“It’s a free-riding, stunt-riding, fun, bundle of moto-cross madness, recommended 999 is on speed dial”
(Review code, courtesy of Miniclip Games).
- Mx Nitro is a motor-cross racing/stunt game, that involves players participating in events, using nitro (earned through tricks/stunts) to successfully compete across 14 different leagues, offering 56 tracks and challenges in both online and offline play. Trick arena’s, boss events, speed racing and plenty of stunt tracks await, throughout your journey to conquer the world of nitro fuelled madness.
- Nitro is the adrenaline fuelled speed boost, earnt through performing crazy stunts during races, with high risk’s come high consequences, time your boost wrongly, and go splat into the cliff!!
Starting off, the menus are easy/simple to navigate as you choose between career mode, gear shop, bike selection, tricks, online race and options. Loading times are relatively quick, and for beginners, the loading screens offer timely hints.
Beginning with Career mode the fundamentals are explained with the training ground. (Effectively a tutorial mode) before being thrown in the deep end. Each league is broken down into 4 different tracks, which represent different approaches to passing the track. Bonus challenges on each track will earn extra experience/cash, conditions to meet criteria, such as achieving a 40m long jump or showcasing certain tricks etc.
XP & Cash allow the player to unlock more bikes and gear and then purchase said gear, via a level and banking system. Customisation offers aplenty given the size of the game, 5 different styles of bikes being upgradable, the more expensive bikes being quicker in flat out speed/acceleration and better to handle, 13 helmets to customise, wheels, armour, pants and shirts also offering plenty of choices. The categories are then broken down into titles, pants going from “Xtreme to soul taker” but no bonus/boost was noticed when I upgraded to the “dominator”.
Ranging from construction sites to sandy filled terrains, each course represents different approaches. The league in career titled “Blazing Far East” requires the player to labour through sands, which cause great slowdown if Nitro isn’t used at the right time. Race events often switch between sprint’s, drag’s, hill climbs and numerous other titles that relate to the setup of the course, one being called a “raid” which involves 5 racers competing against one another.
As expected with most budget games, graphics aren’t MX Nitro’s strong point, that’s not to say the game looks ugly, just it looks more like a title created for the last gen of consoles.
Going back to the gameplay, and boss fights prove to be tricky. Facing off in 1 v 1 showdown’s, the courses can be difficult and unforgiving, I found my showdown at the Atlas Highlands getting owned up the hills, rather brutal…then again perhaps I just sucked? ?
Boss events have to be passed if you’re looking to advance the career. To quote the famous Winston Churchill “You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary”. Boss events require patience and some tactical element of knowing exactly when the best spots to use the nitro occur. It can take many attempts before nailing the boss down into 2nd place, but who said this was gonna be easy. Eh? (Just don’t go rage-quitting, launching that controller at the screen, however tempting it may be).
Tricks/stunts are another aspect of the game that requires unlocking, boasting 55 different techniques, they are broken down into tiers/variations, Tier 1 being basic stunts/variations that are simple to perform, through to tier 3 being far more advanced (Kiss of death anybody, No?). All tricks can be viewed individually in a video demo or practised and mastered in the free ride arena. The more advanced trick/stunts pulled off, the higher the nitro gauge is filled to increase speed boosts. For example tapping of the A button during a wheelie will turn it into a “no hands” wheelie, which adds an extra bit of boost on top of a standard wheelie.
Onto the final aspect of the review, being the “online race”. It’s less of an actual online race, as your competing against a ghost rider and more of an online leader-board time challenge. Your best time goes up against the rest of the world, highlighting who claims awesomeness, and quite literally those who do not. To unlock online tracks, you must first pass the track in offline play via career mode.
The game handles well, the mechanics don’t feel clunky or out of sync, between the bike and player. The crash collision system is successful, in realistically simulating accidents during the races, and how far your driver goes flying when going all superman on the bike. The game is relatively easy to play, and each course is short but sweet. Sadly, it’s let down by annoying voice-overs, a grind to level up, a lack of online racing, and average graphics. For 15.99 I feel Miniclip should have included online racing, to keep players engaged and coming back for more. Never the less it’s a fun game and plays impressively. MX Nitro does exactly what it says, adrenaline overload at break-neck speeds.
MX Nitro is available to purchase digitally from both the Microsoft store and Sony’s PlayStation store for £15.99
