Motocross Championship
From Sega Retro
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| System(s): Sega 32X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Sega | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Artech Studios | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supporting companies: Grey Matter (3D bike modeling), Motocross Action Magazine (Motocross photos) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound driver: GEMS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Racing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Motocross Championship is a motocross racing game for the Sega 32X developed by Artech Studios and published by Sega. First released in the United States in January 1995[1], it was later brought to Europe, Brazil, and Australia in the following months.[3]
Contents
Gameplay
The game is a racing game based on the sport of motocross. Players compete in three motorbike classes across twelve indoor and outdoor tracks. The game uses a perspective from behind the biker. Every race has 12 competitors and consists of 4 laps. There are 12 courses in the game, which are littered with obstacles, such as mud puddles, jumps, and whoop-dee-doos (series of bumps). Like motocross, the courses are hilly, and riders bounce and slide. Various stunts can be performed, such as wheelies, speed slides, and acrobatics.
The bike turns with 
and 
. It accelerates with 
and brakes with 
. The biker can lean forward over the handlebars by holding 
, which lowers air resistance and increases speed. However, leaning forward when landing from a jump causes the front wheel to land first, causing the biker to wipe out. The biker can pull back on the handlebars by holding 
, which pops a wheelie, decreasing speed but helping to clear jumps. While in the air, the player can do two stunts, "stepping off" the peg by tapping and then holding or "power saluting" by tapping and then holding .
The biker can punch other bikers while passing them with 
or kick with +. Ramming another biker's back wheel causes his bike to wobble and lose turning control; hitting another biker's front wheel causes him to fly over the handlebars.
The game has a Practice Mode, where players play a single race on any bike and any course, and a Season Mode that comprises 36 races (3 rounds on all 12 tracks). Players earn cash for winning races in Season Mode, with the winner being the racer with the most money at the end. The player must place in at least third to advance to the next race in Season Mode. A password system is used to save progress. There are three difficulty levels for computer-controlled competitors (Amateur, Expert, and Pro). Either mode can be played with one or two players (in split screen).
Bikes
Players are given the option of one of three bikes to drive.
Tracks
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| Track 2 | |
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History
Development
Artech Studios had ordered two Sega 32X development hardware prototypes from Sega of Japan for developing games for the upcoming 32-bit system. Unfortunately, one of the two prototypes was irreparably damaged during shipping (possibly due to the hardware's size - about as large as a mini fridge), forcing Artech to develop Motocross Championship on the remaining unit. Due to this obvious detriment to the game's development schedule, a Windows PC version was produced to assist in the addition of new graphics and testing of gameplay before the final release was published.[5]
The final ROM contains remainders of the PC version's source code, which led to speculation concerning a possible home computer port.[6] However, in April 2022, lead programmer Alexander G. M. Smith confirmed through a Sega Retro discussion post that this version was intended solely for internal development[5] (although the company would later develop the Windows PC game Corel Moto Extreme for publisher Corel using many of the same techniques and experience).
During development, the game went by the name Super Motocross.
Production credits
- Motocross Championship was developed by Artech Studios for Sega of America
- Producer: Jesse Taylor
- Assistant Producer: Greg Becksted
- Product Manager: Craig Ostrander
- Pinch Hitter: Tony Van
- Motocross Photos: Motocross Action Magazine
- Test Leads: Marc Dawson, Aaron Loichinger, Derek Carmichael
- Testers: Kwame Jeffers, Aron Drayer, Aaron Hommes, Terry Thomas
- Special Thanks: Michael Latham, Jenny Martin, Dave Albert, Bob Hardy, Jonathan Flamm, Vince Nason
- Artech Product Manager: Rick Banks
- Project Team Leader: Christopher Chan
- Software Design, Physics, AI...: Alexander G.M. Smith
- Music and Sound Effects: Darryl Currie
- Sound Effects Code: Michael Stevens
- Art and Animation: Ron Robinson, Phil LaFrance, Cory Humes, Luc Marier
- Track Design & Data Entry: Dan Fanthome
- JPEG Adaptation: Sebastien Do
- 3D Bike Modeling: Grey Matter
- Special Thanks: Doug Rebert
- Documentation: T.S. Flanagan
Magazine articles
- Main article: Motocross Championship/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Artwork
US prototype cover
Physical scans
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65 |
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| Based on 27 reviews | |
| 32X, US |
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  Cover
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 Cart  Manual |
| 32X, EU |
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   Cover
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 Cart  Manual |
| 32X, EU (Sega Sports) |
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   Cover
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| 32X, PT |
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 Cover
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| 32X, AU |
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 Cover
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Cart |
| 32X, BR |
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 Cover
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 Cart  Manual |
| 32X, Asia |
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  Cover
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Technical information
- Main article: Motocross Championship/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 206
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 GamePro, "May 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 62
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sega Magazine, "March 1995" (UK; 1995-02-15), page 86
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mean Machines Sega, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-02-28), page 81
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Talk:Motocross Championship
- ↑ The Cutting Room Floor: Motocross Championship
- ↑ File:Motocross Championship 32X credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Motocrosschampionship 32x us manual.pdf, page 21
- ↑ Consoles +, "Avril 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 156
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-03-15), page 101
- ↑ Digitiser (UK) (1995-03-28)
- ↑ GameFan, "Volume 3, Issue 3: March 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 25
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 3 March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 57
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-0x-xx), page 14
- ↑ Game Informer, "February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 43
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Marzo 1995" (ES; 1995-xx-xx), page 76
- ↑ Joypad, "Mars 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 74
- ↑ MAN!AC, "04/95" (DE; 1995-03-08), page 69
- ↑ Mega, "March 1995" (UK; 1995-02-28), page 42
- ↑ Mega Fun, "04/95" (DE; 1995-03-22), page 84
- ↑ Micromanía (tercera época), "Febrero 1995" (ES; 1995-xx-xx), page 98
- ↑ Next Generation, "March 1995" (US; 1995-02-21), page 92
- ↑ Player One, "Mars 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 112
- ↑ Play Time, "5/95" (DE; 1995-04-05), page 108
- ↑ Sega Power, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-02-16), page 54
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1995" (UK; 1995-02-23), page 50
- ↑ Sega Force, "3/95" (SE; 1995-06-20), page 8
- ↑ Sega Megazone, "February 1995" (AU; 1995-0x-xx), page 20
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Marzo 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 44
- ↑ Top Consoles, "Mai 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 116
- ↑ Video Games, "4/95" (DE; 1995-03-22), page 88
- ↑ VideoGames, "February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 78
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Main page | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | |
