Overview – developed and published by Hyperkani, Stunt Bike Extreme is a Motocross time trial game, with players taking on challenging courses across a variety of locations. As a Motocross pro, take on the challenges with perilous jumps, hazardous obstacles and adrenaline pumping set pieces like jumping a train. This version of the game is available on Steam, with a link to the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer – before I get into the review, I would like to thank Hyperkani for providing the copy of Stunt Bike Extreme that was used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. There is no plot for this release, so I will be going directly into discussing the gameplay.
Gameplay – Stunt Bike Extreme is a Motocross time trial experience, where the objective of each of the tracks will be to get to the goal as fast as possible. To achieve this goal the player must cross ramps, environmental hazards and perilous terrain with their bike. The various jumps, gaps and elements in the courses will have the player going in many directions, even upside down on loops. Some of them even have barrels that explode.
The different courses may have elements that will change, increasing the dangers of the track. There will be the explosive barrels that will blow the rider up, track parts that will break and even the environment itself can collapse. These changes to the courses will keep players on their toes, as they will need to navigate them to be able to make it to the end. If the player crashes or falls off the track, they will be returned to the last checkpoint reached.
When the player reaches the end of the course, they will obtain stars for their performance. By simply clearing the stage, the player will get one star. However, if the player is able to reach the goal within set time limits, additional stars will be earned by the player up to a maximum of 3 stars. By clearing the stages, the player will earn coins that are added to the total, with different amounts based on the time that the player sets.
Players will also be able to collect money boxes, which are scattered through the tracks, often hidden in hard to reach places. In each course, the player will have the opportunity to perform simple stunts, with front flips and wheelies that the player can perform. By successfully landing these simple tricks, the player will earn experience. This is added to the player bar at the end of the track, levelling the player up when set amounts are earned.
As the player makes their way through the stages, they will unlock new more challenging tracks. These harder courses will test the skills of the player, with more challenging and hazardous layouts for players to deal with. These bonus challenges are optional, with no penalty for skipping them during the course of the game. This adds more gameplay value to the general experience, with the player being able to come back to these if they are skipped.
Away from the action of the time trials, there is the shop for players where players will be able to unlock several things. The first is the bike shop, where new more powerful bikes can be unlocked by spending coins. They can be also be levelled up with coins, improving their capabilities and unlocking new cosmetic skins for the bikes. Then there are the outfit options, with the ability to customise headwear, tops and bottoms.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to cover the other elements of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – there are options for both controller and keyboard inputs, allowing players to enjoy the game however they want. All of the inputs are responsive and work well, with the keyboard inputs being a good basic control method. This game supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers natively, but with the steam input settings, players will be able to use a range of controllers. This makes the game widely accessible to all players.
Difficulty – in this title, the difficulty will slowly escalate for players with the obstacles, terrain and stage elements getting more complex. There will be some areas that can become too difficult for lower level bikes, requiring the player to increase the level of the bike, or get a new bike. For some of the tougher stages, or those that players struggle to meet the time targets, using an upgraded bike will make it much easier to cut time.
Presentation – this release has a fairly pleasant arcade style to it, with visuals that look like they will run on a range of hardware. The look may be due to the game also being available on mobile devices, albeit in an altered format. There are no issues in terms of performance or lag, which is a positive due to the speed the game runs at. The sound for this game is mostly solid, with the music working well in the stages, but it can sound generic.
Final Thoughts – I do enjoy these types of games, having played the trials games back during the height of their popularity. So when I was offered this game, I was happy to give it a try. The gameplay is pretty enjoyable, but it can be a little rough around the edges. There is some jank with the physics and collision at times, getting caught on the environment and sometimes getting stuck when crashing. This can be both humorous and frustrating.
There is a lot of content on offer in this release, as there are plenty of stages that the player can challenge. This combined with the amount of unlockable content, via cosmetics and bikes/upgrades, gives the game a lot of replay value especially at the low cost of entry. In general, this is a fun and enjoyable trials motocross racer, which does capture the essence of the experience. So with all of that said, I am happy to recommend this game to fans of the trials genre.
In the end, I give Stunt Bike Extreme a final score of 4/5. This is a fun and enjoyable motocross trials game, with a lot of gameplay content for players to dive into, alongside a wealth of unlocks to work towards, all at a low cost of entry. If you want to check this game out for yourself, a link to the game will be below.
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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