Line #32 VideoGame/Trials


1	[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trials_hd_screen_08_thumb350x198_6507.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:How hard can it be?]]
3	''Trials'' is a series of videogames made by Finnish company [=RedLynx=] based on the sport of, well, [[UsefulNotes/ObservedTrials trial.]] Your goal is to ride your bike from point A to point B in a 2D track, which is everything but plain and straight. Has several releases:
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5	* ''Trials Basic'' (Java)
6	* ''Trials Pro'' (Java)
7	* ''Trials Construction Set'' (PC)
8	* ''Trials Mountain Heights'' (PC)
9	* ''Trials HD'' (XBLA)
10	* ''Trials 2: Second Edition'' (PC)
11	* ''Trials Evolution'' (XBLA)
12	** ''Trials Evolution: [[UpdatedRerelease Gold Edition]]'' (PC)
13	* ''Trials Fusion'' ([=PS4=]/XBLA/PC)
14	* ''Trials Frontier'' (iOS/Android)
15	* ''Trials [[VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon of the Blood Dragon]]'' ([=PS4=]/XBLA/Windows)
16	* ''Trials Rising'' ([=PS4=]/Xbox One/Windows/Nintendo Switch)
17	The games used to be published by Creator/XboxGameStudios, but ever since ''Fusion'', they've instead been published by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}.
18	----
19	!!Tropes that appear in these games:
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21	* TwoAndAHalfD: Every game from ''Trials HD'' onward displays courses in 3D on a 2D plane. ''Evolution'' takes this up to eleven as the 2D track itself can turn left or right, but the player is still restricted to the plane of the track.
22	* AirAidedAcrobatics: Certain levels in ''Trials HD'' feature fans that levitate the player. One level in ''Trials Evolution'' features pipes that shoot a burst of water/air and launch the player.
23	* AlternateRealityGame: Both ''Trials'' and ''Evolution'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg4lg7T7Zgs two of]] [[https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/04/the-trials-evolution-riddle-has-been-solved-and-it-is-truly-unbelievable/ the most complex]] [=ARGs=] out there, with the latter having a solution that will only be revealed in 2113, 100 years after the game's release.
24	* AutomaticNewGame: ''Trials Rising'' enters a showcase stage on a new game, before the character creation process.
25	* CharacterCustomization: Present from ''HD'' onwards. Players can unlock different clothes and cosmetic equipment. Previous games also allowed the player limited color customization.
26	* CheckPoint: Each level features many check points, usually placed right after a difficult segment.
27	* ColorCodedMultiplayer: Good thing it's present, or multiplayer matches would be more confusing than they have to be.
28	* {{Cyberpunk}}: The theme in play during Trials Fusion, where-in the player is in a future full of corporate saturation, voices from AI, and a [[spoiler: shady motorbike rider testing program in an attempt to discover the fusion between man and machine]].
29	* DifficultyLevels: In ''Trials HD'', tracks are rated Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard or Extreme. The fan-created Ninja dificulty, one step above extreme, is an official tag, [[spoiler:and would later be used in ''Trials Rising'' as an official difficulty marker for some secret, extra-difficult courses.]]
30	* ExplodingBarrels: Oh, are they aplenty.
31	* EveryCarIsAPinto: Bikes, in some cases, will explode with little provocation.
32	* EverythingExplodesEnding: ''Trials Evolution'' features the player humorously exploding in some way at the end of nearly every track.
33	* FakeDifficulty: Averted. All the tracks are possible using the correct bike. Still, some are quite tricky...
34	* FloatingPlatforms: Certain levels (such as the "dream" level in ''Trials HD'') still feature them. The player can also create floating platforms in the LevelEditor; there's no requirement that they be supported.
35	* GratuitousNinja: The Xbox exclusive ''Awesome Adventure'' DLC in ''Fusion'' has the rider turn into Microsoft's unofficial mascot [[https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20160804-00/?p=94025 Ninja Cat]] who rides a fire breathing unicorn instead of a bike. RuleOfCool and RuleOfCute are very much in effect.
36	* InterfaceScrew: ''Fusion'' has some challenges which task you to complete the level from a behind view, while the controls are still left-to-right.
37	* [[JokeCharacter Joke Vehicle]]: The Donkey. It's a minibike, and while it does boast some fairly decent speed, it's ''very'' bottom-heavy, meaning it's difficult to even accelerate the damn thing and move forward without flipping the bike over backwards and crashing. Naturally, many difficult challenges throughout the series involve beating entire levels using the Donkey.
38	* KaizoTrap: Double subverted. You win if you cross the finish line on both wheels no matter what, but on some courses in ''HD'' (and damn near ''all of them'' in ''Evolution'') your rider is unceremoniously destroyed, maimed, or tortured once he clears the stage.
