Rev those engines, people, because Motocross Madness 2 is almost ready for prime time (it's expected at the end of May) and the final preview version is extremely impressive. The graphics have been tweaked to an almost photo-realistic level; the accompanying screenshots just can't do them justice, you've got to see them move to believe them. You'll find new lighting effects, particle effects, terrain types and the main complaint with the first game has been addressed: you'll find all kinds of objects to interact with. This means cactus, trees, orchards, plants, trailers, a train, automobiles and trucks, there is even a level featuring a big yellow school bus. All these new obstacles are more than just window dressing as you'll see when your rival bikers slam into them or you catch a cactus while in mid air. Rainbow has added numerous painful crash animations to the game as well as new death-defying stunts.

Once again Motocross Madness 2 features its driver and bike independent physics system that worked so well last time out. Meaning that while you're on the ground, your controller controls throttle, brake, steering, and in the air you control the pitch of the bike (forward or backward, which is key for landing on the varied terrain) and buttons execute the stunts. Also intact is the Madness tradition of somewhat wacky physics (yes folks, the 'Dynamite Ridge' Easter Egg is still in full effect - it catapults you and your bike about a mile straight up, its hilarious). That isn't to say the physics model is wrong, it's just a little bit tweaked. You tend to jump higher, and farther than the real life Motocrossers. "Our goal wasn't total realism, with Moto2 it was maximum fun factor with enough realism to make it work," said Rainbow's Robb Rinard. The game sports a fantastic physics engine, a very complicated task when modeling something as twitchy as a motorcycle on loose dirt.