Motocross Maniacs series - BlameTheControlPad.com

1989's Motocross Maniacs and The Castlevania Adventure inaugurated Konami's lustrous career on the original GameBoy. The latter backed up by two previous popular NES titles and part of one of the most popular Nintendo-hosted series. The former preceded only in spirit by the obscure Japan-only Motocross Champion, an Excitebike clone for the Famicom that despite having very few similarities with the GameBoy series in question is still believed by some to be its official origin.
Motocross Maniacs stands to this day as one of the most unrightfully neglected GameBoy titles, spawning an even obscurer sequel 10 years later on the GameBoy Color and yet another one 3 years after that, on the GameBoy Advance.
Of course, not many gamers are even aware of the series' existence. Something that can be blamed on deceptive first impressions caused by its technical simplicity.

Motocross Maniacs

2 Players	GameBoy GameBoy Color
Konami 1989

The first Motocross Maniacs happens to stand next to obscure Konami titles like Raging Fighter (1-on-1 fighting), World Circuit Series (racing) and the extremely rare Ultra Golf (golf simulator) as part of the only original games the company ever produced for the monochrome portable. Quality aside, the poor reception these hard-to-find titles suffered from was primarily due to limited print and distribution. Something MM luckily didn't have to deal with.
But still the game remained at the bottom of Konami's GameBoy lineup. A bare-bones presentation, lack of substancial play modes, and overall low technical quality due to its developer's inexperience with the then new hardware are all valid faults. But it's the similarities to that other Nintendo motocross title that hurt Konami's monochrome title the most, causing potential buyers to discard it as just a poor man's Excitebike before its underlying appeal had a chance to surface.

American cover

Motocross Maniacs puts you on the seat of a miniscule motorcycle throughout 8 different, gravity-defying side-scrolling courses that happen to be available right from the start. Reaching the finish line before the time runs out is the only rule, more often than not by staying off the ground as much as possible and making good use of elevated platforms and ramps as the most effective and quickest way to the goal.
The number of available play modes and options seems enough at first glance, but "Solo" and "Computer Versus" are deceptively the same time-trial-like run (the CPU opponent has no effect on the outcome of the race), and the 3 difficulty levels only translate to stricter time limits. Options shrank even more if finding a friend to link up with was a hard task, rendering the remaining "2-player versus" mode a seeked-after rarity.

But still the game excels through its perfectly balanced learning curve. It starts easy enough to get the player acquainted with it during the first 2 or 3 courses, after which one is expected to gradually start mastering the advanced bike controls to move on to more challenging courses. These involve basic techniques like landing jumps parallel to the ground to avoid wrecking or just poppin a wheelie to go over obstacles; but also pressing "up" or "down" during jumps to adjust air time, execute risky backflips for hidden power-ups, and even time perfect split-second wheelie/nitro combinations as the only way to reach certain higher platforms.

Japanese cover

Temporary power-ups like better traction, extended time, nitros, extra speed and the hard to get "Jet" (which allows skilled players to maneuver through the air using nitro charges) add some needed depth; although most of them vanish when you wipe out.
It's also possible to acquire small Gradius-like "option" mini-bikes by back or front-flipping at certain locations. But there seems to be no apparent use for them, strangely.

One could still blame Konami of shamelessly trying to profit off of Nintendo's more popular motocross cartridge, but despite Maniacs' simple presentation and lack of options there's a surprisingly higher amount of skill and challenge involved packed in this small '89 cartridge than Excitebike could ever wish for. Konami's take on dirt bikes is defined, if nothing else, by its perfectly balanced challenge and fun play, the player's success strictly tied to skills that require time to develop and master.
This is one of those games where losing is (almost) always a direct consequence of the player's lack of required skills. I say "almost" because Maniacs suffers from unpolished bike/track hit-detection that is only evident in the hardest difficulty level, where knowing exactly when the bike hits a platform in order to perform perfectly timed nitro boosts is a must.

Maniacs was recycled as part of the GameBoy title Konami Collection 2 in Japan, and was later granted color on the GBC as part of the Europe-only Konami GB Collection Volume 3 under the title Bikers, where it lost its 2-player mode.

Motocross Champion - Famicom

It is speculated that the Japanese Famicom title
"Motocross Champion" is the official first entry in
the Motocross Maniacs series.

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Using the "Jet" in conjunction with multiple nitros
allows you to effectively skip over entire course
areas.

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

Motocross Maniacs - GameBoy

The unpolished hit-detection sometimes shows
the bike in mid air, when in reality it's not.

Versions comparison
GameBoy

GameBoy Color

Motocross Maniacs 2

2 Players	GameBoy Color
Konami 1999

10 years after its original release, and even though nobody asked for it (not even the few of us who actually enjoyed the first title), Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka (KCEO) decided Motocross Maniacs was turning into a series. Well, at least in Europe and America. Apparently the Japanese cared even less about the first iteration than the rest of the world, since the GameBoy Color sequel completely skipped the country.

Motocross Maniacs 2 (or Crazy Bikers in the old continent, where it somehow seems to keep having identity issues) has everything a sequel could wish for to vindicate the original. The previous "Solo" way of playing is now more aptly named "Time Attack", and a new "Championship" mode presents 3 different difficulty classes, each with 5 completely new courses that must be cleared in order.
You can link up for 2-player simultaneous races, take a look at your record times in a special screen, or tweak the very welcomed game options. But the most interesting addition is without a doubt the "Course Edit" mode, where players who have enough patience to deal with the archaic interface can make their own circuits out of an impressive amount of ramps, loops, obstacles, and power-ups. Done with your creation? Save up to 3 of them to the battery-backed up cartridge and share them with your friends via infrared.

