Monster Energy Supercross 25 Review

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

Monster Energy Supercross 25: The Official Videogame is the latest installment in the long-running Monster Energy Supercross series. The last game was Monster Energy Supercross 6, but they took a break last year, so decided to start numbering them with the year instead. I was a pretty good fan of the last installment. Supercross 6 didn’t improve much off of Supercross 5, but it improved enough to address issues and was overall easy to control (with some learning) and tried to help you as best it could. Supercross 25 feels like a step backward for the most part.

The game still includes most of the same modes from its last installment. It has Career and Supercross Academy as its two main featured modes along with your usual modes such as Single Event, Rhythm Attack, Time Attack and Championship. There is also an online hub for multiplayer races. It still has all the same customization options for fixing up your biker and bike just like the last installment. Once again, the customization is minimal. Career takes you through several races in an extended single player career mode just like the last installment. Supercross Academy has two options – Free Practice and SX Manual. SX Manual list out terms and techniques and shows videos of them. Free Practice gives players challenges to complete while on a predetermined race track. You are simply given commands and must execute them however you want.

There is no Free Roam mode anymore, which is a huge letdown. If you want to learn the controls for this game, you’ll have to go through the single track in the game’s Practice mode. There is very little to help you out in this game if you want to learn the controls. You must practice on a single track instead of being able to ride around an open world map. This is all a huge disappointment and makes it WAY harder to learn the controls in this game.

Oh, and let’s get to the controls. The controls feel so very slippery and just overall hard to learn in this Supercross 25. Making the slightest turn is such a chore in this game. For me, turns often result in a crash or some huge slowdown (from braking) in this latest title. Sometimes just keeping the dirt bike going in a straight line is hard. The controls are so very sensitive to the slightest movement and they just don’t work well for turns. I booted up Supercross 6 to test the controls on there once again and was able to easily get back adjusted to them with only the slightest bit of problems. I came back to Supercross 25 after that and was wiping out at nearly every turn. Supercross 25 has several control options for assist, but none of them ever helped me.

If you could adjust to the controls with some good tutorials, I’m sure I wouldn’t have had problems with Supercross 25, but the game basically doesn’t even have much of a tutorial anymore. The only way to practice now is on a predetermined racing track. There is no free roam mode anymore, so all learning depends on a track. No freem roam also just limits the single player modes also. The free roam in Supercross 6 felt somewhat like a mini campaign.

The graphics to the game have improved a good bit. Biker’s clothes now flap in the wind as you ride along the tracks. There is much more of a sense of speed in this game also. I actually feel like I’m going fast whenever my bike speeds up. It’s a great feeling. The environmental effects are better as well, such as tracks where its raining – you can see raindrops on the screen and wet mud on the tracks. The sound is still just as good as the last installment also.

Monster Energy Supercross 25: The Official Videogame might be a good game for you if you can learn its controls. For new people, I don’t recommend this game at all. New players should just stick with the last installment since it’s actually friendly to new players and you can learn as you go. Supercross 25 seems to think that you learn its new feel instantly or are willing to spend hours learning it. If you’re patient, you might like the game, but it’s definitely not for everyone. The graphics have improved, but that is about the only area where I see improvement with this installment.

The Good:
+ The overall graphics have improved
+ Most of the same modes return from the previous installment

The Bad:
- The overall controls are so much harder to learn when compared to the last game
- There is no Free Roam mode anymore
- The Practice mode is extremely basic