ATV Quad Power Racing 2
Author: Xbox Nation

History has proven that anything can be made more rad simply by jumping a four-wheeler over it. ATV Quad Power Racing 2 takes this important lesson and bases a game around it. You never go more than eight feet in ATV 2 without coming across a jump, and thanks to the cartoony physics, each one sends you flying through the air.

If you're into the precision maneuvering of NASCAR-type racers, stay far away from this game; it focuses more on perpetually filling the skies with leaping, flipping four-wheelers. Which is, obviously, pretty sweet.

The only real flaw in the game comes from the trick system. To perform a midair trick, you have to tap the directional pad and another button at exactly the same moment. If there's even a microsecond of deviation, there's no trick and your rider completely ignores you. Then you invariably smash the buttons to repeat your order, and the rider hits the ground while he's still doing the splits five feet from his seat.

Once you master the game, this should only happen once every six or seven tricks. But it's still going to have a punishing effect on both your patience and the groin of your video driver.

The Quad-Powered A.I. isn't very aggressive, so even late in the game, the computer-controlled drivers seem perfectly satisfied with letting you kick them off their four-wheelers. But no matter how easy it is to do, kicking someone the hell off his four-wheeler never stops being satisfying.