African Trail Simulator

Copyright : Positive | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Ahh motorcross bikes, one of the most dangerous sports and dangerous vehicles in the world. You certainly wouldn?t want to jump on one of those and rally around the fields at the back of your house at break neck speeds and then, well, end up breaking your neck now would you?

African Trail Simulator puts you firmly in the seat of such a vehicle, your hands gripping the handle bars and your body desperately trying to stay on the bike while you jump and ride over rough terrain.

Graphics

The loading screen certainly suggests a better game than what we have right here, but graphicaly the game looks ok, average, not a bad attempt. By that I mean it doesn?t look fantastic but its far from being a complete disaster. The colours are fine, the detail is nice but it does seem a little too chunky, perhaps its because of the lower resolution used in the game and the fairly nice playing area that Positve have given you to ride on.

The size of the playing area is another issue though, because your bike never really leaves the center of the screen due to the camera panning to the right all along, it does make you wonder if all that space is required, and if it was less would the game run any smoother or faster than it does? I guess we?ll probably never know the answer to that one.

There are some nice graphical touches, such as when your player falls from his bike and slowly drags himself off the ground, the stars around his head are great, very comic book style humour. Levels are varied and the different obstacles are certainly a challenge if nothing else.

Sound

Positive have done a nice job of the sounds in the game at least, while the musical soundtrack might not win any awards the in-game sounds are very nice indeed. From the sound of the roaring engine to the crash as your face hits the mud ten seconds after hitting the accelerator, nicely done.

Gameplay

I would like to say that this game is playable but the horrible truth is, it isn?t. Its frustratingly difficult to keep on your bike and even the smallest hill will have your face smashed against the gravel at every opportunity. The controls are also quite strange, you push UP on the joystick to accelerate instead of the standard LEFT, RIGHT movement, now without seeing the screenshots you might think thats perfectly normal but, given that the game is a sideways (left to right) experience compared to the traditional forward and reverse view. It is odd.

The game is also incredibly slow, the engine suggest you?re moving at high speed but it takes about 5 minutes to get over the first hill! This is one game that you would most likely play for only a few minutes before saying the occasional expletive and hitting the reset keys. Its just not a nice experience and I would avoid it.