Lonely Mountains: Downhill

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Lonely Mountains: Downhill

by Mikhail May 12, 2022 | 1 Votes | 28 Played | 0 Reviews

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Genres:

Simulation , Sports , Arcade

Graphics:

3D

Labels:

Cycling

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Thunderful Games Lonely Mountains: Downhill is an arcade cycling game where you ride down mountain trails, immersing yourself in the beautiful sounds and scenes of nature. You’ll go through many trails and challenges and attempt to get the best time possible against your peers. Try not to crash, but don’t go slow either!
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Summary Gameplay Community Graphics/Sound Conclusion

Summary

Biking is a hobby or a passion many people enjoy. Yes, it’s also an extreme sport, like multi-team bike races, including Tour de France, but it’s a relaxing pastime and makes for great exercise. For some, it’s also their primary mode of transportation; why in the world would you pay for gas when your workplace is just a 10-minute bike ride away?

As someone who can’t ride a bike but loves video games, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a fun, relaxing, yet highly challenging (and infuriatingly so) experience. This game gives you an arcade bike-riding experience yet simulates how riding through unspoiled mountains feels, enabling you to commune with nature. However, the scenic view and relaxing sounds of chirping birds and running streams will almost always be broken by your bike crashing into boulders, a testament to how difficult the game can be.

Now available on the Nintendo Switch, should you start pedaling on Lonely Mountains: Downhill? Before you decide, let’s check out what it has to offer:

Gameplay

Don’t expect to become Eddy Merckx or the #1 cyclist today, Tadej Pogačar in Lonely Mountains: Downhill. Instead, the game delivers a more personal biking experience, enabling you to ride through and explore mountain biking trails alone with no one to accompany you. It’s just you, your bike, and raw nature. Several locales, each with their own set of tracks (intertwining or otherwise), present unique challenges that even practiced hands would find hard to deal with.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a relatively straightforward game; all you have to do is ride from the start of the trail right up to the end. However, getting there is not as simple as it seems. Players will have to contend with obstacles like massive boulders, jumps that no one would attempt in real life, and, true to the game’s namesake, downhill paths that would make your bike uncontrollably blaze through the trail. Crashing on an obstacle will immobilize you, leading to a rather comical ragdoll crash, but thankfully, you can start again from the nearest checkpoint.

Progression in Lonely Mountains: Downhill is determined by how well you perform on the trails. With that said, this is determined by time: you need to finish each track by a certain amount of time, the minimum being three minutes to unlock the next trail. This progressively gets harder if you’re aiming for better rewards, especially if you’re seeking to top the leaderboard. The rewards range from various outfits, bike parts, and other items that will help you customize your ride and go for a play style you prefer.

The controls on the Switch are relatively simple, especially the joy-con scheme. The ZR and ZL buttons will let you pedal and brake, respectively, while the left analog stick enables you to steer. Despite the controls’ simplicity, they take a while to get used to. This is the case, especially when you go downhill when your bike is relatively difficult to control. Meanwhile, you can press A repeatedly to sprint; this is quite important if you need to jump off a ramp or avoid an obstacle like a stream or if you have to jump off a ledge.

Community

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is solely a single-player game; this means you won’t get to race with other players in real-time. However, you can compete with other players by sharing how much time you spent finishing a trail. There’s not much of a reward to get this done except see how you fare against your peers. In a way, this adds to the replayability since it encourages you to repeat tracks to reach specific marks. Don’t be discouraged by the top scores. Simply practice and attempt to memorize the track, and you will likely see your name on top of the leaderboards.

Graphics/Sound

Lonely Mountains: Downhill excels in the presentation aspect.

The game may be voxel-based and not as detailed as most cycling games, yet the visuals are superb. The level of detail put into the environments is astonishing, making maps appear unique and well-designed. The game looks absolutely amazing on the Nintendo Switch, and it runs perfectly as well. There are no framerate drops or noticeable issues that will hinder your overall experience.

Instead of music and cheering crowds, players will be treated to ambient sounds of nature, ranging from the soft breeze whistling along the cliffs, running water along the streams, and birdsong emanating from the trees.

Conclusion

Overall, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a fantastic game, perfect for both cycling enthusiasts and players who wish to relax and challenge themselves. Its level design and environmental elements make for a pleasant audio and visual experience, while the level of challenge it provides does not fail to push your skills to the limit. Though it’s a lonely experience, the game lets you indirectly compete with other players by providing an online leaderboard.

So, if you’re up for an outstanding cycling game, start pushing the pedal in Lonely Mountains: Downhill.