Dirt Trax FX is a motocross racing game developed by Sculptured Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Super Nintendo in 1995. It uses the Super FX chip inside the cartridge to power the 3D course graphics. In spite of the extra processing power, Dirt Trax FX is a fairly average motocross racing game, in my opinion.

The courses are made of 3D polygons and the racers are 2D sprites, and the gameplay is simple: get on your dirt bike and rev and hop your way through a series of tracks, earning enough points in each race to stay in the top ranks (otherwise you’ll be disqualified and it’ll be game over).

The game can be played single-player, two-player split screen, and up to eight-player multiplayer (although not simultaneously). There are three difficulty levels: 50cc = kids; 125cc = normal; 250cc = pro, and one more level (500cc) that can be unlocked through play. In total there are 22 different tracks to race on and eight different riders to play as.

Racing is reasonably fun, if a bit of a slog at times (mostly due to the number of laps you need to complete per race), and winning is not easy. Usually there’s one rider who seems to do no wrong, although it is possible to be in second place for the majority of the race then beat them on the last corner (which I managed to do more than once). More interesting than racing, though, is the two-player split screen ‘Rad Tag’ game, which is basically a game of ‘tag’ on motorbikes. While it’s no Mario Kart battle mode, it is fun to play with a friend.

All Super Nintendo Super FX games on The King of Grabs:
Dirt Racer, Dirt Trax FX, Doom, Star Fox, Star Fox 2, Stunt Race FX, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Vortex, Winter Gold.

More: Dirt Trax FX on Wikipedia