Trials HD BIG Pack
Back in the saddle.
There are even a few levels that take the game into even more outré directions. Dangerous Ride involves surfing on cars as they rattle down makeshift tracks. 1 Bit Trip recasts the game in the form of its retro inspirations, retaining the physics but swapping the graphics for bold neon green and black angular shapes. It's sly, witty and a fine way of shutting up those irritatingly smug detractors who dismissively bring up Trials' debt to games like Kikstart and Wheelie, as if that was a) some sort of dirty secret or b) a bad thing.
Space Station is another quirky level, and shows off one of the new physics tweaks made available by the BIG Pack. Played entirely in low gravity, navigating this Alien-inspired location is made trickier by the way small movements now have big effects. Seemingly designed to test those who've grown complacent in their bike handling, it's both challenging and entertaining.
Elsewhere, less showy courses still provide their moments of brilliance. Wheels of Misfortune is all swooping ramps and rotating monster tyres, stretching your ability not only to maintain momentum but to use sudden shifts in direction to your advantage. Skyway uses springboards, trampolines and giant fans to create a dizzying aerial gauntlet which offers little room for error.
But I'm going to stop myself there, since the temptation to rattle on about every inspiring moment is strong and YouTube is no doubt already groaning with footage of every new track. Truly expert riders may only find a few of these fresh courses offer a genuinely tough challenge, but for the vast majority of players it's a shrewdly pitched selection. Some you'll breeze through but have a whale of a time doing so. Others you'll obsess over for weeks, trying to crack some fiendish obstacle or improve on a score you know isn't good enough. For all its great ideas, Trials HD is nothing if not a motivator for self-improvement.
The only area where this pack disappoints is in the Skill Games. 12 more are on offer, but they're all new versions of the old standards. Given the new physics objects, and the multitude of crazy gameplay avenues they open up, repeating the same bone-breaking, ball-rolling, ski-jumping challenges feels less exciting this time around. All these new objects are unlocked for use in the editor, however, so there's no reason why you can't make your own fun with them.
That small quibble aside, the BIG Pack is DLC done deliciously right. It not only expands the game in the right way, but does so in the right places, at the sweet spot where challenge and vindication overlap. For the price, there's no reason why anyone besotted with Trials HD shouldn't jump in.