Reviewed: April 15, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer
Climax

Released: April 19, 2005
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-4
ESRB: Everyone

5
9
7
6
6.1

Supported Features

Offroad Fury has always been one of my favorite racing titles, running neck and neck with the Quad Racing franchise that has since migrated into the MX vs. ATV Unleashed game from THQ. Sony chose Climax to develop their ATV game and while the PSP version maintains all of the visual elegance and comprehensive game content of its console cousin, Blazin’ Trails wraps itself around a tree when it comes down to gameplay and control.

Blazin’ Trails delivers everything you could want out of a console racing game and puts it in the palm of your hands. You have 30 tracks and 24 ATV’s to choose from, once you buy them of course, along with male and female riders who can deck themselves out in more licensed gear than I care to count. You can earn career points and use them to unlock all sorts of items to enhance both your rider and your ride, as well as new tracks, mini-games, and even music videos.

You have all the standard events; supercross, nations, and enduro, along with freestyle classic and freestyle with objectives like tagging targets or completing stunt challenges. There is also an Olympic mode and a simple freeride so you can just tool around and get a feel for the ATV.

You can experience these events in single event, championship, and multiplayer modes. Championship is where you will earn the credits and unlock all of the content for Blazin’ Trails to be used in the other modes.

The gameplay is amazingly deep but avoids getting too complex with a simple menu structure and garage system that allows you to tweak your gears and change your tires based on the upcoming track. Sure, you could try to finish the championship without ever visiting the garage, but you are just asking for trouble if you do.

Racer AI is just as tough as ever and even if you have perfectly tuned your ATV to the current track it might only take one spill in the final laps to make it impossible for you to win. There is no rubber banding here, and once the computer pulls ahead you only have your skills and the glimmer of hope that they might wreck to catch up.

Blazin’ Trails appears to have it all, and when it comes to substance, it really does, but the game falls apart once you start to actually play it for one simple reason; control, or rather a lack thereof. You are given the option of using the D-pad or A-pad but as anyone who has played the PS2 version will attest, you are literally forced to play this game with analog control. You are constantly shifting your weight forward and back to preload jumps, something that just doesn’t work with the D-pad.

I’m not a huge fan of mastering the trick system in these games. I prefer to appreciate them for their racing component and might bust off a trick if I happen to catch mad air and remember a combo. The Dual Shock was perfect for racing and the sophisticated trick system, but the PSP simply ruins the experience for both.

Just the natural way the PSP sits in your hands doesn’t lend itself to the way this game plays. The shoulder buttons required for powerslides and tricks aren’t comfortable, but the real showstopper is the A-pad. Maybe it’s just me but when playing this game I tend to pull back (ever so slightly) on the pad. It has never been enough to make a difference in any other PSP game I have played, but in this game it’s deadly. I tend to do wheelies more often, which is great for points but terrible for steering. If there is any downward pressure on the A-pad your steering becomes very loose. I found myself over-compensating by consciously pushing up on the A-pad, which in turn made my steering overly sensitive as my front wheels dug into the dirt.

I ultimately settled on using the D-pad since I have independent buttons for left and right with no chance of shifting my weight forward or back, but this means I either forego preloading or keep moving between D-pad and A-pad during a race. It’s just a very clumsy control system that makes it hard to race and impossible to pull off stunts.

I have to admire Climax for trying to bring their ATV game to the handheld while preserving all of the content and complexity, but they really should have address the control issues. After all, if you can’t control the game you aren’t going to play it.

The characters are nicely modeled and feature great animation, both while riding and while flying through the air and skidding along the dirt. There isn’t a huge difference between the male and female rider except for overall size and the ponytail sticking out of the helmet.

The framerate is solid as long as you are racing, but if you take a spill and the camera pulls out to reveal more of the surrounding area it can get jittery. Not a huge deal since you aren’t really playing at this point.

I did enjoy the movies that came with each training lesson. They actually showed you what to do and when and where to do it. I even learned a few shortcuts on some of the timed challenges. There are also some music videos you can unlock and all of these looks great on the PSP screen.

Of course you might need to adjust your volume levels otherwise the tedious droning of your ATV engine, which sounds like a supercharged weed eater, will drown out all other noises with the occasional interruption when you dump your ride and grunt and “oomph” across the track.

There is even a nice bit of speech included in the menus and tutorials that helps to elevate the presentation to console status. This is definitely a great sounding game if nothing else, and you might get more use out of this disc and its jukebox feature than you will as a racing game.

Newly added to this version are Beach Tagger, Graveyard Madness, Rings of Fire, and Bomb Dodge, along with the original favorites, Treasure Hunt, King of the Hill, Tag, and Soccer, Hockey, and Basketball. But regardless of how much content you pack onto a disc, if the game isn't fun you aren't likely to finish the core elements let alone explore the bonus goodies.

There were times when this game aggravated me so much I wanted to throw down the controller, before I realized I was holding a $250 controller. There are plenty of racing games out there for the PSP and more will certainly be on the way. My advise is to skip ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails. If you have a PS2 then go get Offroad Fury 3 - it’s the same thing and a lot more fun.