How to play Motocross Racer online
- Speed up: up arrow key
- Slow down: down arrow key
- Steer: left and right arrow keys
- Start a race: Space bar or F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Choose the skill level: F4 and F9 (the two difficulty switches), before you start
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Gameplay
The display at the bottom of the screen shows three numbers: your elapsed time, the pace time you need to beat for your skill level, and your current speed. When you are ahead of the pace, the background of the display turns from red to green. Beat the pace time and you qualify for the next race.
- Desert Scramble: a flat run across the desert, seen from behind the rider, dodging cactus, rocks, sagebrush and desert creatures on the way to the mountain.
- Hill Climb: a winding logging road up a mountain, seen from above. Leaving the road costs time, and logs, mud holes, rock slides and trees block the way.
- Beach Sprint: a side-on dash between the dunes and the sea against other qualifiers, with flags, beach blankets and volleyball nets in the way, and riders both ahead of and behind you.
The bike starts each race fully repaired, with a top speed of 100 mph. Each crash lowers it: to 90, then 75, then 55, then 30 mph, and braking gets worse too. On the fifth crash the bike stops for good and that race is over.
| Skill level | Difficulty switches (left / right) | Average pace |
|---|---|---|
| Amateur | B / B | 20 mph |
| Novice | B / A | 30 mph |
| Professional | A / B | 40 mph |
| Expert | A / A | 50 mph |
Tips
- Start on Amateur. The pace time is much easier to beat, so you get to see all three races.
- Watch the colour of the display. Green means you are on pace, so you can afford to ease off in a tricky section.
- Avoid the first crash. Each crash costs top speed for the rest of that race, so a careful clean run usually beats a fast one with two or three spills.
- Check behind you on the beach. Other riders can come up from behind, so don’t drift across the track without looking.
History
Xonox was a Minnesota company owned by K-tel, best known for its “double-ender” cartridges, which had a different game at each end. Motocross Racer was sold both on its own and on a double-ender with Tomarc the Barbarian, and it also appeared on the Commodore 64, the VIC-20 and the ColecoVision. Both 2600 versions are rare today.
Similar games to play next
- Tomarc the Barbarian – the game on the other end of the Xonox double-ender
- Enduro – Activision’s long-distance race from behind the car
- MotoRodeo – off-road racing over an obstacle course
- BMX Airmaster – off-road stunts on a bike
- Artillery Duel – another Xonox cartridge