Trials HD

It’s been a long, long time since a game made me giggle as much as Trials HD does. Even as I moved up to the harder levels of the game there were the those occasions where the results of my efforts were most amusing!

But I get ahead of myself so let’s get back to basics.

Trials HD is a sort-of side scrolling puzzle, racing-against-the-clock, skills game with explosions, ramps, jumps and motorbikes. Think here of Kick-Start (80’s TV program) on speed with an extra shot of espresso run by Mr. Takeshi, in short it’s crazy-nuts fun!

If you start off with the tutorial level (and you should) you get access to a dinky little 80cc motorbike which is more than enough to get you through. The essence of the game is to get from the start to the end of a track which has certain, shall we say, obstacles in the way. These obstacles range from simple jumps and gaps in the earlier levels through to mega gaps, loop-jumps, almost vertical girders, huge rocks and massive drops later on.

The controls are relatively simple with a throttle, brake (triggers) and rider forwards and back (left stick). This latter control effects the attitude of the bike over the course and in the air. Weight back will cause wheelies and flips and helps to position the bike correctly for landings, weight forward stops the bike from flipping when attempting steep climbs but will also pitch you straight over the front once you reach the top, if you aren’t quick enough. There is also the temptation to use the bigger, more powerful motorcycles which become available to you as you progress. A word of warning here – bigger is not always better! A number of times I found that switching down to the 125cc from the bigger 250cc monster actually made the course more achievable. This isn’t always the case, but it’s worth bearing in mind.

But I did laugh! The first time you flip over the top and land on your head you’ll laugh, especially as this is accompanied by a superbly timed and pitched “OOOFF!” from the rider. The sound effects in the game are great too, as it’s set in what has to be to biggest empty warehouse in the world, there is a very nice echo to everything which goes on and the bikes all have a nicely realistic ring to them too. the teeny 80cc 2-stoke job ting-tings along nicely and the big ol’ 250cc 4-stroke has a nice beefy bark to it.

But here’s the thing; this game looks really nice, it sounds really nice but these things are not actually that important. What’s critical here is that it plays REALLY well! Here’s a game which sits at the top of the XBLA price bracket at 1200 points and it’s worth ever single one of them! I had decided this when I got through the first couple of levels but the point was driven home for me when both Simes and Haggis The Lord appeared on my high-score table… above me! “41 seconds!! How the hell did he do that in 41 seconds?!” The addition of this competitive element was the icing on my cake, the cream in my coffee, the…. well you get my drift. Levels were played and re-played the get that second or two (or twenty) needed to depose these interlopers from the top of MY leader-board – brilliant, simply sublime!

If this was all the game had to offer I’d be in a very happy place, but then I gave the mini-games a go. These little gems are unlocked as you progress through the main game by achieving a performance worthy of silver or gold medals and are just fun. I’ve been thinking through them and I can’t honestly pick a favourite out of them, each is so different. From chucking your body down a set of stairs built out of containers to break as many bones as possible, through using your bike as a semi-guided missile to fly through hoops of fire to balancing on top of a huge steel cage and rolling it as far as possible (on top here so forward = backwards remember!) these little interludes are as nutso-bonkers as the rest of the game with a side order of ‘What the F…!” AND the leader board competition is there too – damn you and your 84 meter ball-rolling Simes!

So let’s review:- Bat-shit-loco gameplay – CHECK; Fun and giggles – CHECK; Competition with your friends – CHECK; mini games for more fun – CHECK; there’s something missing… Oh yes

You can also design your own tracks! Your skills – or sadistic tendencies – can truly be challenged by building you own tracks in the game environment, use any of the elements in the game, jumps, flames, boxes etc, etc to construct new and exciting way to bounce your rider and bike around and blow them to a million pieces. This kind of element is usually reserved for your boxed retail products but the inclusion of the games toolkit here simply extends the life of Trials HD almost indefinitely. I can already envisage the sessions where friends try to out-do each other on jointly and individually created tracks.