Dirt Bike

Dirt Bike is a side-scrolling motorcycle game by Brad Quick and Michel de Messieres, first released in 1995 and remembered as one of the more successful and longest-running shareware Mac titles of the 90s. It simulates a motorcycle's motion over varying terrain, with adjustable bike geometry and suspension so riders can tune their machine to each track.

Simulation under the arcade surface

The Info-Mac upload of version 3.0 stresses that the game "accurately simulates the motion of a motorcycle over varying terrain" and exposes "many aspects of the bike's geometry and suspension" for tuning. Controls are mouse-only, handling throttle and lean.

Tracks, music, and registration

Registered users could create their own tracks, complete with custom background scenery and music, and share them with the community. The Info-Mac post explicitly invites uploaders to circulate user-made tracks; Macintosh Garden still hosts a downloadable collection of community bikes and tracks alongside the game.

What 3.0 added

Version 3.0 marked the jump from the earlier 2.1 release that the AOL community had been waiting on. The header lists "great grapics incluing a scrolling track," background scenery, races against up to five rival bikes, four high scores per track, and music. Later versions (4.3 is also archived) refined the formula further.

Compatibility

Per Macintosh Garden, Dirt Bike runs in 256 colors on 68k or PowerPC Macs from System 7.0 through Mac OS 9. Version 3.1 is the recommended build for users who want maximum compatibility with community add-on tracks.