A second ATV game from Acclaim,
but this is a sequel to the PSX's ATV Quad Power Racing and not the
slightly more recent
ATV Offroad.
However, they're not a world away from each other.
Once again, it's a game awash with several game modes, such as Single Race,
Freestyle, Time Trial, Arcade, plus Challenge, to unlock Pro Riders,
and Career, where tricks equals bonus points, which will get you further
on to completing the current championship before you can progress to the
next. Finally, the ATV Academy allows you to try a few tricks out and
learn to control your vehicle.
I particularly enjoyed the 'Tower Challenges' as they're like a very dangerous
version of BBC's "Kick Start" and they give a great sense of freedom.
Like the aforementioned ATV Offroad outing, this title continues the
great look and feel to the game in terms of the quality and fluidity of the
graphics, with the physics still exactly in place as before, but if I had a
slight gripe it's in the not-very-convincing water splash effects.
What the game has in playability, it does lose out in the sound dept., but then
that's the case with most driving/biking games, as you appear to 'fart' around
the track, such is the rasping noise of your engine.
Longevity is the only possible problem with this type of game. Try a rental
first to see if it's the sort of thing you'll stick with mid-term, rather than
just a few days play.
For the DVD-style extras, this disc contains trailers for Burnout 2,
Legends of Wrestling 2 and All Star Baseball 2004 (what, so soon?)
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Like the aforementioned ATV Offroad outing, this title continues the
great look and feel to the game in terms of the quality and fluidity of the
graphics, with the physics still exactly in place as before, but if I had a
slight gripe it's in the not-very-convincing water splash effects.
Longevity is the only possible problem with this type of game. Try a rental
first to see if it's the sort of thing you'll stick with mid-term, rather than
just a few days play.
