Motorbike is a downloadable physics-based motorcycle obstacle course game that plays very similar to Trials HD on the Xbox 360. But if you own a PS3 and not a 360, you’ve been out of luck if you wanted to play that. So is Motorbike even close to being the next best thing? Read on to find out.

In each stage you must get from the start to the finish in the least amount of time possible. You race on a 2-D plane, and must maneuver your bike over ramps, jumps, and other obstacles. The circle and X buttons are your gas, brake and reverse, but the most important thing is that you must use the control stick to tilt your bike in the air so you land properly. If you crash, you’ll have to start the stage over again. Very few levels have midway checkpoints, but most you have to do it all in one run, which gets annoying and frustrating on some of the harder levels.

You can choose from an assortment of bike styles and colors, as well as different riders, too. There are tons of predesigned stages, and you can make your own using the same tools that the developers used to design levels. So you can share and play stages online, too. Only problem is that the level editing tool is really confusing to use. At least it was for me, anyway. Two players can go at it cooperatively and competitively, too.

There are two major problems I had with this game. One, I felt the controls were more touchy than in Trials HD, making the game much more difficult. And two, the menus screens felt rather amateurish and confusing and hard to navigate. But if you love motorcycle obstacle course racing games and can’t get enough of Trials HD, you might like this one anyway.

Kid Factor:

Motorbike is rated E for Everyone. I’m surprised there were no ESRB descriptors. You’d think at least Mild Violence would’ve been in there, since it looks like it hurts when you crash and your rider flops around like a rag doll. Not to mention making an awful sounding choking painful utterance when you do crash. Because of the high difficulty, I’d say this one is best for older kid gamers who don’t get easily frustrated.

Tags: Game Reviews