Monster Energy Supercross Review Xbox & Switch

Ride for success, Ride with style, Ride for fun that for me sums up Monster Energy Supercross and with official tracks as well a track editor allowing a massive amount of variation and bizarre tracks to be created with a few other game modes to boot Monster Energy Supercross has the potential to be a fan favourite, but don’t fall off or the race could be over!

Jump on your bike and kick up some dirt as soon as you get started, Monster Energy Supercross offers a career, single race events, The official Championship and a time attack mode, during all of which you can earn career points and unlock further customisation for you and your bike.

Online only offers two modes in a single event and a custom championship.

As a seasoned racer i jumped straight into the career and found the game extremely easy to get to grips with and within 2 races i had already added qualifying which strangely i found harder to get 1st place in than the races but as i added more realistic handling and body weight (adjustment of the rider) to my game it took a higher skill level to adapt and stay on the bike let alone win. Add a higher AI difficulty and you’ve got a really easy set of options for riding style and authenticity to your ride along with preferred game difficulty that many games don’t offer as well as Monster Energy Supercross.

The body balance is quite easy using the RS but to earn more points you will need to time it to perfection or risk being thrown off the bike as you land.

Race length offers the ability to extend your qualifying time frame enabling longer to get to grips with the jumps and master your speeds for the perfect flow, when done well it can propel you past your opponents with ease or see them flying by as you build up speed again after hitting a ramp at the wrong speed and angle.

But in essence this is racing and once you have got to grips with it and got the game set the way you like it there isn’t much more to it as tricks are very limited and cannot be achieved in the super easy settings.

Musics is just enough to get your blood flowing and then the screaming engines of the 250 and 450cc bikes will have you engulfed in a exciting and exhilarating world of Supercross. Crowds and scenery give a really immersive feel but when real life commentary pops up along with fireworks and other effects it just makes you want more of it.

Visually in game i was quietly taken back by how good the game looked, bikes and riders look really good when racing round and even the stadium surroundings made for a very immersive feel to the game but did feel let down a little by the dirt not kicking up as much as i expected, however that being said it does not detract from the racing.

Unfortunately the graphical letdown was in cutscenes and podium shots where i felt id been taken back at least 5 years visually, this is despite the claims of a new 3d scanning system for the riders faces. Back to the drawing board on that one i’m afraid.

Rider customisation is basic and a little disappointing, Brands, bikes, riders and accessories are available to change but even after a good amount of gameplay and unlocks i didn’t feel like it was true customisation. Perhaps as per the dlc content pictured below this is where it really comes into play.

In the game rewards department though you have a few ways to earn the cash, finishing first as seen below doesn’t mean it’s the best way to earn you rewards. Getting the holeshot (that i am still to master) increasing the difficulty and performing skill moves during jumps along with drifting round and out of corners also earns you rewards.

In addition to this there are some long term goals to achieve which adds another reason to do things in the game and explore some different modes.

Now for my favourite part, the track editor! Lots of effort has gone into making this easy to use but i suppose my lack of in depth track layout knowledge and experience may hinder my track fluidity but it’s great fun putting together jumps, winding sections humps and then going into either free cam mode to explore your creation or my preferred choice test running it.

Then you can play these with your mates and have a great deal of fun making crazy or elaborate tracks.

The great thing is you have loads of tracks from the official Supercross circuit to get stuck into and master and in my case learn from for your track editor.

Online though it was a challenge, well no it wasn’t really as i didn’t get a game despite doing a wide quick search and waiting 5 minutes in a lobby. Perhaps i just got the wrong time of night but id say 8.30pm was a good time.

I’m sure more players will be on once they have completed their career or something but i can’t say i wasn’t disappointed.

SUMMARY

Great looking game on the whole, enjoyable gameplay and the track editor offers a fantastic expandability to the game, however my hope is that this is the first of many more to come where they refine and improve the game as this is a great platform to build on.