Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt

Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt is a sports video game developed and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released in North America on June 28, 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and on September 4, 2002 for the Xbox. It was the only game released under the Gravity Games license by Midway.

Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt
Developer(s)Midway Studios San Diego
Publisher(s)Midway Home Entertainment
Programmer(s)Detmar Petereke
Daniel Chambers
Rachid El Guerrab
Randy Johns
Gary Kroll
Jeff MacArthur
Composer(s)Aubrey Hodges
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: June 28, 2002 (PS2)[1]
  • NA: September 4, 2002 (Xbox)
  • EU: September 27, 2002
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game garnered mostly negative reception from critics. Reviewers criticized the game's broken gameplay, graphical glitches and collision detection problems. Some critics, however, praised the game's large level designs.

Gameplay
The player grinds on a rail

Gravity Games Bike is a BMX video game and features gameplay similar to that of the Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX games. It features 21 characters and 10 levels.[2] The player controls a BMX biker and is required to complete various goals within levels to unlock later courses.[3] As the player performs tricks, they gain more points and fulfill requirements in the game. The control scheme is similar to that of the Dave Mirra games in that one button on the controller is used to perform tricks and another is used to modify the trick once it is performed.[3] Unlike other similar games, Gravity Games Bike rewards the same number of points for performing the same trick repeatedly.[3] The game has several different multiplayer modes.[4]

Riders

Development

Midway announced a partnership with EMAP USA on January 18, 2000, giving them the rights to the Gravity Games license.[5] It began development under the title Gravity Games: Bike and was the first game developed under the license.[6] The name of the game changed to Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt by August 2001, and IGN noted the game's fluid trick system in one of its initial builds.[7] IGN's Douglass C. Perry noted Midway's attention to detailed level design in a preview for the game.[8] IGN's Chris Carle previewed the game at E3 2002 and praised the game's level design but criticized the graphics and the slow-moving pace of the game.[2]

Reception

The PlayStation 2 version received "generally unfavorable reviews", while the Xbox version received "overwhelming dislike", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9][10] The game was notable for its negative reception.

GameSpy's Miguel Lopez criticized the PlayStation 2 version's unresponsive controls, collision detection, and sound design, stating "... Dirt has ...a propensity to live up to its name."[14] IGN's Chris Roper compared it unfavorably to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600,[15] which is often considered one of the worst games of all time.[22] Roper noted that the game was full of glitches and had an unresponsive control scheme.[15] GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann called the gameplay "broken" and the game itself "unfinished".[3] GameZone's Natalie Romano praised the PS2 version's sound selection, level size and character variety, while calling the control scheme "one of the game's major weaknesses."[4] Jeff Gerstmann criticized the Xbox version for its glitches and control issues, and wrote, "Wasn't it canceled?"[13]

The GameCube version was canceled due to lower than expected sales for all Midway games, though GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann attributed the cancellation to its negative reception.[13][23]

The game won the awards for "Worst Game of the Year on PlayStation 2" and "Worst Game of the Year on Xbox" at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002 Awards.[24][25]

References
  1. IGN staff (June 26, 2002). "Ship. Date. Soon". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  2. Carle, Chris (May 24, 2002). "E3 2002: Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt. Hands-on". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  3. Gerstmann, Jeff (July 10, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  4. Romano, Natalie (July 11, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt Review - PlayStation 2". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
  5. Perry, Douglass C. (January 18, 2000). "Midway and Emap Join Up for Extreme Games". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  6. IGN staff (January 24, 2000). "Midway Confirms First Gravity Game". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  7. Zdyrko, Dave (August 17, 2001). "Midway Gamers' Day: First Shots of Defender, Gravity Games and Mortal Kombat". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  8. Perry, Douglass C. (February 26, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt. (Preview 1)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  9. "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  10. "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  11. "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 113. GameStop. September 2002. p. 81.
  12. Kuipers, Kévin (October 15, 2002). "Test : Gravity Games, Midway dans la boue (PS2)". Gamekult (in French). TF1 Group. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  13. Gerstmann, Jeff (October 11, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  14. Lopez, Miguel (August 17, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
  15. Roper, Chris (October 15, 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt. (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  16. Roper, Chris (February 9, 2004). "Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt (Xbox)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  17. Jihem (October 25, 2002). "Test: Gravity Games: Bike Street Vert Dirt [sic] (PS2)". Jeuxvideo.com. Webedia. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  18. "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt: Volando sobre una BMX... (PS2) [date mislabeled as "March 14, 2012"]". MeriStation (in Spanish). September 27, 2002. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  19. "Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt: Gravedad cero (Xbox) [date mislabeled as "March 13, 2012"]". MeriStation (in Spanish). October 21, 2002. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  20. Zuniga, Todd (October 2002). "Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt [sic]". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 61. Ziff Davis. p. 147. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  21. Rubenstein, Glenn (August 16, 2002). "'Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt' (PS2) Review". X-Play. TechTV. Archived from the original on August 20, 2002. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  22. Parish, Jeremy. "The Essential 50 Archives Part 13 -- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  23. Varanini, Giancarlo (July 2, 2002). "MK delayed, Gravity Games for the GC canceled [date mislabeled as "May 17, 2006"]". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 18, 2005. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  24. "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002 (Worst Game of the Year on PlayStation 2)". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on February 2, 2003. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  25. "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002 (Worst Game of the Year on Xbox)". GameSpot. CNET. Archived from the original on February 12, 2003. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
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