Gaming
BMX
The 5 best BMX games ever
Want to pull off some Kris Kyle-style bike skills? Try these top BMX games.
Have you seen Kris Kyle's Kaleidoscope video? In this mindblowing film, the Scottish BMX rider is pulling off stunts that look like they'd only be possible in a video game! If Nintendo made a BMX game, this is what it would look like.
More: Watch Kriss Kyle ride his BMX through a course of optical illusions
However, if his film makes you want to pull off some tricks and stunts without the risk of injury, there are some fun BMX games to try. From retro games like BMX Simulator to the current-gen bike game Trials Fusion, these are the best BMX games in the history of video games.
BMX Simulator (MSX, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST: 1986)
BMX Simulator
© Codemasters
We don't usually go this far back when looking at our favourite sports games, but this 1986 offering from Codemasters is a pretty important game that's worth mentioning. Not only was it the first ever BMX game, it's also got a pretty good shout for being the first ever extreme sports video game ever made. It was fun, too: players had to race against either another player or a CPU opponent around seven different BMX tracks while also trying to beat a time limit. It might look extremely simple but it had a few features that were ahead of its time, such as the ability to watch slow-motion replays after each race.
California Games (Commodore 64, NES, ZX Spectrum, Master System and more: 1987)
California Games
© Epyx
We already mentioned California Games when we listed our best surfing games and here it is on our list of our best BMX games, too – it's almost as if it's the perfect Red Bull game! The BMX section of California Games had players trying to navigate a tricky course as quickly as possible. Points would not only be offered for a speedy finish, but also for each trick the player pulled off while racing. These ranged from simple grab tricks to front and back flips. Crash and you could get up and keep going, but crash on your head and it was game over.
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX (PlayStation, Game Boy Color: 2001)
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
© Activision
After the enormous success of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater gave a massive boost to the popularity of skateboarding, it was understandable that publisher Activision would want to see if it had the Midas touch with other extreme sports. Its surfing effort, Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, wasn't quite as popular but that's partly because surfing and skateboarding are very different. Far more successful was Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX, which swapped boards for bikes, featured very similar freestyle trick-based gameplay and starred a bunch of other real-life pro BMX riders including Rick Thorne and Mike Escamilla.
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX (PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, PC: 2000)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
© Acclaim
Not to be outdone by the Mat Hoffman games, rival publisher Acclaim released an alternative featuring BMX's other big name at the time, Dave Mirra. As you would expect, the general idea was very similar: bust out as many tricks, spins and flips as you can within a set time limit, while trying to link together combos for massive points. While it wasn't quite as popular as the Hoffman game (mainly because it didn't have the might of the Tony Hawk lineage behind it), it was still popular enough to spawn a very good sequel and a couple of other (less impressive) games after that.
Alex Kidd BMX Trial (Sega Master System: 1987)
Alex Kidd BMX Trial
© Sega
OK, this one's a bit of a stretch, but we'll take any opportunity to get Alex Kidd in a list, no matter how shameful. Alex Kidd was Sega's mascot long before Sonic turned up on the scene, with a total of six games to his name. One of these was Alex Kidd BMX Trial, a quirky racing game in which our big-eared hero had to navigate his way through a series of obstacle courses on his BMX bike. It wasn't quite as simple as that, though, because Alex was also being pursued by rival bikers who kept trying to push him off his bike. If they managed to make him crash a certain number of times, he wasn't able to continue and the game was over.
Trials Fusion (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PC: 2014)
Trials Fusion
© Ubisoft
We couldn't really count the first two games in the massively popular Trials series because, brilliant though they are, they featured motorbikes and didn't have any trick-based elements. However, the third game in the series, Trials Fusion, introduced a new trick system, meaning players can pull off all manner of weird and wonderful mid-air stunts. Also, while playing through the game, you will eventually unlock the Rabbit, a yellow BMX-style bike without an engine. Hey presto, without knowing it, you've got the perfect BMX game: bikes, tricks and outstanding gameplay all in one nifty package. We love it when a plan comes together.
