Scott Watson reviews Urban Trial Playground on Nintendo Switch…
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and with Urban Trial Playground, Tate Multimedia nods heavily towards Red Lynx’ Trials series in so many ways it’s a surprise they’ve not called for their IP back!
If you’ve played Trials, or any of Tate Multimedia’s previous Urban Trial series, you’ll be right at home. The game is a fairly simplistic affair, sitting in 2.5D perspective, that pits you on a dirt bike with the aim of getting from one end of a course to the other. There may be time trials, there may be stunt runs, there may be a bit of both. It’s all very familiar territory for this kind of game and something that stems back to as far as the old 8-bit days of Kickstart and Kickstart 2 where all this began.
Set in and around what looks like the east coast of the US, most likely California, Venice Beach style areas, you know the kind, the game looks the part with some great animations as you lean, balance, jump, dodge and pull wheelies and stoppies to your hearts content. It’s a bit limited in the moves set perhaps, but there’s a good enough impression of speed as you traverse each course.
Talking of limited, the game does only have the two race types in single player; time trial or stunt race. With the limited moves set on offer this is the games biggest let down. For all the scenery and locations change, you’re still hit with the same ramps, stairs, see-saws, etc and it all starts to get very similar very quickly. There may be secondary targets to hit in the trick levels or picking up chips across both types but it’s not really enough to keep you entertained long-term. The multi-player rectifies some of this with the introduction of a couch competitor to interest things but it suffers from the same limited modes as single player.
There’s some customisation options for your riders and bikes as you progress through the game, but it just all feels too safe, too similar, too lacking in imagination to really stand out.
Urban Trial Playground is one of those titles that doesn’t actually do anything wrong, it just doesn’t really do anything spectacular. You’ll play it, you’ll be entertained for a short while, but it’ll very quickly be forgotten. Sadly Switch owners will still need to wait for something that’ll get close to Red Lynx’ classic series of games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtDPm0VvQUs
Pros:
+ Tight and responsive controls
+ Good looking visuals across the levels
Cons:
– Limited gameplay modes
– Loads times are a bit on the long side
– Brings nothing new to the table
Rating: 6/10
Platform reviewed on Nintendo Switch
Scott Watson
