Games with Gold: Ride or Die with Motocross Madness

Here’s the deal: When you sign up for Xbox Live Gold, you get free access to Games with Gold on Xbox One and Xbox 360, which means new, free games every month! Yep, that’s right: If you have Gold, you don’t have to do a darn thing, and you get a free game. So, what are you waiting for? Here’s a closer look at the latest Games with Gold title!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Come and join the most exciting, rip-roaring, mud-flinging, action-packed motorcycle racing extravaganza this side of
Tron! Your ticket pays for the whole seat, but you’ll only need… the edge! That’s right, if you enjoy racing titles, dirt biking, or just having fun with your friends online, you won’t want to let Motocross Madness pass you by – especially since it’s free for the first half of August, for all Xbox Live Gold members, as part of the Games with Gold program.

With nine tracks and six different bikes to choose from,
Motocross Madness provides plenty of variety, right from the start. Each bike has its own feel, from wobbly-but-fast, to solid-as-a-rock, to loose (for tricks and flips). And, players can earn money for upgrades to their bikes – and many of them, such as high-grip tires, make a real difference to your vehicle’s performance.

Earning money is never a grind, either; the racing is balanced to fit any level of skill. While players can compete against the CPU – earning third place is enough to advance – they can also face off against each other online. But, perhaps most interestingly,
Motocross Madness features a “Rivals” mode, wherein players take on the ghosts of the game’s best racers, trying to beat their times and scores. While this is no easy task (even for experts), it serves as a constant moving target, and another way to learn about the game’s intricacies: shortcuts, secret areas, and the gnarliest tricks known to man.

Yet,
Motocross Madness isn’t just about running down the clock. Performing a choreographed set of veritable dance moves while flying through the air on the back of your bike is part of the action, too. The more spectacular your tricks – and the more perfectly performed they are – the more you earn. But it’s not all grace in the air, either. You can go off jumps next to an opponent and bash him as he tries to perform a trick (often with hilarious results). And of course, everything is available in an online mode via Xbox Live. If you’d rather get away from the opposition, you can do that, too. Motocross Madness offers an “Exploration” mode, in which you can cruise around the tracks without having to worry about going the wrong way or getting kicked off your bike.

So, strap on your helmet, get your mud-resistant goggles on, and get ready to shred some serious dirt with
Motocross Madness, free for all Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox 360 from Aug. 1-15!