Overall this is a great game but it has its problems. 1)the camera say you go around a pole the camera can get caught on the pole which can get in the way of gameplay. 2)landing can be a bit goofy some times you fall but you know you landed right. 3) the camera can make you sick. 4) the sound track is good but limited and repetitive 5) grinding is a bit TOO easy. On the plus side: 1)the load times are short 2) The levels are HUGE!!! think of it this way remember the school level in THPS2 well the levels in DMP BMX are twice as big. 4) It plays like an RPG some hate this but i like it you try to gain "respect" 5) The park maker is fast and simple 6) the graphics are very good. 7)the game on a scale of 1 to 10 10 high 1 low i would give it an 8 sound: 7 Graphics: 8 Fun: 9 Gamplay: 8 it is very easy to get into the game so if you are a beginer you'll find it easy to get into
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I picked this up yesterday and after about 4 hours of play time I'd have to say: So Far, So Good. Yes, the camera is a little off at times. (stays behind a wall so you cant see what you're doing sometimes) I guess there is still some slowdown as well, although I don't really notice it all that much. One other issue is the re-spawning after a crash, sometimes it puts you in a weird spot and collision detection/clipping problems occur, but never for too long.
Now on to the good: I really enjoyed this game on the Dreamcast (first version) and this one has all the good points from it plus quite a few more. The first thing you'll note is the size of the levels-HUGE! You WILL get lost, but you'll have fun doing it. Manuals/nose manuals have been improved, as have wallrides. (lots 'o fun) As one review put it nicely, the "magnetic rails" from the first version are much more realistic when you grind stuff too. Graphics are pretty damned impressive, especially the riders themselves. The levels now include gaps, which is a welcome addition, and there's a new "beginner" control/config that mimics the mighty "Hawk" style, (hold down x to pedal/release to jump) which is much better/less confusing if you've spent as many hours as I have playing that mythic game.
One disappointment to me though is that there still doensn't seem to be a real "Abubaka" (spelling?) or a "Foofanoo", 2 of my favorite tricks Dave & company do, especially out of a half pipe onto a back deck rail. You can do a tailtap and try and land faky or try and bring it back around but it's just not quite there, especially if you have to cover some distance from the rail back into the pipe. Maybe I just need more practice? (if anyone knows how to do these in this game please clue me in)
I haven't played a complete version of Hoffman yet so I can't say for sure, but to me it seems like Hoffman is too identical to Hawk (more skate like) where as Mirra has more of the bike physics/feel. The soundtrack is unusual to say the least but I like it. Kudos to them for not having to use the newest/hippest stuff out there (re: "Paranoid" by Ozzy and "She sells Sanctuary" by the Cult) I wish I could drop in some Queens of the Stone Age but with only 10 or so songs I always end up turning off the music anyway, gets old too quick. I barely touched the level editor but it looks promising indeed.
*So, to wind things up here... Basically, if you like the first one you'll love this one and if you haven't tried it at all, give it a rent (1 or 2, on PS or DC-they all seem pretty good) and see if it's your cup of tea.
Best Deals for Dave Mirra 2: Freestyle BMX - PlayStation 2
For those who didn't play Dave Mirra 1 (I played it on the Dreamcast), it was a decent game with a good trick engine, but ultimately, nasty framerate problems and lack of direction within the levels hampered it. The trick engine was very promising, though, and it's good to see that Dave Mirra 2 has definitely kept the good aspects of that engine and improved upon it significantly. The single biggest difference appears to be changing manuals/nose wheelies to be more like those in Tony Hawk 2 (that is to say, they're actually useful now :). Whereas in DMFBMX 1, manuals were useful to rack up points at the end of a trick, they weren't very useful for linking tricks or actually moving about the arena.
As for other improvements, the framerate problems that troubled the Dreamcast release have been alleviated, but have not gone away. They're most apparent when you shatter breakable glass in the game (the awnings on the commercial district level come to mind). A note to Z-Axis: If eyecandy cripples the framerate of your game, PLEASE turn it off!
For people not familiar with the Dave Mirra series, be forewarned that the trick engine (particularly getting air on halfpipes) is very subtle, and will take a while to get the hang of. Getting a feel for how to get big air on halfpipes is crucial to the game, and not immediately obvious. While rentals are encouraged, remember that you won't necessarily pick it up immediately.
Naturally since this edition of Mirra is on the PS2, you have the general benefit that everything is bigger, prettier, etc.. As has been mentioned, the levels are enormous, and it's quite possible to get lost on them. (I would dare say that the "destroy 4 Foos scattered around the level" challenges are a bad idea at this point). Luckily, in some levels (the Woodward Camp and Devil's Peak), there are moderately helpful signs to tell you where you are and where other areas are in relation.
