Yes, if video games were to mimic the drug crack cocaine and it’s lethality/addiction, this game would be it. Yes, it’s an XBLA game, but sometimes big fun comes in small packages. And sometimes those packages grab a hold of your life and yank it around by it’s proverbial testicles.

For those of you who don’t know what this game is about, it’s a physics game involving a guy on a moto-cross style motorcycle. His job is to get from point A to point B, doing so in a straight line. There is no third dimension to the game play, it’s straight up 2D side scrolling goodness with a bunch of 3D elements surrounding it. Sounds simple, right? Let me throw this at you though, basically the motorbikes wheels and shocks are physics based (springs) and you get control of the gas, brake and weight of your racer (forward and backward weight of the dude). The game is a royal scream and it begs the attention of just about anyone who liked Excite Bike or stunt games with physics. Caution: this game goes from racer to puzzler VERY quickly, and there is no mercy or warning when it does so. Track racing nuts beware, this game is fun, but in a different kind of way than trying to lap your opponent. But for you time junkies, all the rewards are there for beating it under certain conditions, and of course their are leader boards to back up your claims.

The origins of this game are kind of tricky, as I’ve traced it back to as far as 2004 over at miniclip.com where it made it’s debut. Now it’s in it’s second iteration there and I’ve heard stories that it’s also on steam, but I haven’t checked that out yet. Thank god it made it’s way to a dynamite HD platform with proper controls.

I happen to have gotten my grubby mitts on an early developer version of the game before it’s release, and I must say it is an absolute gem of a title already. The game is tuned well and graphically spit shined for an arcade game. It’s major update is a nice 2.5 D look much like my other favorite XBLA title BC ReArmed. The game plays really smooth and the controls are finally given justice, two analogue triggers and an analogue joystick to round out the play experience. I don’t know what Matos was thinking when he reviewed it, but the controls on a PC keyboard have always sucked. Anything analogue is what you want for this game And that’s really all you need, as this game goes from fun to addictive in seconds flat.

Favorite parts of this game include the many explosive items in the tracks, the insane stunts, the full blow track editor, driving around on fire and well, just the whole darn thing! Don’t believe me? Just watch this trailer and tell me you don’t think this game is out of control fun. And here is a wmv if you want it TrialsHD-Trailer-720.wmv

UPDATE 8/17/09: It’s out! Go get it now! Very fun!