MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael admirably rides (on two knobby wheels) the line between casual motocross arcade game and hard-core simulation. It should please both audiences equally by offering stunning graphics, good controls, lots of options, and just enough realism.
The game offers your standard modes of play. Exhibition lets you jump into a full race on your own, so you can practice tricks and surmise the competition. Freestyle mode lets you practice and get used to performing trick combos. Career sends you off to create your own custom rider and race against opponents to further your career (and unlock various bikes and extra tracks in the process). Finally there's also a Challenge mode (hidden in the options menu), which gives you a task of unlocking cool video clips of real riders performing the stunts. Of course, you can play Exhibition and Freestyle in split-screen multiplayer, which provides the ultimate and most satisfying challenges.
Career mode lets you revel in the accurate bikes available, from 125cc models all the way up to 250cc monsters. Bikes handle about the same, but Career mode lets you dress your custom biker in licensed clothing and puts your number and name on the rider's back.
While the physics--particularly the gravity modeling--is relaxed, allowing you more time to do the stunts, you still have to worry about power sliding and using the clutch to win races and stay upright. It's a satisfyingly deep nod toward simulation while remaining as fun and accessible as an arcade stunt racer should be.
Naturally for a PS2 title, the graphics are sharp and the textures complicated and colorful. It's almost as good looking as the real thing, except the mud you kick up doesn't have to be washed off. --Andrew S. Bub
Pros:
Great mud-spattering graphics
Deep arcade action, yet satisfying for the simulation crowd
Plenty of riders and career mode options Cons: