There have been plenty of bike stunt games released over the years, from the Trials series through to Joe Danger. Tate Multimedia is no stranger to the scene, having created Urban Trial Freestyle back in 2013, but now they’re back with the Switch exclusive Urban Trial Tricky. The aim of the game is to pull off tricks and combos to get high scores and complete challenges.
There are three different event categories through Urban Trial Tricky: Trick, Timed, and Competition. Trick events are all about pulling off tricks and getting as many points as possible, while the objective in Timed events is to get to the end of the course as fast as possible. Competition is similar to Trick in that you have to pull tricks, but only those that you are prompted to by the game.
It’s quite simple to get hang of Urban Trial Tricky, as it introduces trickier and trickier skills through its six tutorials, going from the basics to pulling off combos that require several inputs. Tricks can be performed while the bike is in the air, while doing a wheelie, or popping a stoppie, with the more difficult tricks contributing different amounts of points as you try and chain them together in bigger and bigger combos. As you build up combos you will unlock special tricks and landing these will significantly boost your score.
You do not pull tricks in a vacuum, though – that would be far too easy. There are different courses to tackle, but they are a bit of a mixed bag. Some are incredibly open and let you pull off some great combos, and it’s in these settings that Urban Trial Tricky shines as it lets you go and experiment with different tricks and combos. Other courses have a lot more obstacles with ramps and jumps that require precise timing. When you first start it can be frustrating, but it does start to come together as you get used to the layouts and timing. However, there is an issue where combos can be broken because the bike wheel may clip a surface which acts as a combo breaker.
In each level you are given a rank out of five stars, and you can only unlock more levels if you meet a star quota. There will likely be moments where your star rank is off by one or two, so you may need to replay levels until you reach that star limit. In addition, there are extra challenges that can include hitting score targets, performing certain combos, or beating a time. In levels players will also be able to collect snacks and money bags, which can be used to unlock cosmetic items for bikes and costumes, as well as new tricks.
Urban Trial Tricky looks good with a bright and colourful art style that runs well on Switch. Each stage has its own look that makes them stand out from each other, but it won’t be too long before you’ll have seen it all. Urban Trial Tricky is quite a short game, but there’s a decent amount of replay value through going back to perfect each level’s five star rating and collect items.
