Format: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Reinholds Berzins
I am a pretty big mountain biking enthusiast and it is something if the weather is right I love to do on weekends. But as well as loving the actual sport there have been many good games based on downhill mountain biking. There was an awesome one on the Playstation that as I type this its name escapes me. Anyway Downhill Supreme is a game that is aiming to bring the excitement of downhill mountain biking to your iOS device. Just do not try and play this on your iPhone when you are actually on your mountain bike!
At a glance I will brutally honest there are way better looking games out there, but that does mean that this is an ugly game or anything like that. Everything is quite modest looking but at the same time everything is very polished. One really cool thing is that the game does have quite a few licensed bikes. DVO, Cane Creek and Pink bike are a few of the licensed bikes on offer. For non mountain bike fans I am sure it’s a case of who the heck cares. But this does mean that there is a good variety of bikes for you to choose from.
The best thing about this game is its game play. It is a great game even if you are not someone who loves to bike around the woods at the weekend. It manages to have that perfect balance that will appeal to most people. To start with the game is very generous when it comes to its controls. There are three types of control on offer for you. First up we have tilt controls which I guess work, but tilt controls are really not for me. Then you have a joystick which I thought would be best, but to me the button controls are the best way to go and give you the most control.
The idea of the game is to ride your bike through each level doing as many jumps as you can all the while trying to get to the finishing line in the best time possible. The game does have some really amazing jumps that will send you flying into the air, but you will also have to use some real biking skills as well. It manages to mix the crazy with the realistic very well.
The key to being good at this game is not about what happens when you are in the air just after takeoff from a big jump. It is the take off and the landing. Knowing how to balance and getting the right speed is what you will need to master. Or of course if you want you can just let it rip and see what happens. There is a great difficulty curve with the early levels serving more of a tutorial to get you used to the controls. But as the game progresses it can get very tricky as you try and navigate some of the bigger jumps. It can really make you sweat when your rider is in mid air and you are trying to perfectly land a big jump.
This is a great little game that I think is one really anyone could enjoy. At the moment its only a buck which is a great deal as there is a vast amount of game play here. But the developer has said that new tracks and bikes will be added soon.