Seven Sports Games: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
This strand covers a selection of noteworthy sports video games and what makes them worth writing about.
The 1999 release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater proved to be big watershed moment in the development of video games outside of its own genre. It ushered in a new era of in-game physics and graphical capabilities, while also creating new, mainstream interest in skateboarding and its culture.
That impact is evident by the number of games made of different action sports that followed THPS. Within a year of the success of Activision's first Pro Skater game, Acclaim got in on the act. Their sport of choice, the BMX. The development team at Z-Axis set to work, able to use their recent skater title Thrasher: Skate and Destroy as a base. All they needed to do was change the board to a bike while the publisher looked for a headliner for the final product.
That named athlete would be the best-known BMX rider of the time, Dave Mirra. Like Hawk with skateboarding, the multiple X Games gold medalist was synonymous with the sport and key to the popularity of BMX trick riding. With Mirra's involvement, the publisher was able to have the biggest names in BMX to lend their likenesses to the game, which finally hit the shelves in September 2000.
Response to Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX was favourable but not as enthusiastic as that of Tony Hawk's - but then again few titles achieve that level of recognition. Especially one that is following in the treads of a benchmark game and featuring a minority sport. However there is plenty to like about Acclaim's product on its own terms.
First question: is it Tony Hawk's with a bike? Kind of, yes. After selecting a rider, players then find themselves in environments such as a train yard or parking garage - somewhere big and empty with plenty of fixtures to trick off of. Players have a session of two minutes to achieve a set number of goals: from earning a certain number of points to performing particular tricks or in particular places.
Tricks in DMFBMX are performed by pressing different combinations of buttons either while riding on or jumping off obstacles. Some which earn more points than others, others require particular actions done to be pulled off successfully. For example, reaching a high enough elevation from a jump in the air is needed in order to string together certain combinations and land safely. There's no score awarded for anyone who doesn't stick the landing.
Key differences with Tony Hawk's other than bikes instead of skateboards include a larger variety of tricks, the bike here can be used to different jumps as well as whips and spins. Also, with the greater height the bike can reach means longer and more complicated combos can be achieved.
Performing a grind is unique in that when performing the trick a balance will meter appear on-screen, which has to be adjusted using the directional buttons while grinding. If it falls too far either way the rider will fall off and all the trick points earned will be lost.
Completing all the tasks in a level unlocks further ones as well as new, harder challenges in the same level, opening up new depth and replay value to the game. There's even more in two-player mode, where players go head-to-head in a number of contests to see who can score the most points, get the highest air, skid the furthest among many others.
Anyone who has played Pro Skater that experience will be a time saver when getting to grips with DMFBMX, as the controls and commands in both feel very familiar. However, this is easy to learn and quick to master for anyone who has not played any similar game or with no prior knowledge of BMX. Total completion though will require some practice and skill.
DMFBMX was successful enough to spawn two sequels, one official and the other not so much. For the third game Acclaim wanted to go a very different route, with more salacious content and Jackass-type humour. Mirra was not happy with this new direction of the series and had his name taken from the title. They pushed on without Mirra's involvement and the later product was named BMX XXX. Coverage of its release in 2002 was focused mainly on the its sensational aspects.
While rougher around the edges than other games of its time and type, the original Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is still a hugely entertaining sports title you will want to play more and more, even twenty years after its first release.
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX was developed by Z-Axis for Playstation, Dreamcast and Microsoft Windows and published by Acclaim Entertainment for all consoles in late 2000.
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