39	* LevelEditor: ''Trials HD'' includes one, and ''Trials Evolution'' added a major upgrade that includes the ability to curve tracks, a 3D open sandbox, and its own visual scripting system.
40	* NintendoHard: The Extreme tracks. The less said about Inferno, the better...
41	* NoDamageRun: Most of the gold medals earned in ''Trials Evolution'' requires you to beat tracks as quickly as possible without crashing once. Later on, harder tracks will give you greater room for error to earn the gold medal, where the no-fault requirement then goes to the platinum medal.
42	* NoPlotNoProblem: There's no story or definite characters; it's just you, a bike, and a whole lot of obstacle courses. [[spoiler: Until ''Fusion,'' where there's some creepy goings-on in the background.]]
43	* NotTheIntendedUse: The level editor in ''Evolution'' and later games are sufficiently powerful enough that one could even make a whole new game such as a first-person shooter or a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' [[https://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/08/a-16-year-old-genius-just-built-minecraft-in-trials-fusion/ clone]].
44	* OddballInTheSeries: ''Trials of the Blood Dragon'', a crossover title with [[VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon Far Cry 3's futurewave action expension Blood Dragon]]. There are still some Trials-esque biking courses... mixed in with ''on-foot shooting sections'' and all other sorts of zany over-the-top action set-pieces and {{Unexpected Gameplay Change}}s.
45	* OffscreenStartBonus: On certain tracks, at the very start, the player can find little EasterEggs if they go ''backward'' instead of forward.
46	* OldSaveBonus: If you own ''Trials HD'' (and have unlocked achievements in it), you can get 2 shirts and a secret bike in ''Evolution''.
47	* PlatformGame: While the game is mostly about riding from point a to point b, there are often elements of platforming. Some sections require skillful use of balancing and throttle control to bunny hop from one platform to the next, and others may involve the player having to ride half-way up a loop and then land backward on a suspended platform. ''Trials Evolution'' also features some track elements that swing, move, or are generally unstable.
48	* PressXToDie: In ''HD'' and ''Evolution'', the Y/Triangle button instantly throws the rider off of your bike. This is actually used often in some of the bonus minigames, such as the Ski Jump from ''HD''.
49	* PissTakeRap: Prepare to be graced with one of these every time you start up ''Trials Evolution''.
50	* RagdollPhysics: From ''Trials HD'' onward, whenever the player crashes.
51	* ScriptedEvent: Some of the more fanciful tracks have elaborate scripted events that trigger when the player passes a certain point.
52	* SequelEscalation: ''Evolution'', a whole lot. Locales have been shifted from riding through a generic warehouse to ''storming the beaches of Normandy,'' among other things, and local and online multiplayer modes were also implemented. The level editor is also the most expansive yet, giving you up to 3 vast landscapes to work with and development tools that rival ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' in sheer depth.
53	* SideView: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Though the gameplay is 2D, and the view is always from the side, the camera occasionally will dynamically swing around or will rotate slightly at certain points in the track, such as if the player is making a huge jump or outrunning an explosion.
54	* {{Slapstick}}: In ''Rising'', crossing the finish line usually has the motorcyclist crash into something. This can include an oil derrick followed by the horse head of the derrick slamming into the cyclist, or an ambulance backing into the cyclist's finish zone.
55	* SpringsSpringsEverywhere: The game features fairly realistic physics, such that the player can easily hop their bike around with the right combination of balancing and throttle, and landing wrong on a ramp might cause the player to bounce wrong and slow way down (or crash). ''Trials Evolution'' also added many new track elements that can bounce players, such as pistons and logs bobbing in water.
56	* StuffBlowingUp: In ludicrous amounts. Many tracks have explosive barrels or TNT in certain areas that the player must avoid.
57	* TheyKilledKennyAgain: The rider is almost always killed after he completes a track in ''HD'' and ''Evolution'', but once you start the next race, he's back on his bike as if nothing happened at all.
58	* ThrowbackThreads: The original rider's clothing from ''HD'' makes several reappearances as unlockable duds in most of the ''Trials'' games down the line.
59	* TimeTrial: Each track has a certain time you must beat in order to win a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal. Also, how players are tracked to see how they stack up against each other.
60	* TotallyRadical: ''Trials HD'' and ''Evolution'' intentionally play up the "extreme" aspect of the game. ''Trials HD'' begins with over-the-top rock music and an announcer with a rock star voice spouting stereotypically "extreme" statements. ''Evolution'' begins with the same announcer ''rapping''.
61	* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Particularly difficult tracks run into this; unless the player gets extremely lucky, completing a track fully, without any faults (crashes) can require many replays.
62	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Some of the skill games. One has you commanding a ''FlyingSaucer'', while another is essentially a MadMarbleMaze.
63	* VentPhysics: It helps with pulling off AirAidedAcrobatics.

Context VideoGame / Trials