https://www.thetechgame.com/images/Trials-HD_XBLAboxart_160w.jpg
Published by: Microsoft
Developed by: RedLynx
Release Date: August 12, 2009
Genre: Racing
Content: Trials HD
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: (Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB) Fasten your helmet…and unlock the full version of Trials HD. This physics-based motorcycle game has over 50 brilliant tracks and amazing HD graphics, in two unique game modes. Customize your rider, unlock bikes, climb global leaderboards, and compete with new in-game friend-scores. With the level-editor, create and share an unlimited amount of new tracks. Trials HD is an experience you haven’t seen before! There are no refunds for this item.




US, August 10, 2009 - Trials HD is essentially a modern day Excitebike. It's an arcade motorcycle racer that restricts your movement to a 2D plane and sends you careening down wild, complex tracks with the sole objective of crossing the finish line in one piece. Physics are used to great effect for manipulating your bike and interacting with objects in the environment. A track editor is here, too, just like you remember in Excitebike, so you can build your own courses and share them via Xbox Live. There's a lot of content here and Trials HD is a blast as long as the steep difficulty curve doesn't get you down.

This series has been available on PC for a few years with the original Trials and its sequel, Trials 2 Second Edition. Even though the XBLA version isn't called Trials 3, it is the third game in the series and offers new levels and improvements to the editor. What you've got here are 50+ tracks that will test your skill, brain power, and patience. The controls are very simple: the right and left triggers accelerate and break and the left analog stick leans your rider forward and back. Getting to the finish line is anything but simple.

https://www.thetechgame.com/images/Trials_HD_screen_11.jpg

You can take as many attempts as you need to cross that line, but obviously in order to get gold medals you'll need to get there quickly and without too many faults. Each level is filled with checkpoints so if you bail you can always try again from your fail point (which loads instantly). Merely completing a level will get you a bronze medal, but it will take a lot more effort to earn the silver and gold. Medal hunting gives Trials HD a lot of replay value and the game helpfully points out what is required in order to gain the next medal on each course.

When the game gets going and you're flying by the seat of your pants, careening down a track at breakneck speed, watching everything explode around you, and praying to all that is holy you don't crash, Trials HD is a blast. It's when you get stuck trying to get over some small hill and you see that fault counter in the top left corner counting up (10 tries…25 tries…50 tries…) that the game starts being more frustrating than fun. I don't mind a good challenge, but there is only so many times a person can try to complete a seemingly simple task before their brain shuts down and they want to move on. You'll get stuck in these situations pretty regularly later on in the game. Too often when I would finally, at long last, cross that finish line and get the bronze medal, I would think, "Man, I don't want to ever do that again."

A pretty useful feature is included, though, to help you when you get stuck. Replays are stored for the first 5000 players in each leaderboard, and icons representing the Xbox 360's controller buttons indicate just what controls led them to victory. So you can view these winning runs (which also load instantly) and see how the pros did it. Watching these, you'll start to see there are many advanced tricks for getting past particular tricky sections. It's a shame, though, that the game doesn't really teach these tricks to players.

https://www.thetechgame.com/images/trials_hd_screen_10.jpg

But Trials HD is to be praised for the thrills it provides (especially in the first half of the game), and for the load of content on offer. Beyond the trials in Race Mode you'll unlock fun mini-games that ask you to crash and break as many bones as you can, or survive as long as you can inside a giant ball. Then there's the track editor (the same tool developers used to build levels), which extends the experience indefinitely as long as people keep making and sharing new tracks.


Closing Comments
Anyone that's been looking for a modern day Excitebike need look no further. Trials HD is packed with arcade thrills and inventive tests of skill. The first half really gives you a rush as you careen down rollercoaster tracks and pull off wild stunts. Later levels can be more frustrating than fun, though, as you get stuck on every little anthill and the game loses momentum. But you'll find a truckload of content here, and there are certainly gluttons for punishment out there who will welcome the steep difficulty curve. The level editor, leaderboards, and replays really take advantage of what can be done with Xbox Live.