One aspect which was good to see is the park editor. Where the console Tony Hawk 2 park editor was simplistic and restrictive (though a very good first effort), the Dave Mirra 2 park editor looks to be very sensible and versatile. I haven't played too much with it, but they made some very good decisions and it looks like you'll be able to have parks with real flow to them, which is very encouraging.
This game does have some problems, however. The item collection idea gets awfully tedious in such large levels, as does the Mirra system of having different classes of challenges per level, progressing from rookie through amateur, pro, and hardcore, up to insane. You can't see (and therefore complete) higher-level challenges until you've finished all of the challenges at a given level, which is annoying when you've thrown off 900s and high fastplants in early stages only to find out that you need to do it again because the game didn't see fit to credit you with ones done earlier.
In general, Dave Mirra 2 could stand to benefit from being more like Tony Hawk 2 in terms of game structure and level design. Mirra has a phenomenal trick engine, which is very thoughtful and unique in a genre filled with games where their only good aspects are stolen from Tony Hawk. If only that engine could be mated to the polish and all-around fun of Tony Hawk, we'd have a real contender here. However, the Mirra levels are simultaneously too expansive and too cluttered. It's far too easy to get hung up on edges and just dump, and there are real problems with areas where the level does not behave logically with what's displayed. In particular, in Woodward Camp, the first level, there's a platform that you can clearly see under, but can't ride under. Why? This makes no sense, it's different from other platforms in the same level, and just serves as an annoyance. In one of the more difficult challenges in the game, also on Woodward, you're asked to grind a long series of rails, starting with a short rail that you need to jump off of at an extreme angle (and distance) to get to the second one (There's a cheap way to get around using the first rail, but I consider it a bug more than anything). This is already a difficult challenge, but it's made more aggravating by the fact that the grindable surface of the rail ends about 5 feet before where it looks like it should. It's these kind of visual inconsistencies which only serve to aggravate the player.
All griping aside, however, I highly recommend Dave Mirra 2. There's annoying problems with it, but games of this genre really come down to the engine, and Mirra has that in spades. Not only is it fun to play, but it's a remarkably sensible attempt to truly model freestyle BMX trick formation. Most importantly, it's a good trick engine whose good qualities aren't ripped off from Tony Hawk. The world needs more games with this kind of creativity, and I recommend the game not only on the grounds that it's fun (which it is, mostly), but that this kind of game manufacturing needs to be encouraged.
Honest reviews on Dave Mirra 2: Freestyle BMX - PlayStation 2
The first Dave Mirra game, which was released on the PlayStation 1 and the Dreamcast, set itself apart from the other BMX games on the market by implementing a completely unique trick system. Every other skate/bike out there has basically cloned the incredible Tony Hawk's Pro Skater control and trick system, and all have fallen short of the mark that THPS set. The first Dave Mirra game, although it did not come anywhere near matching THPS 1 or 2 in quality and depth, still sold well because of its new, unique system.
Now Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 is being released on Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's Gamecube, and Microsoft's X-box. It has advanced beyond its prequel in some ways, but has stayed pretty much the same in others. Almost inevitably, it must compete with Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
Dave Mirra 2 boasts new characters, more bikes, vastly larger levels, and, of course, greatly improved graphics. The trick system has been expanded, with many new tricks and variations available.
Graphically, Dave Mirra 2 is not bad to look at, but not really anything special, either, especially in comparison to THPS3. The 3D models are adequate, and offer a good many lines to ride one, and the textures are uniformly good. Still, the game is not nearly as graphically beautiful as some of the other first-generation games that are available on the new systems.
Sound is good, but again, nothing special. The soundtrack is alright, and even has its high points, but it's really a matter of personal taste. The usual grind noises, thumps, whacks, and grunts of pain are satisfactory and vary enough to sound good.
The levels are large and often very creative, but not as well-designed as those in THPS3. They are fun to ride and contain the usual secrets, huge jumps, and multipurpose obstacles.
The game is much harder than its predecessor, but still easier than THPS3. It should take a good while for most gamers to beat the game with every character and unlock all the secret videos, riders, and modes. There are rumors of secret levels, too, but I have yet to unlock any of them.
Although most of the game seems pretty mediocre, it's still one of my favorite bike/skate-type games ever. Why? Well, it all comes down to the trick system.
Dave Mirra 2's trick system requires much more dexterity than that of the THPS series does, and it allows for literally thousands of trick variations. The THPS system uses two buttons to do flip tricks and grab tricks, and these can be chained together with grinds and manuals to produce long trick sequences. Dave Mirra also uses two buttons, but it, on the other hand, focuses on making customized tricks by means of combining different simple tricks in midair. It is possible to pull a trick or two at the same time as doing another trick. For example, one command might make the rider do a double backflip, another might make him take one or both hands off the bars, another might make him take one or both beet off the pedals, and yet another might make him do a spin. So if the player hits a jump, initiates a double backflip, and then initiates a barspin and a no hande and no footer command, the rider could pull a 900ยบ double backflip barspin suicide. With a wide variety of simple tricks and double-tap variations of these tricks, Dave Mirra 2 offers an enormously deep and engrossing trick system that will keep a lot of us gamers busy for hours on end. And once you get used to the system, you can start pulling all kinds of amazing combinations. And of course, common stock tricks like superman seatgrabs and double nac-nacs become quite easy to pull.
