Motocross
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: INTV
Genre: Racing - Motorcycles
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1 or 2 VS
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Game is currently not working in BlissX.

Motocross is a bike racing game for one player against the clock, one player against the computer, or two players. Included are three different racetracks of varying lengths, each with many twists, turns, and even some jumps. Be careful when racing or you could skid off the track on a sharp turn or crash after a poorly timed jump! You can also use the track editor to create your own track to race on. For each race you can choose anywhere from one to ten laps to be completed.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

Started by Rick Levine in 1981 as his follow-up project to PBA Bowling, Motocross was put on hold when Rick left Mattel. (Tired of commuting from Irvine to Hawthorne, Rick took a non-gaming job. Later, he went to work for Imagic, where he programmed the Intellivision games Microsurgeon and Truckin'.) Months later, biker Rick Koenig took a stab at completing the game. After several weeks, he got permission to scrap the existing code and begin from scratch. Only Rick Levine's basic concept and graphics were kept, with new animations by Joe Ferreira.

Rick Koenig approached the game scientifically, writing routines to simulate all the movements of the cycles according to the laws of physics. The result is motorcycles that accelerate, skid and jump realistically.

Although announced in Mattel catalogs in 1981 and 1982 as part of the Intellivision Sports Network, by the time the game was released in 1983 the themed "networks" had been dropped. The Sports Network isn't mentioned on Motocross's final packaging.


FUN FACT:

Gravity is a factor in the motion routines. During testing, Rick made gravity adjustable to determine the best looking arc when jumping. Several unsuspecting programmers were invited to test the game, not knowing gravity had been set to zero. The first time their cycles hit a ramp, the cycles would sail up-up-and-away off the screen, while the programmers frantically tapped the controller discs, trying to make them come back down.

Rick was able to reuse his basic algorithms from Motocross several times: in Racing Destruction Set, a Commodore 64 game for Electronic Arts (produced by his old Mattel boss, Don Daglow), in Stadium Mud Buggies, an Intellivision game for INTV Corp., and in Monster Truck Rally, an NES game also for INTV.
 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/motocross_
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/sports.html#motocross
