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Motocross Mania 3 Review - Xbox

In Motocross Mania 3, motocross racing has become an extreme sport where the only thing that matters is your own behind. Motocross Mania 3 will unleash your inner strengths as you battle through fierce terrains, with even fiercer bikies to inevitably beat the hell out of anybody in your way. Using a dozen different weapons, fight your way through a lengthy Championship mode, or test out your skills against a friend in multiplayer. Is Motocross Mania just another budget title, or does it have what it takes to fully offer you your money's worth?

Gameplay

Stunts, Combos, Jumps, Turbos, Fighting through traffic and much more make up the action-packed game that is Motocross Mania 3, but unless the year is 1999 (which it isn't believe it or not), the game feels very much out of date. Championship mode will take quite a while to complete, especially if you want to play it through on the harder difficulties. Although many of the characters look like they were ripped straight out of a Grand Theft Auto game, Motocross Mania 3 still feels incomplete. Maybe it's the way the bikes move, the noises they make, or the fact you can run right through a car but then crash in to a tram.

Championship races are about surviving the length of the race. The races are usually three laps long, but if you can't make it through that long without getting your butt kicked then you're going to lose. If you're able to take out all the other races before then, then the race will even finish early! Once you beat a race, you're taken back to the Championship menu, which is probably the most innovative part of the entire game. Instead of just a menu screen, you're on your bike and you get to go around a little yard to the various places such as the Garage, the Auto Shop, your own Player Locker, or the Next Race. it's fairly obvious what each place has in it so we won't bore you any further.

You start off with a baseball bat but your weapons almost seem endless at first. The price quickly goes up for each weapon though so make sure you really want to whack someone over the head with a certain weapon before you purchase it. Weapons range from a Cattle Prod to a Scepter (spelt Sceptre in the game for some reason), and even a China Staff - oh and don't forget the Bear Paw and Golf Club, a couple of our favourites. Stunts are also a large part of the game and you'll have to master them all to be able to make it through the later levels with enough cash to purchase the things you want. If you put the Directional pad in any direction and press the stunt button, your rider will perform a different stunt. Stunts ... (continued next page)