Gaming Target - Xbox: SX Superstar

Written by Ryan Genno on July 31, 2003

Full Review: "Be the dirtiest super star ever!"

Acclaim must really like Motocross events because this isn't their first dirt bike racing game. Even though Acclaim lost or dropped the whole Jeremy McGrath name, they are still continuing with another supercross game with the oddly named SX Superstar. In Acclaim's 2003 edition of the high-risk sport, this features a new from rags to riches story line to go with the crazy life of an up and coming racer. The big question is; do the simulation changes make for a better Motocross game?

SX Superstar gives you the typical Arcade, Championship, and Multi-player modes here. Arcade lets you race from a few default tracks, bikes, and riders for a quick race so you can go for the best time and Multi-player gives your friend a chance challenge to take you down. That's pretty boring, eh? The real meat of the game play lies in the game's Championship mode. Here you can not only earn more tracks and bikes that can be used in the other modes but you also get to taste the life of a dirt bikers looking to make it big in the business. This Champ mode starts you out in ratty old apartment and the only way to get some needed cash is to enter Motocross based tournaments for cash. Here you can manage your funds so you get upgraded bikes, listen to your messages to see how the people in your fictional life are doing, or you can even see what your fake girlfriend is up to. The Championship game is not very interactive when it comes to options. Just compare these limited features to other racers like a Sega GT 2000. Playing SX Superstar's career game leaves you wanting more and not in a good way.

Performing high-risk shunts to wow the crowds should be one of the reasons to love a game like this, but the developers can't even get that right. To do a shunt on your bike just get some air time and hit the Y and B buttons to try show off up to 24 different tricks. I don't know why you can't just use the analog stick to do some of these dangerous techniques like in the classic Wave Race 64 though? The problem with using the standard buttons to show off is that it gets a little hard on the hands when you have hold down on the accelerator as well. Because of this, the shunts are ultimately a pain to pull off in the heat of a race especially when it's so easy to crash on the unstable environments. Very bad control set up! Sadly it's very important that you use your shunts during a race because for some odd or magical reason, doing tricks gives your bike much-needed nitro but only if the trick lands of course.

SX Superstar doesn't appear to have half bad graphics at first but they do wear off after a while because a lot of the scenery looks the same on one track. It was way too easy to get lost in the Baja races because you get NO on screen maps and your piss poor direction arrows are no help at all either. Moving on to the sound, none of the hard rock music used here is from anybody recognizable. If that wasn't bad enough the music is so loud and annoyingly repetitive that it begs to be turned down instantly.