App Army Assemble: Urban Trial Pocket - "Does this motorbike stunt game provide the necessary thrills?"

Urban Trial Pocket is a physics-based racing game that recently released for iOS and Android. It tasks you with guiding a motorbike through courses littered with obstacles while performing as many tricks as possible. It's a game that will appeal to thrill-seekers, and we've got quite a few in our App Army. So we handed Urban Trial Pocket over to them to see if it provides the appropriate thrills.

Here's what they said:

Great game, super fun in gameplay, easy and intuitive controls, the style of the game is very radical and you have to do manoeuvres to earn points and pass the stage, graphically very cool. These types of game are addictive because it is very easy to play and this one is no different, anyone who wants something casual and who can play anywhere without a doubt Urban Trial is amazing. The game works super well on iPad.

This isn’t the kind of game that I’m good at playing and this one is no exception. However, after many attempts during the training chapters, I did manage to master the basics and moved on to the actual gameplay. The controls were easy enough to use, and the graphics were bright and made a perfect backdrop. Although progress was slow I had a sense of achievement when I managed to perform some of the trickier manoeuvres and found myself enjoying my progress. There are upgrades for outfits and equipment to add further interest and for someone who enjoys this genre of games I’m sure they would have hours of fun.

Urban Trial Pocket is a motorcycle riding game where you take on various courses and do stunts to rack up points. It’s a nice-looking game and sounds good as well but the touch screen controls let it down. I initially played on my iPhone and the game was almost unplayable. Too many buttons and the slider control for the position of the rider is very hard to use when you are accelerating or jumping. Switching to my iPad and using a PS4 controller the game became much easier to play, the analogue stick making adjusting the rider's position second nature. If you don’t have a physical controller for your iPhone/IPad then this game is going to frustrate the hell out of you. If you do have a controller then this is a good trial game which will give you hours of enjoyment.

A fun bike riding game in which you side-scroll your bike while performing stunts in various environments, earning stars and money to use for customization, new gears, and tricks. As a standalone game, you'll enjoy its gameplay, which works well with touch screens and features a new style of joystick control which I adore.
The music is excellent. There are slider options for adjusting volume, including voiceovers.

The graphics are vibrant, and the presentation is stylish. There is also a graphics option where the highest is Very high. There are numerous skins, tricks, and motorcycles to choose from, which adds to the game's variety. The first few hours are extremely enjoyable, and there are also ghost races and additional challenges. There are numerous positive things in the game, but nothing distinguishes it from other games in the genre. Finally, there is a free version on Google Play that you can try before purchasing the full version.

There have been quite several trick-motorcycle games for mobile through the years. Most have had levels letting you traverse from left to right. What Urban Trial Pocket introduces(as far as I know) is the ability to turn and go back. This gives you the chance to aim for the best jumps, and extra opportunities to grab collectibles high in the air. The gameplay is more akin to a skateboarding game than a racer focusing on massive combos.

The presentation is really sleek, and I truly enjoy the ragdoll physics when turning the bike around too quickly. Initially, I thought there were too many buttons to keep track of with accelerating, jumping, braking, two trick buttons and one special trick button. After a couple of hours, I managed to get my clunky fingers in gear. The satisfaction when nailing a wheelie into a massive backspinning Superman trick is totally rad. Comes highly recommended.

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I started playing this with the touchscreen controls and maybe it’s just me, but I found them very awkward to work with. Switched to my BackBone controller and problem solved. As far as being able to control, anyway. Got to lesson three where you have to high jump… and I did that more than once (as evidenced by the little green bar at the top of the screen), but whatever it was I needed to do to progress past that, I couldn’t. I tried probably a dozen times and my jumps got higher and I integrated some 180 and even 360-degree turns and really made some beautiful moves.

But I never progressed past that. I gave it more than a fair chance but finally gave up in frustration. And it’s worth noting that I tried the same thing using the touchscreen (pretty much as a last resort), and found that the acceleration button was right on top of the jump button, and to do the high jump you have to keep pressing the accelerator at the same time that you’re pressing and sliding up the jump button. So yeah. Maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t do it and I eventually gave up. I can do the high jump, just not to the satisfaction of the tutorial.

If I were to make any suggestion, aside from changing the control layout, I’d give the player the option to skip past the tutorial if they want. And it’s a shame because aside from that it seems like a fun, solid game. Anyone interested ought to try the free trial before buying.

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Urban Trial Pocket