Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX - IGN (original) (raw)

Activision brings its BMX series to the Game Boy Color by repeating an already successful design.

There's no question that this game from Activision is an advanced version of Road Champs BXS released by the company last year on the system...it's the same engine. And not that that's a bad thing, as Road Champs was a surprisingly good title when it was released on the system -- and it's definitely a great foundation to work off of, especially for a more recognized brand like Mat Hoffman.

Features:

Eight top BMX riders, including Mat Hoffman
Perform trick, combos, and pro signature moves
Dirt, Street, and Vert competitions
Only for Game Boy Color

Mat Hoffman is the BMX equivalent of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and the influence of Tony Hawk is much more obvious in this game than it was in Road Champs -- the game's all about completing specific tasks in each of the game's different BMX tracks. Score points, grab icons, perform stunts -- all in the name of the required challenge's quota.

Because of the Game Boy Color's graphical limitations, the design of the GBC's Matt Hoffman is much more restrictive than that of the free-form, go anywhere PlayStation version. But, though there are some control issues to work out, the restrictions work out very well for the Game Boy Color version of the franchise. It's more a sidescrolling game with multiple lanes that your cycle can run through -- to change lanes, you can push up and down two-lane quarterpipe, either during a jump or when moving very, very slowly up the hill. Tricks are performed by a controller-button combination, and there's a whole library of moves for each of the game's stunt objects -- handrails, fun boxes, spines, vert ramps, and quarterpipes are all available, and there are different stunts for each of the objects. The more stunts you pull off, the faster you'll go and the higher your special meter will fill -- on a full special bar, you can pull off specific moves unique to the eight different pros in the game.

Gone is the requirement that you have to head through the training mode to advance to the career mode -- personally, I found Road Champ's training mode extremely helpful to learn the intricacies of the way the game plays...it's not exactly a pick-up-and-play design. The training mode is still in the game, but it's not necessary to play through it -- it's completely optional. I've stated that the restrictive design works for the game, it still gives the game its high learning curve and also its somewhat stiff controls. It doesn't feel natural to only be able to switch lanes at specific locations in each of the parks, but then, that adds to the gameplay as you have to recognize the areas where you can move vertically.

Though Road Champs was obviously a foundation for Mat Hoffman GBC, the game's developer (HotGen) didn't just repackage and retitle the game. Moves can now be linked into combinations, increasing the scores and just making the extremely slick character animations look that much cooler. The actual animations have also been improved, though they seem to lack the colors of the original Road Champs -- that might have been done to increase the number of frames of animation on the cart. The track detail has also been given a facelift, as the backgrounds have a bit more detail in their construction.

Verdict

I'm beginning to wonder if HotGen intended Road Champs as Mat Hoffman to coincide with the release of the PlayStation version -- but when the PSX version was delayed, Activision may have sought out a different license so that, when the PSX title was ready, another GBC title could launch with it. It just seems odd to release two extremely similar games so close to each other -- and that's my only theory. But even so, Mat Hoffman on the Game Boy Color is a great title that gives the system one last hurrah before the developers move onto the more capable Game Boy Advance system. Road Champs owners might find the game hard to justify, but everyone else...dig in.