[gb] Motocross Maniacs

[shinneri]

Motocross Maniacs
Old School Motocross Action B)

Before we begin...
I have a story to tell. Many, many years ago, I was searching eBay back when it was pretty new, and I came across a Game Boy cartridge called the "Super 200 in 1." Looking closer I saw that the seller claimed that this particular item would never be available on eBay again. I had to have it, so I bid on it...



And there it is. Yes, it says "Super Mario 4" with a blatant theivery of the Super Mario 64 logo, and you know what, Super Mario 4 (which, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't exist) is indeed on this cartridge... and it's pretty fun! Also there is a Sonic game on there, too, but I don't like that so much. It's really easy to fall into holes because the level designs aren't too great. Lots of other greats included on there, too.

There are nowhere near 200 games on this thing, actually. Maybe around 45 to 50 (some of them are hidden pretty well) and then they're just the same games listed with different names, but it's still pretty freaking awesome regardless.

Anyway, now that I'm done bragging about my super-cool cartridge, let's get on with this. One of the games included in this cart is Motocross Maniacs--a Konami game.



The Game
Motocross Maniacs is a game that, at first, might remind you of Excitebike. Both are on motorbikes; both have nitrous. But you'll realize these games are very different once you actually get to playing it.

Graphics
Well, according to the copyright in the beginning, this game came out way back in 1989, so we have to take that into account. Overall, the graphics are probably about on par for that time period, but, more importantly, the graphics work very well with the game. No background makes the rider much more easy to see, and all the graphics that do exist look alright.

Music
Again, old game, so we can't expect that much. Although the music it does have is memorable and as good as one would expect and want from a game of its age. The sound effects (what few that there are) are all good and well-executed.

Gameplay
Most important of all, this game plays really good. It's very simple. Unlike Excitebike, there is no moving up and down into various lanes in this game--it's just a single plane, and you just keep driving to the right. Also, this game is MUCH faster than Excitebike. The controls are simple--one button for gas, another for nitrous. Nitrous is very important in this game; you have to use it to make it into the loops, over pools of water, and for jumping from platform to platform. Also very important is collecting items, such as T's for extended time and N's for more nitrous (which, in turn, allows you to get more T's and N's). As you go on, the jumping will become more and more challenging, but it never reaches the point that it becomes frustrating. There are 3 modes: Solo (Time Trial), Vs Computer (against one computer player), and Vs Player.

Emulation
This game emulates perfectly on Rlyeh's f-Day preview version of fGB32.

This game is 24.0kb zipped--what the heck do you have to lose? GO GET IT!

Score: 4.5/5

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

 

[Racemaniac]

lol the last time it'll be on ebay ^^
i got a few of those cardriges (ranging from 16 in one to 90 in one or something like that)motocross maniacs is indeed a popular game to put on such cardridges, and the numbers are never correct (okay, the 16 in one actually contained 16 games, but it was the only one ^^) , most cardridges would hold some 20 games (with often tetris, a mario game, motocross maniacs, tennis, volley fire, some mario clone, world bowling, ....) and the games would appear several times in the list with special trainers applyed to them (more lives/time/you start in a later lvl)
and i agree on your review of motocross maniacs, suberb game, spent a lot of time on it
and the size of the rom is also pretty logical, they only put small games on their (besides some big names to draw people with)

 

[Iorgy77]

I have that exact cartridge and motorcross maniacs is one of the games I played most.

Nice review

 

[yaustar]

You can also hold UP when going off an edge or off a ramp to to do a "hop" which is usually enough to jump small gaps.. I also first played this on a X in 1 cart as well...

 

[Bampt]

there is also a game called Motocross Maniacs 2 for Gbc but I didn´t like the "improvements" of that game, most of them are only disturbing the gameplay... But there is also a level editor, what gives this game an acceptable rate at all but i prefer the older Motocross Maniacs, because of the great levels there.

Add:
There is also an item in MM1 which gives you a smaller motorbike that follows you
and when you crash it gets lost... never figured out what this item really does.

 

[shinneri]

haha, I figured a lot of people on these boards would have these kind of cartridges.

I have that exact cartridge and motorcross maniacs is one of the games I played most.

Nice review

​

Did you try that Super Mario 4 game? Do you know if that was actually an official game or if it was actually released or anything? It just always seemed a little too impressive to not be an official game made by Nintendo.

Add:
There is also an item in MM1 which gives you a smaller motorbike that follows you
and when you crash it gets lost... never figured out what this item really does.

​

Yeah, there are R's that apparently stand for tire because when you get one it says 'TIRE' at the bottom of the screen. Not entirely sure what it does though... heh, so I didn't include it in the review.

 

[Iorgy77]

Did you try that Super Mario 4 game? Do you know if that was actually an official game or if it was actually released or anything? It just always seemed a little too impressive to not be an official game made by Nintendo.

I just always assumed it was an official Mario game. Isnt it called Mario 4 six golden coins or something?

Havent played it in ages though.

 

[tekt5]

there is also a game called Motocross Maniacs 2 for Gbc but I didn´t like the "improvements" of that game, most of them are only disturbing the gameplay... But there is also a level editor, what gives this game an acceptable rate at all but i prefer the older Motocross Maniacs, because of the great levels there.

Add:
There is also an item in MM1 which gives you a smaller motorbike that follows you
and when you crash it gets lost... never figured out what this item really does.

​

They also made a motocross maniacs advance but that one was just complete crap.. they tried to mike the older games with both mario kart and thps... so you could shoot rockets at each other and freestyle... didn't work out at all. I used to own the original MM2 cart and now play both one and two frequently through the new fgb

 

[WhiteFalcon]

Did you try that Super Mario 4 game?  Do you know if that was actually an official game or if it was actually released or anything?  It just always seemed a little too impressive to not be an official game made by Nintendo.

I just always assumed it was an official Mario game. Isnt it called Mario 4 six golden coins or something?

Havent played it in ages though.

​

Afaik Six Golden Coins is the subtitle of Super Mario Land 2
Cheers THB

 

[DemonStar55]

Super Mario 4

 

[Aaaaaaaa]

i have a 50 in one, in which each game is individual.

(2 dont work)

 

[Drag]

There are hidden items too. To collect them, you have to lauch off of a ramp while flipping. Eg, hold right as you nitro off of a ramp, and do a flip. If you're flipping while you pass over the invisible item, you'll collect it. The items are the mini-biker things, and the jet. The jet lets you use the nitros while you're in mid air.

And yeah, what DO the mini-biker things actually do? I can collect up to 3 of them.

What TIRE does is when you normally go up a slope, you slow down. TIRE lets you go up slopes without losing speed.

Nice review too.

 

[shinneri]

There are hidden items too. To collect them, you have to lauch off of a ramp while flipping. Eg, hold right as you nitro off of a ramp, and do a flip. If you're flipping while you pass over the invisible item, you'll collect it. The items are the mini-biker things, and the jet. The jet lets you use the nitros while you're in mid air.

​

Oh yeah! I remember getting that Jet thing a couple of times. That was always really cool. But I don't know what happens with the mini-biker things though; don't remember those.

 

[DemonStar55]

ON the Konami pack #3 thing for GBC there is a colored version of this

 

[yuujin]

i've always wondered about those little biker guys that follows you (until you fall). is it just a ridiculous thing, or perhaps a feat to show the tremendous power of the monochrome game boy?