Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX Maximum Remix

Overview

Rejoice all of you Dave Mirra freaks! The king is back and he is bigger and badder then ever before. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX Maximum Remix is the followup to the very popular Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. There are more levels, more modes and more music for anyone who couldn’t get enough the first time around.

For those just tuning in, Dave Mirra Remix is an action-packed game that lets you try your hand at riding a BMX bike over the awesome street and dirt courses that the pros themselves enjoy riding. You get the chance to pull off insane stunts like the now famous double backflip, superman, and the totally crazy tailwhip. Grab your safety gear and medical insurance card because you’re going to need it by the time you're done with this game.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Nothing has changed in how Dave Mirra Remix is played. If you played the first Dave Mirra then it will be like welcoming back an old friend who has been gone for awhile. For all first time players, let me give you a rundown on what to expect.

There are four modes of play in Dave Mirra Remix. The first is Proquest, which is essentially career mode. You pick your favorite rider and try to advance him through all the challenges and levels in the game. The next mode is Freeride; this mode gives you a chance to learn the various levels in the game without having to worry about meeting any of the challenges, scores or time limits. The third mode is called Session, no challenges have to be met but the clock is ticking and you are allowed to break records and high scores. The last mode is two-player. In this mode you and a buddy take turns competing in a host of challenges to see who has the biggest huevos. I found Dave Mirra Remix to be a lot more challenging than the first game which is a huge bonus for those who have already played the game. Newcomers shouldn’t worry, though, because they will learn the game very quickly. Everyone will enjoy the new levels that were created for this game; they make for some very fun riding that will have you wanting to be the king of freestyle BMX.

Graphics

When I did the first Dave Mirra review, it was for the PC and I had never played the game on PlayStation, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After playing this game for a week solid I came away a bit disappointed. The graphics seemed very blurry to me and I also found that the game had a tendency to bog down in certain sections. I’m not sure if the game designers tried to put too much into the graphics this time or if it was rushed to get it onto store shelves. I thought that maybe I was being a bit too harsh at first so I decided to compare the graphics and speed of the game with Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX. After playing both side by side for hours I realized I was correct in my assumptions that Dave Mirra does bog down -- doing it considerably more than the -Hoffman’s_ game. The same can also be said of the graphics; Mat Hoffman’s looked much cleaner. Don’t let this steer you away from Dave Mirra though, because it was still a total blast to play and had me staying up much later than I wanted to.

Audio

I’m very happy to say that the awesome music from the first Dave Mirra is back with some new tunes thrown in for good measure. If you're into bands like Rancid, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys, and Social Distortion (to name a few) then you’ll be like me and have the volume cranked and your old lady stomping on the floor to turn it down. The only downside to the music in this game is the fact that I’ll be humming some of these songs till the day I die, but that’s okay because at least I’ll be a very cool old man.

Originality / Cool Features

My favorite part of Dave Mirra Remix has to be the free music CD that was included with the game. As mentioned above, I really enjoyed the music that plays during the game, so it made me very happy to be able to take the extra CD with me when I go riding, skating, or any other activity that needs some good rock’n tunes to jam to.

Bottom Line

I have mixed feeling about Dave Mirra Remix. I thoroughly enjoyed playing all the new levels in the game and also liked that it was more challenging than the first game. What makes this game lose a little bit of its luster are the blurry graphics and the tendency to bog down in places. I found myself getting frustrated when I was playing and all of a sudden the game would slow way down at though it was in slow motion. If you’re a die hard fan of the game then it really won’t matter that much; even though I had these problems I still found myself staying up late trying to clear the next level in the game. First time players shouldn’t worry too much either because no matter what faults the game has, it’s still very fun and addicting to play. On that note I’ll give Dave Mirra Remix a score of 70/100. Sorry, I can’t stay longer but I’m going to go and try pulling off that elusive triple backflip. See ya in the emergency room!!!