Features

App Army Assemble: Urban Riders - "Can an endless runner about being a bike messenger deliver?"

We ask the App Army

App Army Assemble: Urban Riders - "Can an endless runner about being a bike messenger deliver?"

Urban Riders is a new take on the classic endless runner set-up. It sees you playing as a bike messenger tasked with picking up and delivering packages. The problem is, a city is a dangerous place to cycle, so there are numerous obstacles you will need to navigate. Our App Army members are well-versed in the runner genre, so we handed the game over to them to see what they thought.

Here's what they said:

Oksana Ryan

I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. It’s a great game when you have an odd ten minutes to while away and is easy to pick up and play. The graphics are colourful, the controls easy to master and there is plenty to keep you busy. You ride your bike through streets and pedestrian areas, avoiding people, other cyclists, cars and a multitude of obstructions in your way. People pop up and out of a variety of places, making sure you are constantly on the alert. When you crash your bike you start again but every time the course is slightly different, so you don’t get bored. I liked this game and would recommend it.

Robert Maines

Urban Riders is an endless runner where you guide your cyclist from a third-person perspective picking up packages and dodging hazards. You have three lanes you can switch between as try and avoid the numerous hazards like cars, other cyclists and pets. The graphics have a low polygon count but do the job.

I initially found it quite difficult as there are so many hazards you have to dodge and so little time to actually dodge. Not helped by the sometimes iffy collision detection and the sluggish response to changing lanes as you slide your finger on the screen. I got better, but the game doesn’t do enough to distinguish it from other endless runners. Not a bad game but not a great one either.

Mark Abukoff

This is a pretty simple endless runner with colourful Minecraft-reminiscent graphics and simple controls. I enjoyed the variety of street scenes and obstacles. I liked the music and the look of the characters, and of course the ability to customize your character’s appearance as well as the bike. I did experience an early crash (the app, not the bike) on my first try, but it never happened again. And once or twice I found myself in a situation that didn’t seem to have any way to move and not crash. Not much more to say about this (my playing time was kind of limited this week) but it’s a good-looking and fun game. It goes for simple fun and achieves that very well. If you’re a fan of endless runners I suggest you check out the demo. You’ll like it, and the full version is worth the modest price.

Shaun Walton

Urban Riders starts with a deceptively slower speed than other runners, but that’s just to get you off-guard so they can suddenly throw everything on the screen at you. From oncoming riders, cars cutting in front of you, and even a man vigorously exiting a portaloo, there's no break to the danger.

There are assorted packages to deliver on your runs and you can pull off a variety of tricks if you get air, but most of the game you will be avoiding the endless stream of obstacles. It’s a fun ride, but you need to be on your toes.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on
Jason Rosner

Urban Riders is an endless runner similar to the likes of Subway Surfers and Sonic Dash. This genre is loaded when it comes to the App Store, but the simplicity of the gameplay is always welcome since it’s so well suited for mobile. The colourful graphics immediately stand out and make a nice first impression. I really like the number of customization options available for both your rider and bicycle by earning coins through your runs. This adds some good replay by trying to unlock all the items you want.

Urban Riders presents itself as almost a “Paper Boy” inspired delivery game, and this is where it could use some work. Adding a tutorial would be a big help. While I understood how to play, I couldn’t help but feel I was missing out on some main mechanics such as what to exactly do with the packages I happened to stumble upon collecting. Urban Riders is free to play so you can take it out for a spin and see how you like it. I think there’s a lot of promise here that just needs some refinement.

Chad Jones

Urban Riders is an auto-runner in the style of Minecraft in which the graphics you're going to love or hate (I don't mind them in this game). The goal is to get as far as you can and with the most points. You collect coins, packages (to deliver) and high fives or water puddles will get you extra points. The world is a bit chaotic and it differs in every game you play. The controls are nice and responsive and the sound fx/music is good.

This game has been a bit addicting and has me wanting to go back and try again (to get a better score). My annoyances are when navigating in the settings it's a bit cluttered and confusing and when I unlock cosmetics in the shop they don't ever stay unlocked for a long time (I have to go back and re-purchase with the in-game currency). But I am having fun with it and it's a nice pickup and play for a minute game when I need a little break.

Sangeet Shukla

Urban Riders is an endless runner with blocky-style visuals. The environment, which is full of random occurrences that take place in cities and that also happen while playing, is the game's best feature.SFX is perfect & loud.

Customization is available for our bikes as well, and we can modify practically anything there. The controls are standard, however, we can slow things down and perform stunts with a tap while jumping. I didn't feel as though the main objective of the game, which is to deliver items, is a particularly big deal. Also, getting acclimated to EVERYTHING in the game will take some time due to the design.

Eduard Pandele

If you could tell the devs only one thing, let them know the main reason I stopped playing wasn't the gameplay, but... the interface font. It's THAT horrible.

The good:

  • Interesting setting
  • Obstacles are logical in the world's context, most of them have visual clues to help you avoid crashes

The bad:

  • The font is horrible, really hard to read
  • The randomness isn't properly filtered, I got really often in almost unwinnable situations (like all lanes blocked at the same time, with a jump the only way out and another obstacle right next to the jump's landing. not being able to properly jump from one lane to another is a miss, too.)
What is the App Army?

The App Army is Pocket Gamer's lovely community of mobile game experts. As often as possible, we ask them for their thoughts on the latest games and share them with you.

To join, simply head over to either our Discord Channel or Facebook Group and request access by answering the three questions. We'll then get you in right away.

URBAN RIDERS icon
Download now!

Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen Gregson-Wood
Stephen brings both a love of games and a very formal-sounding journalism qualification to the Pocket Gamer team.