Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 - PS2

Familiar with the following terms? Elephant Pinky Squeak? Rolling Lung Spin? Rope-a-Roni? Steel Pole Bathtub? You must love your BMX, then. And your obscure American noisy rock types too. Elephant Pinky Squeak, Rolling Lung Spin and Rope-a-Roni are genuine BMX tricks - Steel Pole Bathtub didn't make it onto the soundtrack of Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2, but the likes of Bad Brains, Fugazi and Suicidal Tendencies did - top marks to the pop pickers for this sequel game. Pedalling along to the sound of 'Institutionalised' gets the blood pumping alright.

There's a lot of gameplay in Pro BMX 2, so let's get the wheels greased and see what's on offer. As far as single-player options are concerned, the big attraction in this game is the Road Trip session, where you choose your rider and hit the road with eleven of the greatest BMX riders. It starts in Oklahoma City at the Hoffman Warehouse. Beat the amateur challenges to build up your Road Trip points and then choose where to take the gang next. A complete play-through will take you to eight unique locations where your riding skills will be put to the test.

Alternatively, Session allows you to choose a single level and ride all-out in a two, five or ten minute session in an attempt to set high scores and break new records. The levels that are available depend on how far you have travelled on your Road Trip. Finally, Free Ride lets you take things at your leisure. If you're looking for unlimited time to explore the levels and see what kind of lines you can find, this is the option for you. Just pick a level you have unlocked on your Road Trip and away you go.

Up to two multi-taps can be used to enable an eight-player game, and however many players want to take part, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 has enough multi-player options to satisfy. In Graffiti War, you tag your opponent's screen by tricking through spray cans. Clear the paint off your own screen by pulling better tricks through cans that your opponent owns. Whoever fills up the opponent's screen with paint first is the winner. Trick Attack is a one-shot free-for-all to see who can create the best lines and rack up the most points. Tag is all about greed. Grab the spinning ring and start landing tricks. You only get points when you have the ring, so try to hold onto it. Just remember not to bail, or let your opponent tag you or you will lose it. Make sure you tweak your tricks while in possession of the ring to add to your multiplier and get a higher score. If you don't have possession of the ring, you can slow the other rider down by landing tricks. H.O.R.S.E. is similar to the aforementioned Trick Attack, but lasts a little longer. Bust a trick, then watch as your opponent tries to beat it. He/she must match or beat your score. If not, they earn a letter, and the first one to get all the letters tastes defeat. Push mode is an all-out battle on a split screen. The better you do, the smaller the screen gets on your opponent's side until they are eventually pushed off the screen. Treasure Hunt is a fast-paced race against time as well as your fellow biker. You have to collect as much booty as possible to score high. Halfpipe Hell is where you battle your way to the top of the mountain of vert ramps with the highest score to win. If you fall into the fire, you'll have to start at the bottom.

While playing a level, you may hear the click of a camera as a photographer takes your picture. After the session, you can take a look at the photographic evidence with the Scrapbook option.

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 is different enough to its predecessor to warrant investigation - the number of multiplayer games alone is worth the admission fee, not to mention the Road Trip feature for solo players - and if you never played the original, get this one. All you'll miss out on is the music from the first game's soundtrack, but when 'Institutionalised' fires up, almost all is forgotten. more