This all sounds good, but the game controls horribly. Pinpoint precision just doesn't exist, and bikes always handle like you're on an ice-slicked pond. Seemingly simple activities like pulling off land-based tricks or transferring up on a half-pipe will give you no end of trouble. Even normal vert tricks are limited due to a very small selection; you only have two trick buttons. Speaking of buttons, Crusty Demons expects you to pretzelize your fingers to hold A while hitting either Black to bail, or White for major turbo boosts. These gripes are atop a buggy camera and sticky collision that will have you stuck on corners for too-long periods of time.

Missions themselves are nothing you haven't done before. Ditch your ride for an even worse-handling vehicle until you beg to get the bike back, or try to collect obscenely placed objects in a scant amount of time. The developers try in vain to inject some humor into things, but again, the Tony Hawk series has been doing this for seven installments.

One would hope for some sweet multiplayer that takes advantage of the crash physics. On paper, Crusty Demons has a robust multiplayer element. However, the poor control kicks in to sap almost all enjoyment out of this as well. The only crash-based game has you racing to bail against a target before your friends hit it first, but placement is far too obscure to hit with any frequency. Other modes include racing, theft, and a standard scoring contest. It's a good selection, though nothing stands out. Like most games of this ilk, you must unlock a level in single-player to do anything with it in multiplayer. In fact, you literally can't do a single race until you've played a good chunk of the solo mode.


Aside from the admittedly sweet crashes, Crusty Demons doesn't look any better than what we're used to. The graphics aren't disappointing, but they won't wow you, either. The music and voiceovers are lower on the quality spectrum, with gratuitous swears, bad acting, and songs you've never heard for a reason.

Crusty Demons is about 10 years too late. If it had come out around the time the films first started appearing (1995), it may have set the gaming world on fire. As is, it's just another freestyle also-ran that -- despite its cool crashes and "extreme" storyline -- will be forgotten as quickly as MTX Mototrax, Gravity Games Bike, and Jonny Moseley: Mad Trix.