FutureGrind

When I flip through the channels and see what's on the news, it's sometimes hard to be optimistic about the future. Unfortunately, this is also true when it comes to movies and TV shows. But if FutureGrind is to be believed, then we're only a few decades away from an exciting new sport where everybody either tricks off of colored rails or falls to their death. This is the first console release for Milkbag Games and proves that the developer of Sidewords might know a thing or two about extreme sports.

Without getting too reductive, FutureGrind is a mix of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and the Trials series. Actually, it's probably closer to OlliOlli, the skateboarding franchise that continues to be the gold standard for 2D extreme sports games. Whatever you compare it to, FutureGrind is a fast-paced platformer where you're trying to match colors and pull off acrobatic tricks.

We're gently eased into this concept, but the idea is that you're driving a motorcycle with two wheels of different colors. For example, you'll have one tire that is blue and another that is pink, and the only way to make it to the end of the course is to match the colors with the corresponding rail. If at any point the blue wheel touches the pink rail, your futuristic motorcycle will explode and you'll have to start the level over from the begin. It's a high-stakes content where you're practically forced to spin around and make death-defying jumps in order to stay on the track and survive.

And just when you think you've gotten the hang of things, FutureGrind will throw in a new bike or mechanic. For example, we'll quickly unlock the Gimbal, an odd-looking bike with one large and one small wheel that doesn't pivot like the other motorcycles. There are also stages where you're drive through fields that will instantly change the colors of the wheels. The game is good about constantly finding new ways to play with the formula and keep things from becoming stale.

While it's easy to see the influence from other extreme sports games, FutureGrind's structure more frequently resembles the Trials series. A lot of the game is just about surviving the course, not racking up high scores from monster tricks. And then when you've survived that stage, the game will task you with racing it all over again while doing a certain amount of backflips, transfers, handgrinds and other tricks. Complete these tasks and you'll unlock a new stage that will be filled with new challenges.

On one hand, this structure definitely helps to keep things moving. It always felt like I was unlocking new stages and challenges, most of which were varied enough to keep things from becoming repetitive. However, it's this format that ultimately left me a bit disconnected. Part of the problem is that it begins to feel like you're going through the levels in order to complete a bunch of trick-based challenges. In that sense, it comes across like a long tutorial mode. I kept waiting for the short stages to break out of this format and just let me do some real tricking, but that isn't the focus of this game.

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Don't get me wrong, I had a great time pulling off the tricks and keeping up with what FutureGrind asked of me. I think mechanics are sound and the gameplay is tight. But I can't help but want to compare it to games like OlliOlli and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, where pulling off specific tricks and combos is usually secondary to earning a high score. The focus in FutureGrind is more on challenges and short tracks, so there's rarely enough time to show off the killer tricks and earn the big points. And even if you do pull off a high score, it's hard to tell how it stacks up with your friends and other players from around the world.

Apart from the way the campaign plays out, there are a lot to like about FutureGrind. Although short, I like the different stages and the colorful backgrounds. I think the way the story plays out is pretty cool, especially when you start to realize that not all is what it appears. And most importantly, the game is just a lot of fun to play. The bikes are incredibly easy to pick up and learn, allowing for some really exciting stunts right from the jump. The reason you'll keep coming back to this game is because the bike is so much fun to ride, and I think Milkbag Games is onto something here. I just wish the stages were longer and less focused on completing one challenge at a time.

FutureGrind has the makings for a great extreme sports franchise, but is missing some of what made OlliOlli and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater so addictive. While the short stages and focused structure keeps the pace speedy, it also has a bad habit of making the game feel like one long tutorial. The good news is that the tight and exciting gameplay helps keep the game on track and proves the potential of this concept. I have a hunch FutureGrind 2 is going to be amazing.