Italian developer Milestone S.r.l. aren’t really known for their arcade racing titles. For a better part of their history, they’ve stuck to the simulation genre. Instead of trying to compete with the likes of Gran Turismo or Forza, they’ve instead found a comfortable niche by focusing on racing leagues like MXGP, MotoGP, and WRC. However, their next foray into the racing scene, Monster Energy Supercross, is meant to be an arcade racer that anyone can play.
The name gives it away, but Supercross is all about the world of supercross. Working together with the Monster Energy AMA Supercross to recreate their 2017 season, Milestone is making sure to take players to all the arenas that fans will recognize. The game does a great job at recreating the look of various stadiums (the demo I played took place in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas) and making them feel alive.
Intros are filled with fireworks and a roaring crowd, and the track set up seems to mirror real life as well. The game does a great job of delivering the feel of an actual race as well. As soon as the race began, twenty of us (19 CPU players and myself, of course) were off and almost instantly bumping into each other. This aspect of supercross, which is often lost in more arcade titles, was there in a limited capacity.
According to the rep playing with me, the studio didn’t want there to be too much friction in the races, and instead wanted players to focus on having fun instead of getting mercilessly beat in every race.
As stated earlier, the goal of Monster Energy Supercross is to bring a more arcade version of supercross to the United States. That doesn’t mean that everything is easy, though. Controls in the game were fairly tight, but there was a definite learning curve if you wanted to get better. The game may be geared towards the arcade market, but players will have to learn to utilize their body weight if they want to win.
During my two races with the game, there were plenty of times where I hit a jump and couldn’t land properly, which caused me to lose all momentum and position in the race. Things like that – landing properly and positioning yourself in midair – are all aspects of the game that players will have to learn in order to become the best racer possible.
From what I was told by one of the representatives helping me in my play through, the game sports a somewhat deep single player mode. Players will be able to create their own racer, complete with jersey and bike modifications, and take them through the ranks of the supercross world. Throughout the experience, I’m told, players will have to race in order to obtain better sponsorships and unlock better circuits to race in.
Another part of the game that I didn’t have hands-on access for is the multiplayer. According to the representative, however, 12 people will be able to race against each other when the game launches. There will also be a track editor feature, which will allow players to customize and create their own track for people to experience. Should you want to, you can also take your track online and use it in multiplayer races, which should keep the game feeling fresh once you get the hang of all the default tracks.
For a company that has so long been engrained in the world of simulation titles, it was surprising to see them branch out into a different type of racing. What was even more surprising, however, was seeing that they succeeded in delivering a fun and easy to grasp arcade game in one of their first attempts. While there’s nothing incredibly new about the world of supercross, it’s been some time since a licensed game has come out. Though I only got to spend about 30 minutes with it, Monster Energy Supercross seems like a no brainer for fans of the dirt biking world.
Monster Energy Supercross preview was conducted at a preview event.
