If you're like me, then there are times when you're overwhelmed by the sheer size of your gaming backlog. There are just so many good games to be played, how can I possibly find time to play them all? ATV Offroad Fury is a game that's been sitting patiently in my backlog for about two decades and now I can finally say I played through it. It was a good reminder than it's not a race to play all of your games, but to just enjoy the ride (no, those puns were not intended).

Developed by one of the finest racing game studios out there, Rainbow Studios, ATV Offroad Fury is a wild racing game available exclusively on the PlayStation 2. It's the first in a series of games that blasted onto the scene in the early 2000s. It sort of straddles the line of arcade and simulation, but leans more heavily into the former category. I wouldn't outright call it an arcade game though since it's at least somewhat rooted in reality...but it's definitely not a pure simulation. It's just a fun racing game.

The huge open levels reminded me of the Motocross Madness games that were released a few years prior and were also developed by Rainbow Studios. Much like those games, you'll be flying high in the air as you pop the hills on the wide assortment of tracks. The track variety is really good and features both indoor and outdoor tracks to cover multiple disciplines of ATV racing.

I suppose the Pro-Career mode is the main course in this meal and and it took me about three hours to complete. For better or worse, the rubber band AI kept the action intense and most races came down to the wire. The difficulty was a bit erratic and certain tracks took many retries. The Pro-Career mode is relatively forgiving overall since you don't have to win every single race to come out on top, but the AI will definitely keep things interesting. There's also a multiplayer mode, but sadly, I didn't get a chance to try it out...though I suspect it's a lot of fun.

In terms of gameplay, ATV Offroad Fury is very much a pick-up-and-play kinda game. I jumped right in and after a few laps, I had the basics down pretty well. The game will throw some new stuff at you in terms of track layout, but it's all fairly easy to get the hang of through repetition. The controls felt great, especially when you consider this game is over 20 years old. The graphics didn't wow me, but the frame-rate was excellent and that's what matters most for me in a game like this.

Playing this game definitely piqued my interest in the rest of the series (plus the various MX vs. ATV games that were also developed by Rainbow Studios), though time will tell whether or not I continue my journey with them.

Played On: PlayStation 2
Completion Date: 2/5/23
Time: 2 hours 58 minutes
Rating: 8/10

Spoiler Alert: I tried out the second game a month or so after finishing this one and thought it was incredibly frustrating. The AI is ruthless and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle the more challenging tracks. But hey, if the first one taught me anything, never say never when it comes to chipping one more off my backlog.