MM and got sick of it after awhile and didn't think this one would be that much different. I was mistaken to say the least. I played the game, and then I played the game some more. So far I love playing the game and will probably continue to until the retail version comes out and I have something new to play with. If you liked the first MM you will most certainly love this one.

Motocross Madness II is the sequel to the very popular Motocross Madness (no kidding!) Ok enough cynicism, in my attempt to keep this short, all you really need to know is that there was one game that preceded this one, and this one rocks even more than the last one.

Story
OK what is there to talk about here? You are a racer on your dirt bike trying to defeat any other racers. With the different types of races, the story changes from race to race. The only important idea here is that you are a rider doing your best to win the races.

Game Play
Motocross Madness II is a ton of fun to play. This game is so addictive that I hardly had time away from playing the game to write this preview. Not only is it addictive, but it is really challenging as well. The controls take a little bit of getting used to, but I suppose so do the controls on a real bike.

Graphics
Just like most of the other great Microsoft titles coming out soon, MM II has fantastic graphics. I play all my games at 1024x768 with the quality turned all the way up and MM II had no slow downs and stayed smooth all through each race no matter how many obstacles I faced.

Audio
Vroom Vroom. What more can I say? As far as I have noticed, there is little audio to MM II other than the revving of the engine. There is no crowd noise to speak of, no commentators, and other than the crash when you bite it, no other sounds.

Multiplayer
With a game like Motocross Madness II you just know the multiplayer features are going to be awesome. There are just too many options with this type of game for it not to be. Unfortunately since this was just the beta and very few people out there have it, I couldn't test this first hand. If the multiplayer feature isn't even cooler than the single player then someone at Microsoft needs to be slapped.

Possible Problems
I found a few quirky things with the beta version of MM II. Some of these things will probably be ironed out in the final version. Every time I start the game, I have to choose my 3-D card. This may not be that big of a deal, but when I'm looking to race, I want to race. As with any beta, and most of the retail games, there were a few nit picky things, but none that will take away from the pure enjoyment of this game.

Conclusion
Motocross Madness II is almost too much fun. This game is scheduled for release in May and is supposed to be about $39.95.

All the bolstering that Microsoft does about the work that Rainbow Studios is doing on MM II is well deserved. They take the time to brag about their AI, good choice since the AI is quite good. They also mention that MM II doesn't require a 3-D graphics accelerator for play, like MM did. They speak of their downloadable 3-D track editor, which will make for much more fun in the way of people racing their own tracks.

All of this and the fact of a sport that everyone loves to at-least watch makes for another great title from Microsoft. If you liked the first MM or you just like fast paced, fun games of the racing persuasion, you will absolutely fall in love with Motocross Madness II.

Preview by: Eric Krebill "ScHwErV"
Date: April 2, 2000