Urban Trial Freestyle (3DS) Review
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Urban Trial Freestyle is an enjoyable romp of a biking game, which can really grab you. It’s not a particularly difficult game to beat, although being good enough to unlock the challenge levels does require a lot of skill. There also aren’t many levels, although the level editor in game allows you to expand the play time somewhat. It doesn’t really do anything remarkable, but it doesn’t do much wrong either. If you want to do some dirt biking on the go, then you could do far worse than this.
Get on your bike. Then hit your head on a shipping crate and fall off it. All in Urban Trial Freestyle.
While they didn’t event the genre, RedLynx really refined and perfected the trials style game with their Trials series. Tate Multimedia have entered the arena with Urban Trial Freestyle, which has made it to 3DS after previously coming to the PlayStation Network. Certainly, the resemblance to the Trials series is unmistakable, and while it’s certainly far from a bad game, it does make me yearn for Trials just a bit more.
The basic premise of the game is simple. You have to make your way from one side of the level to the other as fast as possible, trying to avoid crashing along the way. The game is split into five groups of four stages, each taking place in a different area. You can play through each stage in two modes. There’s the stunt mode, which sees you trying to achieve things such as long jumps, high jumps and precision jumps, which require you to land in a certain area as close to a marked line as you can. Then there’s the timed mode which requires you to get through in the fastest time. In both modes, you’re given a ranking out of five stars. Getting five stars in every stage unlocks a fiendishly difficult challenge level to play.
Controls are pretty straight forward. You use A to accelerate, B to break, Y to reverse and X to revert to the previous checkpoint. Checkpoints are quite plentiful in here, but it does make you wonder whether the levels were just pieced together, and there isn’t always a particularly good flow to the stages. There’s also not too much variety in what you do in the stunt mode. There are plenty of ramps, jumps and platforms to negotiate, but sections such as navigating a series of springboards whilst not hitting your head on the one above are few and far between. The landings are pretty forgiving, though. It’s possible to land practically upside down and still be able to recover and continue without having to revert to the last checkpoint. At some points, you do get stuck, and will have to go back. Once you’re done, there are online leaderboards that allow you to compare yourself to players all around the world, if you’re in to that sort of thing.
Urban Trial Freestyle is certainly one of the most graphically impressive games on the 3DS thus far, with a nice use of the 3D which doesn’t distract you from what you’re doing. It just simply gives you a sense of depth. There doesn’t seem to be all that much variety in the looks of the levels themselves. There are multiple paths that at least give you a different view, but there’s a lot of dust, wood and wreckage to move through. There aren’t that many levels either, which means you can have the game wrapped up fairly quickly if you’re decent. All this is set to a rock soundtrack that is largely forgettable, in all honesty.
One exclusive addition for the 3DS version of Urban Trial Freestyle is the new level editor. You can store up to 30 levels, and you have a wide selection of tools to choose from, as well as a selection of environments to build your levels in. Building the levels is pretty easy as well, as you pick a part and simply pop it down on the stage. You can move checkpoints around and angle scenery as well. It’s quick to pick up and, with a bit of time, you could build something pretty good.
Final Thoughts
Urban Trial Freestyle is an enjoyable romp of a biking game, which can really grab you. It’s not a particularly difficult game to beat, although being good enough to unlock the challenge levels does require a lot of skill. There also aren’t many levels, although the level editor in game allows you to expand the play time somewhat. It doesn’t really do anything remarkable, but it doesn’t do much wrong either. If you want to do some dirt biking on the go, then you could do far worse than this.