Similar to THPS's manuals, Mirra 2 riders can tie their tricks together with heelies and nose wheelies, and flatlanders can even pull endoes and stoppies if they know what they're doing. A wide range of grinds and plants are available, too.
In the end, this game will not impress anyone with its mediocre graphics and just decent level designs. What will keep people coming back to this game is its brilliant trick system and the enormous versatility. I still haven't gotten tired of it. If you like bike games, and especially if you bike in real life (like I do :)), you will find this to be the best and most enjoyable bike game available. It's easy to start playing, even for beginners, but offers enough depth to keep even hardcore gamers coming back for more.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dave Mirra 2: Freestyle BMX - PlayStation 2
First off i'd like to point out to you that i am a pro bmxer who takes the sport seriously, meaning i would then take this game seriously aswell. When Dave Mirra Freestyle Bmx came out for playstation, i can remember all the hot gossip it got and how great it was for its time, and dare i say better then the tony hawks series, however with this game released today it just doesn't seem to be as good for its time as much as the original was.
Graphically Dave Mirra 2 is a vast improvement from the original although unfortunately it bugs me trying not to concerntrate on how poor the graphics are after playing games like tony hawks 3. Aside from that i find the game has to much respawning and graphic glitches which can really drive you nuts(especially when playing proquest mode. Another disadvantage i must tell you is that, in my opinion the graphics seem a little too cartoony for me especially in the outdoor areas, otherwise the the faces on the riders are very realistic aswell as the bikes. 2.5/5(for ps2 graphics)
Soundwise Dave Mirra 2 is below average for a extreme sports game, i mean there is just not enough sound effects, not even an improvement from the original just the same old bird chipping, metallic sounds when grinding, grunts when crashing. The creators really could have spent more time on the sound. Musically the game is a mixed bag with pop-punk, hip-hop, rock and modern metal, and the terrible thing is there's only ten songs!!!! ten songs!!!! And only three i like, although after a while you'll find yourself turning off the music. 2.75/5
The game play for this game is good with some of the best and largest levels in extreme sport games that i have seen. The levels are very detailed, well planned and fun to ride on. The controls are somewhat very responsive and easy to get use to, as for the tricks they look fairly realistic when performed, and not only that but their heeps of possible tricks to perfrom with new sik trick system which allows you to modify a trick like lets say, you could do a backflip-flair-turndown-barspin in one combo, making the game feature a shocking number of over 1,500 tricks to be done in this game(wonder how acclaim could fit that many tricks onto a controller). The proquest mode is very good aswell has challenges from ameuteur to insane, the missions also are terrific compared to the tony hawk series. 4.25/5
The multi-player mode for this game is actually very underated i guess since the multi-player mode where you verse a friend/family is not split screen, but really to tell you the truth i slightly prefer it it non split screen and where you just take turns however thats just an opinion. Their are also allsorts of multiplayer challenges(over ten) including best height, longest grind and the ground breaking wipe out mode which lets you challenge a friend/family at trying to do the most painful crash in 30 seconds, and what makes it even more cooler is that you can bail and one of the best features about this game is that its bails and crashes are without a doubt the most realistic i've ever seen in an extreme sports game. 4.75/5
The meat of this game is easily its replay value which amazes me at how a game with very average graphics can have an extreme replay value. With the park editor which lets you create just about anything and not only that but unlike the hawk series this games park editor i find is very simple to use. The free ride option will also have you coming back to the ps2 just to bum around at classic parks like woodward, and because of how realisticly funny the bails and crashes are you will most certainly not want to throw away this game. 5/5
Just before i finish this review i might just add a few minor complaints 1. doing backflips in this game is ridiculous you can pull em by jumpig from the ground i mean c'mon be a bit more realistic, 2. i find when performing tailwhips that the frame seems to move a little to slow and could be faster like normally if i'd jump off a box i can tailwhip and just land(and im not even a champion, whereas riders in the game are) whereas in the game if i tried i would only be 3/4 through finnishing the whip. 3. Sometimes and i mean sometimes the camera gets focussed on a large object if i pass by it rather then focusing on the rider itself. 4. I may be a little picky here but as one reviewer stated where are those tricks like fufanu's? and also the tomahawk trick. Otherwise this is a game i recomend everyone to atleast play.
