Crazy BMX World

Genre: Compilation / Auto-Runner

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Crazy BMX World, released on Nintendo Switch in 2020, is a Compilation of three family-friendly Auto-Runner games – Bike Rider DX, previously released on PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS in 2013 (and listed here with the subtitle DX1: World Tour), Bike Rider Dx2: Galaxy, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014, and Bike Rider DX3: Time Rider, which was released on Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2014 but not brought over to Western regions until now. The releases of these games in Japan originally supported licensed crossover DLC, including properties such as Transformers, Hatsune Miku, Kamen Rider, Crayon Shin-Chan, and others, though these were never brought over in Western releases of the game. The US release of Nike Rider Dx2 did get some free DLC, but I cannot determine whether it made it into this release, and I’ll explain why that is.

Crazy BMX World doesn’t treat these games as a Compilation, but rather as one continuous game that must be unlocked as you progress, meaning that you cannot play the second or third games in the series until completing a large chunk of the prior games, and there are multiple unlockables that essentially require players to complete the entirety of these individual games before unlocking. As I did not do this for the purposes of this review, I cannot tell you what these unlockables contain. However, I will take a moment to voice my frustration that this game doesn’t just let players jump directly to the game of their choice.

Anyway, as all three games in this Compilation play virtually identically, just with different locations and upgrades, I won’t be breaking them down individually but discussing this package as a whole.

The presentation in these games uses simple but appealing 2D visuals with a good amount of color and variety. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s visually-appealing all the same. This is backed by a really catchy energetic synthesized soundtrack, with tunes like March of Rally, Betty’s Sattelite, Rejoicing Flag, Capricorn, and Saggitarius. Suffice it to say, this series’ great music really elevates the whole experience.

The gameplay itself is simple but surprisingly good, with players mainly just using a single button to jump and double-jump to get past obstacles, though there are later power-ups that can add new abilities. I’ll also point out that this game does include Bike Rider Dx2: Galaxy’s endless Grand Prix mode, which gives players a randomized course and challenges them to get as far as possible before crashing – a game mode that I believe adds a great deal to this package overall.

At its core, there’s nothing truly groundbreaking going on here in the gameplay, but there’s a decent amount of variety and challenge, and unlike a lot of bike games, this one doesn’t have you fiddling with the orientation of your bike or timing landings or anything like that – this game could have been done with an on-foot runner and it would have played much the same.

I will point out one other complaint though – this game will not let players use the Pro Controller for some reason, despite that the game does not appear to use any of the unique features of the Joy-Con controllers. This omission is needlessly frustrating, but since the game features simple controls, it’s not too great a burden to have to use Joy-Cons instead.

Finally, let’s talk dollars and cents. On the Nintendo 3DS, the first two games in this trilogy each had a price of $3, and now this release of the trilogy on Nintendo Switch costs… $3. So it’s hard to see this as anything but an absolute bargain. For the price of one of the earlier releases, you’re getting all three games, including one that was previously only released in Japan.

Taking all of this in, I will say that Crazy BMX World is far from a perfect Compilation – the lack of the Japan-only DLC, the need to unlock all of the included games, and the lack of Pro Controller support are all frustrating, and for the most part needlessly so. What’s more, this game doesn’t really do anything to transform or reinvent the Auto-Runner genre. However, this doesn’t much matter – these games feature some compelling, well-crafted gameplay, and the overall package is an absolute steal at $3. If you’re looking for an inexpensive time-waster or if you enjoy Auto-Runners at all, this is definitely a Compilation well worth getting.

tl;dr – Crazy BMX World is a Compilation of the family-friendly Auto-Runner games Bike Rider DX, Bike Rider Dx2: Galaxy, and the previously Japan-only Bike Rider DX3: Time Rider. This Compilation frustratingly forces players to unlock all of its games, doesn’t support Pro Controllers, and lacks the earlier releases’ DLC. However, at $3, this is still an outstanding bargain of a package that contains simple but compelling Auto-Runner gameplay, and anyone who enjoys this sort of game or wants a fun but simple time-waster on the cheap would do well to pick this game up.

Grade: B+

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