Gravity Rider Zero review for Nintendo Switch

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Publisher: Qubic Games
Developer: Vivid Games
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E

If you?ve ever played any of the Trials games, Gravity Rider Zero is going to seem awfully familiar. Each level is a series of on-rails racing courses, where you have to keep your vehicle balanced (or do all kinds of tricks) as you navigate around obstacles and try to beat certain times. There?s not a whole lot of new ideas here.

If, however, you haven?t played any of the Trials games…well, you probably should, because they?re pretty addictive and fun. But, if you?re new to Trials and you?re trying to ease yourself into the genre, Gravity Rider Zero is a good entryway. It?s basically the Trials formula made easy. There are the occasional challenges, but nothing on par with what you?d get in Trials; where my experience in Trials is that I always reach a certain point where I?m just trying to get a single star and pass a track, here the difficulty was more ?Can I get all three stars, or will I lose one along the way??

Outside of that, though, Gravity Rider Zero is basically what you?d get if you gave Trials a futuristic sheen. The vehicles here go from motorbike to rocket-powered pretty quickly, and the overall presentation feels vaguely sci-fi.

In fact, just about the only way this game differs is in the fact that it occasionally tries something new with its camera. Instead of the usual 2D/2.5D view you get from Trials, every so often Gravity Rider Zero shifts to a 3D view. It?s a neat idea, but given the fact you?re trying to steer through a course full of obstacles, and that you?re moving at a pretty decent clip, more often than not it just feels like a needless distraction.

It?s not enough to sink the game or anything, though. But, at the same time, nothing else here is enough to make it worth your while if you?re already well-acquainted with the Trials formula. As I said up top, Gravity Rider Zero is a great way to introduce someone to the idea of what Trials has done well for several years, but don?t go in expecting more than that.

Qubic Games provided us with a Gravity Rider Zero Switch code for review purposes.

Grade: B-