Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (PSOne)
Not much needs to be explained in the way of gameplay. This is THPS people, and if you have never played either one of the two games you've probably been living in a shack in Nepal. I'll assume for now that you are from Nepal and you have been living in seclusion, so I will give you a general description of how it plays. You bike through a course filled with ramps, boxes, rails and whatnot, then you do tricks and combinations of tricks up the vert ramps and grind on everything else. That's how a game is supposed to be: simple perfection.
The soundtrack, like that of THPS2, is peppered with big name artists. Filling the role of RATM and Papa Roach in the THPS2 soundtrack are OutKast with "Bombs Over Baghdad," along with the likes of the B52's, P.O.D, Static X, and Jurassic 5 (among others). The music is great, as expected. The soundtrack alone is worth $15 of the game's purchase price.
The game features Mat Hoffman, along with 7 of the sports other hottest names. Riding alongside Mat are Cory Nastazio, Simon Tabron, Dennis McCoy, Kevin Robinson, Rick Thorne, Mike Escamilla, Joe Kowalski; all of whom, this season, have placed in the top 10 in their respective categories (dirt, street, vert).
The tricks are different, and you're on a bike, but let's face it, this is THPS with a face lift. That's not a bad thing because they're both good games, but MHBP fails from the start in the originality department. It is lacking even more in it's level design, some levels (i.e., NYC Park), are terribly designed. The lines are awfully mapped out, and sometimes you never know exactly where to go at all. MHBP is nothing but rehashed gameplay. Then again, a proven formula is nothing to scoff at.
What's just as disappointing though is the fact that for all it blatantly steals from THPS it doesn't add anything new to spice things up or add replay value. Back are the single and multiplayer modes of old. H.O.R.S.E, trick attack, and graffiti are back and need no explanation. Also included is a BMX course editor that bears a keen resemblance to THPS's skatepark editor. I wonder how that happened.
The Bottom Line: MHPB is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's illegitimate son with Activision. The one who everyone knows about, but still keeps under wraps.
SOUND: 10/10
- Great soundtrack without the filler of crappy punk bands.
GRAPHICS: 8.5/10
- Same old, same old.
CONTROL: 6/10
- The bikes are "heavier" and tricks are a lot harder to do and land than THPS.
REPLAY VALUE: 7/10
- If you own both THPS's I doubt you'll find much more to do this time around.
FUN: 8.5/10
- The gameplay doesn't stray far from THPS's conventions. Some of the tracks are bad, and that's inexcusable.
OVERALL: 8/10
