BMX Racers

The Good
Before they established Codemasters, brothers David and Richard Darling worked on a few games for Mastertronic. a company known for releasing budget titles during the eight- and sixteen-bit eras. One of these was BMX Racers, a top-down racer reminiscent to the endless runners you can get on Android and iOS. Two versions were released for the Commodore 64, and the one I am reviewing isn’t as generous as the version that got pulled from shelves immediately after its release.

You are riding through the city park on a BMX that refuses to stop until you complete five courses of increased difficulty, and it also doesn’t accelerate or decelerate, either. Hazards such as bridges, fences, swimming pools, and pedestrians need to be avoided. (Funnily enough, the “Course Completed” text also counts as a hazard.) You normally would want to travel along the main road, but you can steer off it at any time and deal with trees, bushes, and shrubs. Crash into one of the hazards, and the game is over. This is a far cry from the original version, which awards you with three lives.

Even if I got slightly farther than my last attempt, I found it easy to memorize where each hazard is so I can get ready for it next time. The instructions at the beginning of the game are quite colorful, and they are more detailed than what is displayed on the inlay. The game can be played by joystick or keyboard, but I found it easy to steer my bike with the joystick. I like the way the further you go the more points you are awarded, making this the perfect “score-attack” game.

The Bad
The graphics consists of PETSCII-style characters, but given that there are two games which were released around the same time that contain much better graphics – Impossible Mission and Suicide Express come to mind - the Darlings could have done a much better job. The music, although easy to memorize, only consists of one instrument, and the same instrument turns into an annoying grating sound every second course.

The Bottom Line
BMX Racers is a budget title from two guys who would later form Codemasters. You are riding a BMX through five courses that become difficult the further you progress. As a new player, you will likely crash into one of the hazards, but it is easy to memorize where these are, so you will hopefully get a better score next time around. Unless you’re into score-attack games, this is the type that you can have a few goes at, then put back down, never to play it again. As an early Mastertronic game, the basic sound and graphics may not be on par with other games also released in 1984, but the company will make better games after this.