$0.99News

New ‘Mad Skills Motocross’ Update Tones Down the Difficulty and Adds Leaderboard Challenging Feature

TouchArcade Rating:

Last month we reviewed Mad Skills Motocross [99¢], a fast-paced 2D side-scrolling motocross racing game. We enjoyed the title quite a bit as it had sharp graphics, plenty of different tracks, a nice online challenge system through OpenFeint, and above all else a stellar physics system. One problem many players commented on though was the immense difficulty of completing the single player campaign. The game started out simple enough as it eased you into the gameplay mechanics, but about a third of the way through the career mode the difficulty ramped up pretty quickly, and due to the requirement of completing every race in a division before unlocking a new division many players found themselves unable to progress.

Developer Turborilla heard these cries for help, and have rushed in to save the day with the latest update to Mad Skills Motocross. There is now an Amateur difficulty setting in the options that offers an easier AI opponent to race against, and your bike can withstand more damage before breaking as well. If you liked the original difficulty don’t worry, as the Pro option keeps things the same as they were before. Also, a previous update made it so you only needed to beat all but 2 of the races in a division to unlock the next, thus making it easier to move on if you got stuck on a particularly hard race.

Besides these difficulty tweaks, Turborilla has added an interesting new feature that adds to the competitive nature of Mad Skills Motocross. Before, you could set a time on a race and then send off a challenge to one of your OpenFeint friends for them to try and beat. Now, you can actually choose any of the scores on the leaderboards and take a crack at beating that person’s ghost. Or you can simply watch the replay of how that score was attained, possibly gleaning some tips from how they completed the course. This new functionality is a really nice addition to such a score-focused game, and it makes competing with the best players in the world more accessible to everyone.

I liked Mad Skills Motocross before, but I do admit I had my fair share of moments where I felt like throwing my iPhone across the room due to the difficulty. The new Amateur mode makes things significantly easier, and consequently more fun, and the Pro mode is still there for when I feel ready to take on that challenge. The new ability to challenge ghosts from the leaderboards adds a whole new layer of competitiveness to the game, and I even enjoy just watching some of the top times and marveling at the skill of those elite players. With these past two updates, Mad Skills Motocross has easily become my favorite racing game of this kind, and if you haven’t checked it out yet now is the perfect time as it’s currently on sale for just 99¢ for a limited time.

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  • 50 Comments

    1. Cbrowny2009

      Took your time in reviewing this amazing game didn't you ;) Only joking but this is a buy buy buy buy buy,you get the message ;) game.Quality like this deserves,if there's any justice to knock that other,but more angrier bird game off the top of the charts :)

    2. Frank

      looks lovely... buying now

    3. Bart Breij

      Oh wow, this looks adorable. Love the ambiance in this one.

    4. StriveMind

      Love this game. Tiny Wings is the new king of the "endless" genre.

    5. David Luchetti

      great game! thanks for sharing!

    6. HelperMonkey

      Love it. Most addictive iOS game I've played.
      It's irresistible. Definitely headed to a high spot on the sales charts.

    7. Aaa

      No lite?

      1. lol

        no just buy it.......

    8. swarmster

      Looks great, and I think I'll add it to my list of things to buy, but I'm thinking maybe I should wait until the update is out. Games adding Game Center support to already-existing OpenFeint support have frequently had issues breaking achievements you've already been granted.

      I still haven't quite figured out if it's due to the devs overlooking something or a bug in OpenFeint's achievement sharing. It does make you wonder why people continue to bother with OpenFeint, though.

    9. David Luchetti

      i think this game has potential to be the next "cut the rope"

    10. EastsideStompers

      How many people called their bird Orvil then? Great game. Needs a catchy tune, and loads of up-grades and unlockables.

      1. Hamster787

        there is a catchy tune listen to the music ;) oh i love this game i named my bird ramirez :)

        1. EastsideStompers

          Yes, sorry, when I started the game the music wasn't on by default for some reason: / It's on now: )

    11. Zach Williams

      Incredible. I'm gonna have to agree with those saying this should be the next big casual game on the charts.

      1. Frank

        You know, im not sure its the next big casual hit. My grandmother dosen't get it. But she loves Angry Birds and Cut the Rope but she has a hard time understanding the timing in this game. But i hope it dose well! I love the game myself.

