The rewards for doing well in career mode are new bikes, new riders, new tracks, and performance boosts. Once earned in career mode, these unlockables are available in Exhibition and Multiplayer modes (split screen and online) as you progress, which is a good way to practice a particular track or to get familiar with a new bike if it’s giving you problems in your career.
The graphics really aren’t much better than PS2 quality, save the smoke and particle effects, which are excellent. As things blow up around the course (other riders and debris), the smoke can become so dense that at times you can’t see five feet in front of you, making it especially difficult and thrilling at the same time to drive blind through the chaos. Also, as you and other racers kick up the speed, the bikes kick up dirt on your screen, making it look like a muddy windshield. This is a fun effect that really draws you into the dirt track racing.
The audio is just average as well. The motorcycle engines have a typical whine, and the rocket engines have a nondescript thrust sound effect. It’s interesting that the engine sounds totally cut out when you’re in the air (if you let off of the accelerator), making it sound like you’re jumping a golf cart instead of a rocket-based racing machine. Shouldn’t you hear the idle, and shouldn’t it be thunderous, since you have a rocket engine on your motorcycle? One thing that is thunderous is the explosion each time you overheat your rocket engine or cause your bike to explode upon contact with another object. However, when you make contact with an object you’re “allowed” to push, no matter how big it is, the sound is minimal. All of this is fueled by a prototypical generic guitar band soundtrack.
Nitrobike is a fun off-road motorcycle racing romp. However, there’s not a lot of variety to the racing, save the style of the track, the type of race (time trial, eliminator, hoop crash, etc.) and some of the minimal differences between the bikes, so many of the races play out in a similar fashion. It’s challenging, though, and can lead to some pretty thrilling moments. Unfortunately, it can lead to some pretty frustrating moments as well. It’s a one-trick pony for the most part, but worth a rental at least for arcade racing fans.