American cover

This sequel also eliminates the annoying hit-detection issue present in the previous one, ups the speed just enough to make it more intensive, and slightly betters the bike's maneuverability. Other new additions are a small location gauge and lap counter
for the HUD, and obstacles like the spring-board ramp and ground-embedded rubber tires that bring up a higher degree of interaction with the circuit.
Motocross Maniacs' time gauge and extra-time item ("T") were reworked as the bike's gas (which still functions the same way), and what used to be useless Gradius-like "Option" mini-bikes now let you keep your collected power-ups after you crash.

Crazy Bikers - Game Boy Color

MM2 was released as Crazy Bikers in
Europe.

The skeletal, visually boring courses and lacking presentation of the prequel was ditched in favor of beautiful themed backgrounds and overall attractive, good use of the hardware's palette. Even the rider gained a few frames of animation during jumps, when he's able to execute various non-consequential tricks while in mid air.
The music, although better than last time, is still not up to the standards Konami was known for during the first part of this decade.

Despite Motocross Maniacs 2 bringing the series close to perfection by introducing a better game structure and much-needed technical overhaul, it seems this franchise cannot gain any speed. It's still, ironically, incredibly fun and challenging. One of the best GameBoy Color carts ever made.

Motocross Maniacs Advance

4 Players	GBA
Konami 2002

Up to this point, the series was characterized by fun, challenging, and surprisingly solid gameplay accessible only to those patient enough to look beyond its technical simplicity and actually sit down and spend some time with it. In 2002, and after reflecting on their sales figures, Konami decides the last and only way to finally make any money off of their infamous motocross series is going mainstream. Stealing ideas from popular racers and pumping up graphics and sound, Motocross Maniacs Advance aims at an even younger audience with its generic anime look and none of its predecessor's challenge.
It also introduces a non-sensical storyline, which yours truly feels obligated to reproduce down below in its entirety just because it's only right to give Konami fans fair warning. Not only does it dethrone NES Castlevania's credits as the most silly stunt Konami is responsible for, but also comes across as disturbingly stupid:

"A food-service robot gone bad has developed a diabolical plan to take over the world using "racing energy" found only within the top racers of the world. To gather such a group of racers he has staged a fake tournament with a large cash prize...which he doesn't have... But he has the next best thing. The winner will receive 10,000 donuts, 10,000 cookies, 10,000 cheeseburgers, and to top it all off, a large cake. (Being a food service robot does have its perks.) This unbelievable prize has lured the wacky racers (strange people who race for food) to all come together for a crazy, adrenaline pumping race. (Most won't admit it, but it was the cake that convinced them to come.)"

Trying to make sense out of it takes quite some brain power. I, for one, still can't figure out what a "food-service robot" is.

American cover

Motocross Maniacs Advance is full of new ideas, but not all of them should have made it into the cartridge. On the good side, the entire game is now faster, and it retains (and in some cases improves) the play modes available in previous entries. "Championship" mode is no longer a lone competition, and CPU opponents now race together with the player. The same old "Time Attack" is still untouched, but "Multiplayer" now supports up to 4 players with multiple cartridges or single cart mini-game versus.
This third iteration now also has a character selection screen, from which you can pick your favorite out of 6 (plus 2 unlockables) "distinguished" individuals with their own ridiculous back story and statistics: speed, acceleration, nitro, shocks, and rotation speed (back/front flip). It's a good addition even though it doesn't make much of a difference who you choose.

On the other hand, the new "Points Attack" mode (in which you collect coins scattered throughout the course) and 3 new mini-games (explained below) are completely expendable and incredibly boring. Add the questionable decision of introducing power-ups like missiles, shields, and mines in addition to previous ones and the result is an unbalanced mess that promotes weapon and nitro spamming left and right. This is where the game falls appart. Even if you ignore the lesser game modes, the rest of what this cart has to offer has been so dumbed down it's possible to win the first couple of cups just by holding the accelerator button down and blindly "nitro-ing" to the finish line.

Japanese cover

Although the way the game's visual presentation is copied from more popular racers like Mario Kart, it's still a welcome facelift. Sprites look and animate better than ever, and most courses are as beautiful as the GBA can produce. The music does a good job of keeping up with the visuals even if no BGM really stands out, but sound effects like bike engines and character voice samples really shine thanks to Factor 5's MusyX tools. Well, as much as the GBA's lack of a dedicated sound processor lets it, of course.
Bigger and more detailed sprites come at a high price though. Since everything on screen now looks "zoomed-in" and the game's overall speed has been increased, it's no longer possible to react on time to upcoming ramps and obstacles. So MMA's developers were forced to modify the gameplay to make it a lot less precise and a lot more automatic. If you ever "controlled" Sonic during one of his full-speed runs through multiple loops in one of his Genesis adventures, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Game art

Motocross Maniacs Advance is a pretty mess. The graphics, sound, and abundant playing options are enough to lure anybody in (specially the few fans the series has); but the incredibly boring new game modes and above all total lack of skill and challenge make for not only the worst iteration in the series but also a very skippable GBA title. You can blame its mediocrity on Konami's Hawaii division (HWI), who had no hand in designing the series' previous titles.

Thanks to vgninja from the HG101 forums.

Motocross Maniacs 2 - GameBoy Color