    12. Taylor Barclay

      It will be an insta-buy with Game Center integration, additional content (birds, environments) and Retina display. I will wait :)

    13. Yrogerg212

      Is there a way to "put off" or slow down the night coming? It seems like if not there's a definite limit to the score possible.

      1. JCGaga

        the idea is to 'beat' the sunset...the faster you keep flying, the slower the night will come.

    14. JCGaga

      Beats angry birds haha

    15. Taylor Barclay

      I'll get it when it's not at half the resolution for my iPod Touch 4G. Retina and GC achievements and stat board. So many of the suggestions in the forum thread are excellent. I will be buying it though, added to my Wish List.

      1. SpasilliumNexus

        I play it on an iPhone 4 and i'm against giving it Retina support. But if he does add it in I hope there will be a toggle to turn it off since the game looks so good without it.

      2. Dadasdas

        @ AmpliHelix How in the world could this game look WORSE with higher resolution?

    16. Rroger

      hmm looks absolutely boring according to the video.

    17. Matthew Hall

      I picked this up on a whim earlier in the week, as it had a cute icon. Certainly not disappointed :) A Grade.
      Though, I agree that it takes a few goes to figure it out - and some gamers might not have the patience to learn it.

    18. The Frost

      This is the fourth site that gives Tiny Wings a 5 star review, and its everything they say and more, i truly recommend this game to anyone, just buy it and feel the joy

    19. Elvis

      #2 in the german app store!!! It`s so nice and refreshing to see what the great potential of the appstore is. This guy deserves it so much!!! And I believe that he would have never had the chance to be this successful with his skill and creativity if it wasn`t for the appstore ^^

    20. mindjuice

      Definitely a fun little game. Not sure how people are getting such high scores though. My multiplier is at 14x now.

      The game is certainly shooting up the charts though...#25 in US right now overall. Was around #45 a couple of hours ago.

    21. Alex Okafor

      Just picked it up and loving the mechanic and flow of the game. Reminds me a lot of the "skiing" mechanic in the PC game, Tribes. Fun Times!

    22. Mindfield

      What the heck? My comment got nuked. So I guess I'll ask again: Aside from minor mechanic differences and an admittedly nice stylistic eye for artwork, what makes this any different from the dozens of other identical games (bird theme and all) that have been released on the App Store since 2008?

      1. Elvis

        hmmm, isn`t that more then enough ;) I mean I pay more for a coffee a day and a coffee keeps me entertained for maybe 3 minutes.

      2. Jared Nelson

        There is no game that is identical to this one. It may appear so but nothing on the App Store uses this particular mechanic, which makes the game what it is. That would be like saying Canabalt is identical to Solipskier.

    23. JCGaga

      I can't get past island 6 cause this little fucker keeps slowing down.

      1. EastsideStompers

        Yes, I too seem to have hit a brick wall at Island 6. Can't seem to keep the little bugger going. It's border line between 'one more go' and 'stuff this' for me right now...

    24. Jaison13

      i've played this like 6 hours in the last 2 days. i too keep getting stopped on island 6... grrrrrrr. but love the game it's a must buy!! i love people waiting for updates on a freakin' $.99 game or want a lite version!!! it's a dollar!!! holy crap!!

    25. Nguyen Nhat Minh

      I got more than 70,000. Who can beat me ?

    26. L Dawgs

      hope it goes to the charts quick

    27. Alex Westcott

      buying it now :) its at the top of the uk charts!

    28. Alx

      I have 138 000 but is virtually impossible to reach Island 8th, it would be cool if they add more power ups besides the blue coins

    29. Tiny Wings Game

      Tiny Wings is an awesome game and could be the next angry birds.

    30. Yemi

      Tiny Wings is the perfect game , simply amazing. No words can describe how fun it is. Nathan McCoy needs to shut up about tiny wings being a ripp off his horrible graphic game wavespark flash . Tiny wings is the truth of what iphone gaming symbolizes.

    31. adude

      I love Funny Duck because it's simple, it has a new game play, battery efficient and has Lite version:)

    32. Peter

      Tiny wings is great, one of my favorite games with angry birds, cut  the rope and electro chuck. Tiny wings is awsome, never had so much fun whith an Iphone game.