Given that many of us grew up in the days of video games, it probably isn’t surprising that games based on mountain biking have a cult following. Trails are too wet to ride? Rest day? Stuck at the airport between flights to exotic riding destinations? Why not ride some virtual laps on your smart phone or tablet? Based on the success of Reinholds Berzins’ Downhill Supreme and DHS2, there are quite a few riders out there who enjoy shredding smart phone laps when they’re not ripping the real thing.
Wanting to capture the feeling of A-Line’s flow in a video game, Red Bull Media House and Roadhouse Interactive teamed up to produce Bike Unchained – a new game for your smart phone or tablet that combines the features of your typical mountain bike video game with those of an RPG (Role Playing Game), and it’s free…
As with any good RPG, Bike Unchained needed a good story line that combined real Red Bull athletes, mountain biking, and multiple disciplines of riding. Not straying too far from reality, your goal is to prevent the evil Praedor Developments from ruing the best riding spots with expensive condos. To do so you’ll be coached by none other than Velosolutions’ wild man Claudio Caluori as you climb the ranks and race as actual riders including Brandon Semenuk, Martin Soderstrom, Yannick Granieri, Thomas Genon, Gee and Rachel Atherton, Andreu Lacondeguy, and Aaron Gwin.
Compared to other mountain biking games, Bike Unchained is less two dimensional and includes slopestyle, Enduro, and downhill racing. In addition to controlling the speed of the rider with natural flow on the trails, tricks have been added in to allow for slopestyle competition, as well as the need to tap the screen to pedal during Enduro sections. Riding takes place in Whistler, Japan, and the Alps with additional locations to be added in future app updates (Roadhouse hints at Rampage being added first).
Winning events will gain you parts upgrades, Obtanium, Gold, XP, and badges which can all be used to better your rider, though certain parts and riders will be needed for certain events which is part of the story line. Available for both Android and iOS platforms, both apps are free to download though they do offer in-app purchases so if you are downloading this for your kid, make sure in-app purchases are turned off or password protected.
As far as we can tell, Bike Unchained is just as addictive (if not more) as any mountain biking app we’ve tried – which might make it perfect if you need some alone time this holiday season…
