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GBA

North America

Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

by Jonathan Metts - December 22, 2001, 10:16 pm EST

The first THPS2 GBA clone arrives, and it seems to be a pretty fun choice for fans of the genre.

Okay, Dave Mirra 2 on GBA ain't original. The engine is very clearly copied from the Vicarious Visions Tony Hawk 2 GBA model. Heck, even the console versions of Dave Mirra are blatant ripoffs of the console Tony Hawk games...so I guess we shouldn't expect anything different on GBA.

That's not to say Dave Mirra 2 BMX is a bad game. I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit. The design is very familiar since I'm well versed in THPS2 on GBA, but the control is different enough that I'm not bored to tears. Mirra's bike has a much heavier, clunkier feel to it than Hawk's skateboard, and I didn't like that at all at first, but I've gotten used to it pretty quickly. You rapidly lose speed across flat areas, and manuals can only be done from the air. The nature of using a bike is that sometimes it'll get turned around backwards, and the control feels suitably touchy and awkward during those times. (It's very easy to just flip around the right way, but I always forget.) Instead of all the tricks being mapped to the shoulder buttons, R and A activate tricks in the air, and L is used to "modify" them. I have no idea what that means right now, but it sounds cool. Reckon I'll have to read the manual and get educated! Grinding with B is kind of slow, and the hit detection for "sticking" to a rail or edge isn't as forgiving as in the Tony Hawk games. Some people might consider that a plus in Dave Mirra's favor; for me, it's just one more thing to adjust to.

Clone games are always inevitable. If the developers take risks and manage to improve the gameplay, I don't mind at all. So far, I can't tell that Dave Mirra 2 BMX has done anything to innovate this type of game, but I'm still very early into it. It's definitely fun to play though, and probably a very safe bet for fans of the console versions or anyone who can't wait for Tony Hawk 3 on GBA.

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Genre Sports
Developer Full Fat
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Release Nov 25, 2001
PublisherAcclaim
RatingEveryone
eu: Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Release Feb 15, 2002
PublisherAcclaim
Rating3+
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