Trials Evolution (Available exclusively on Xbox 360)
ESRB Rating: E10+
Players: 1 to 4
Genre: Racing
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: RedLynx
Release Date: April 18, 2012
Price: 1,200 MS Points
Live: Online Multiplayer

Parent Talk: The ESRB rates Trials Evolution E10+ for everyone ten and up. That’s perfect for this game; it doesn’t feature violent acts, outside of painful-looking crashes.

Plays Like: The classic PC game Elasto Mania, and original Trials.

Review Basis: Completed each Hard course; achieved gold medals on everything.

The Great:

If you’ve played Elasto Mania or the original Trials, then you know why games like these are awesome. They’re racing-platformers that slowly ease you in before cranking up the difficulty to near-impossible levels. Just the first jump of some courses require hundreds of retries to execute; yet you keep going. It’s that addicting. You won’t want to put the controller down.

The Good:

+ Countless different courses. Even if you’re a Trials master and finish each course easily, there’s enough content here to justify the admission price.

+ A lot more variety. You don’t play the same track twice; each course sports a unique environmental setup. Plus, hazards such as air traps are added to increase the need for strategy.

+ Perfect leaderboard. If your friends play this, you race against them during your runs. It’s a blast trying to best them. You can even watch full video replays of leaderboard champs to learn how to tackle courses, and try to do better.

+ Sleepless nights. It seems impossible to put your controller. You may find yourself going to bed one or two hours later than intended because you want to finish just one more track.

+ Anybody can play. You worry about two buttons and the stick. TE is perfect for everyone, despite the brutal difficulty. Sure, most will quit after a while, but it’s still time well-invested.

The So-So:

+/- Too hard? I can personally live with the fact that I suck at Trials, but I admit it becomes very frustrating. At times it seems the game has a mind of its own, as you often crash from something simple that you’ve done a thousand times. Just be warned that Trials Evolution is no push-over.

The Lowdown:

Download this, right now! Trials Evolutions is a must-buy. You’ll have a blast, and not stop playing anytime soon. I can’t wait to see what’s next. TE  is one of the best XBLA, and greatly recommended.

Final Score: 9.5/10