Welcome to the high-octane world of Motocross racing brought to you courtesy of 2XL Games. 2XL Supercross is a game that is looking to place a fat stamp on the racing genre. After spending some quality time with 2XL Supercross, it is fair to say that headline racers like Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart, Fastlane Street Racing, and Aqua Moto Racing have officially been put on notice.
2XL Supercross plays a great game of racing and all, but I’ll get to that later because the visuals and sound demand the spotlight first.
Your mind will be blown when you see the level of graphical fidelity in 2XL Supercross. In my experience playing dozens upon dozens of iPhone games, 2XL Supercross is the first one I’ve played that officially achieves PSP-level production values.
An epic cinematic intro, wicked 3D modeling, awesome physics, slick game menus, and beautiful sound design make it a complete package. Most games nail one or two of these aspects while floundering in others, but I can’t hate anything I have seen in 2XL Supercross. Easily my pick for the best-looking game on iPhone…period!
The play experience in 2XL Supercross is thrilling and treacherous at the same time. Motocross tracks are built to feature a variety of high jumps, winding corners, and bumpy straights to navigate through, and this game requires focus to stay nimble enough to be ready for anything.
This can be a recipe for failure on an iPhone game. But 2XL Games had the foresight to provide a variety of control schemes, 8 presets with sensitivity sliders that appeal to users that prefer tilt or touch controls.
While steering can be handled by tilt or an on-screen control stick, accelerating and braking are always done by holding the green or red on-screen buttons respectfully. Four different camera views are selectable, and the first-person view is my favorite one. With a little experimentation, you will be a perfectionist with your virtual rider.
In 2XL Supercross progression is done by way of playing one-off races to unlock tracks. There is a total of 13 unique tracks based in some of the country’s most iconic cities like Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Los Angeles (REPRESENT!) amongst others. One of my beef with racing games on the iPhone is the lack of courses, so it is good and it’s not an issue here.
There is no multi-player action in a 2XL Supercross, so you’ll be stuck playing against the field of computer competitors. As a decent replacement for true multiplayer gaming, you can upload your times to a worldwide leaderboard to see how you compare 2XL Supercross players everywhere. Currently, it appears that the feature is temporarily down because of server issues, but I am confident the kinks will be combed out soon.
I love 2XL Supercross, and I am sure you will too if you are remotely interested in racing games. Even if you hate racing, Id still recommends you buy a 2XL Supercross to serve as a visual showpiece for your iPhone or iPod touch. It looks THAT good. There are two things that prevent me from crowning this racer with a perfect rating.
One, the lack of a career mode and different types of racing scenarios are sorely missed. Second, being unable to race over Wi-Fi is a bummer because racing is so fun and dynamic. Small stuff aside, please support the guys over at 2XL Games so we can get a sequel (with online play) to this uber-polished game.
