The Shinning Example of Trials HD

Jon here.

So I played Trials HD last night for the first time. I guess the best way to describe it is Excite Bike meets Sonic the Hedgehog in HD with some really fun physics. Like Sonic, the levels operate on a 2D plane (although in fully polygonal environments) and feature lots of obstacles, ramps, hills, boulders, flips, falling platforms, etc… Like Excite Bike, the object is to get to the finish line with the best time possible.

There are no lives, there are no continues. You keep trying and crashing until you get to the end. Completing levels with better times and fewer crashes yields better medals and unlockable features.

What impresses me the most about Trials is the very clever levels designs with such limited scope. The 2D tracks are much more fun than they would be in an open 3D environment. Keeping the game on a 2D plane allow players to focus on the basics of the gameplay and the developer to come up with some twisted and, frankly, almost unfair designs. All the levels take place inside a dangerously irresponsibly maintained warehouse and use a lot of the same assets in different ways. The only controls are lean forward, lean back, accelerate and break as well as a “bailout” button that tosses the ragdoll rider in some often hilarious directions. Despite the limitations, the game is a whole lot of fun and very rewarding when you beat a hard level.It’s also funny to see the rider crash and smash his head and neck against various obstacles.

Games and gaming as a hobby could benefit from minimizing the scope like Trials HD and other indie-type games do. Instead of expanding horizons and making games with more freedom, expansive worlds, full customization, and NPC’s with lives of their own, let’s get back to making games with compelling gameplay. That’s not to say there’s not room in with world for epic, 50-hour gaming extravaganzas, but the ratio of fun, creative games like trials to online FPS’s is far to imbalanced. If the choice is between 5 or 6 games like Trials HD and no new Call of Duty or a new Call of Duty and only 1 or two games like Trials HD, I’ll take the former. Every time.