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It’s always sad when this happens. You can tell there’s a good game trying to bust out here, but it just can’t overcome a multitude of issues. Jeremy McGrath Supercross World is, unfortunately, probably the worst GameCube title to date.
Naturally, this game’s many problems start with the gameplay. It’s got the game modes you’d expect, including Single Event, Head-to-Head, and Career. Single event is your standard arcade mode, while Head-to-Head is the obligatory multiplayer mode. The Career mode is structured pretty well, starting the player out with minimal statistics that can be built up by winning a variety of different races. McGrath also has a decent trick system, with 30+ stunts that can be pulled off by holding down X and/or Y and pressing the appropriate directions in sequence with the analog stick. Points earned from pulling off stunts eventually fill up a boost meter, which can help the player pull out a close race. All of this is OK. What isn’t OK is the horrible controls. The physics are floaty, with seemingly identical jumps resulting in vastly different outcomes. Not only that, but landing the exact same way can sometimes result in a crash, and other times result in a successful landing. I realize that this is supposed to be an arcade racer, but even arcade racers need a bit of consistency in their gameplay. Otherwise, it’s just a frustrating experience the player can never really come to terms with. The camera is poor as well, often losing sight of the player entirely. The poor camera often makes it hard to tell exactly when the player will land, resulting in a lot of crashes that never should’ve taken place. Even the rumble effect is inconsistent, as sometimes hitting the ground will result in a rumble and sometimes it won’t. The gameplay isn’t necessarily bad, just horribly inconsistent. There are a total of 25 tracks, but almost all of them are of generic despite there being four different types (Supercross, Motocross, Freestyle, Baja). Perhaps most appallingly is the fact that all the terrains feel and react exactly the same…forget sliding around in the snow here. There are total of 7 pro riders to choose from, but it doesn’t matter which you choose in the Career mode as they all start out with the same "1" rating in every category. As bad as the gameplay is, the graphics actually manage to almost outdo it. Apparently Acclaim decided to go with a minimalist approach here, as each track features only a minimal amount of sideline objects and scenery. It’s almost as if they designed the maps for each track, and then forgot to add in other objects until a week before the completion date. Texturing is only so-so, with N64-ish track textures and riders sporting relatively few details. McGrath was an ugly PS2 game, and it’s even worse on the supercharged GameCube. Amazingly, despite the fact that it isn’t pushing the GameCube’s hardware with complex geometry and sharp textures, McGrath still manages to feature an amazing amount of pop-up, draw-in, and framerate jitters. Just look at the screens. The soundtrack is this game’s only real highlight, as it’s among the better soundtracks in the "extreme sports" genre. Featuring bands like Lunatic Calm and The Hellacopters, the combination of relatively unknown (aka not played out) and talented bands works very well here. It also virtually drowns out the bland sound effects, which is another plus. Highs:
Lows:
Final Verdict: Jeremy McGrath Supercross World is bad on so many levels it’s amazing. It’s playable, but you certainly won’t enjoy it. If you feel guilty about doing something horribly wrong and feel torturing yourself will stave off God’s wrath, then this is the game for you. Overall Score: 2.9 Additional Images: |
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