Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6 Review

Player(s): 1-12
Extra Features: Local (2-2) and Online (2-12) Multiplayer, Leaderboards

Monster Energy Supercross 6 is the latest game in the long line of Supercross games developed by Milestone. This is my first time playing the latest dirtbike game, so there was much learning to be had. I did pick up a copy of Supercross 5 to understand the progression of the series more. Overall Supercross 6 is a better game and it’s worth the upgrade for serious fans of the series.

First of all, it’s very noticeable that the controls are overall better for this installment. Turns are still just as hard as they were in Supercross 5, but the overall feel is better in Supercross 6. Supercross 6 controls have a heavier feel to them overall and this helps to keep the controls feeling tighter. The brakes also seem to be much more responsive in Supercross 6. After getting adjusted to the controls in Supercross 6, my return to Supercross 5 was littered with crashes, but upon returning to Supercross 6, everything felt fine again and it was smooth sailing for the most part. I’m far from an expert in controls for this game but this new installment feels overall smoother from a control standpoint. The PS5’s trigger rumble really helps to make this game feel all the more immersive.

Thankfully, this game has some great tutorials. The tutorials are detailed and give good explanation. I didn’t even know what a “Scrub” was when I first started this game and I was slipping and sliding all over the racing tracks until this game’s tutorials helped me to learn the game much better. Unlike Supercross 5, the game allows you to skip lessons and move onto the next lesson in line (while still under the same difficulty), so you can’t get stuck on one lesson that you have problems with (like I did in Supercross 5).

After you’re comfortable with the game’s controls, you can take your created racer into Career mode. Career mode has a total of three difficulties with more races per difficulty. You are graded based on your overall performance per race. You’ll get to choose from different sponsors and must perform their objectives to get bonuses (customization parts) and credits at the end of the sponsor period. Accidents during races will affect your overall Rider Shape and you’ll start to get status effects on your attributes (such as harder turns) based on what part of your rider is injured. Injuries heal over time or you can engage in a Workout Session in the Supercross Park to recover quicker. As you progress further into the mode, you’ll begin to have rivals that will challenge you to beat them in a race.

The Supercross Park is way bigger and you have more area to ride around compared to the last game where you just road around empty courses and a training course with few ramps. You have tons of places with ramps and there are several tracks around the area. Players are free to ride around the area and find collectibles to unlock extras (in free roam). There is also an area where you can engage in Workout Sessions, Coach Quests and Training. Workout Sessions allow you to explore the park with three timed objectives that you must accomplish – performing scrubs, collecting letters, etc. The Workout Sessions are similar to a Tony Hawk level. If you succeed with objectives, you will heal your character (and possibly upgrade) in between campaign races. Coach Quests give you certain objectives to perform for extra points. The training mode allows you to take part in races and gives you a score based on your performance. The majority of these extra modes in Supercross Park were actually available through career menus in Supercross 5.

Besides career, the game offers Single Event, Championship, Free Roaming, Time Attack and a new Rhythm Attack mode. Rhythm Attack mode puts you in a race against another racer where you’ll have to ride over a hilly track and try to maintain your bike without crashing in order to cross the finish line. It’s actually more challenging than it seems, but once you get the hang of it, it isn’t all that bad. The game also has a Track Editor. You can take your game online and race against 12 other racers. It keeps track of your online rank on the leaderboards. There is also an option for split screen for local play.

The game allows you to create your own racer for Career mode. The options you have available to you are a bit better than Supercross 5, but they could still be much better for your racer’s overall look. The options for bikes and clothing parts have quite a bit of customization parts to choose from. All options are unlockable through in-game currency.

Regarding the controls, you can switch between different views by using the directional pad. There are third person and first person views just like in Supercross 5. Unlike Supercross 5, the first person views in Supercross 6 do not show handlebars in either view, and this makes it way harder to use them since you can’t really tell if you’re turning your bike or not. This actually didn’t affect me since I don’t like first person view, but this would be quite a big flaw for those that do use first person view.

Overall Monster Energy Supercross 6 is better than Supercross 5, but not by much. The game is worth a pickup for serious fans, but if you already own Supercross 5 and are happy with it, it might not be worth it for you. I do enjoy Supercross 6’s smoother controls and upgraded Supercross Park, but other than that, it’s nearly the same as the last game. How much you’re going to like this game really depends on how big of a fan you are.

The Good:
+ The controls feel better than the last game
+ The training course (Supercross Park) is way better than in the last game
+ Supercross Academy has more tutorial options
+ New Rhythm Attack mode

The Bad:
- First person view is useless because of the lackluster view (no handlebars)
- Turns are still hard to make
- Created character models could look better and have more customization options for their look outside their outfit

Final Rating: 75% - Monster Energy Supercross 6 is overall better than the last installment, but not by much.

Note: A review code for this game was provided by the publisher.