The original Trials HD came to the XBox 360 in 2009 in what was considered one of the best Summer of Arcade promotions the XBox has done alongside titles like ‘Splosion Man and Shadow Complex. The time trial based off road biking became a smash hit with its addictive nature and online leaderboards. It was going to take something different to make the next Trials a success. Just simply adding new races wouldn’t be enough since those could simply be new add on DLC packs for the original.

Gameplay:

Much like the last Trials HD, Trials Evolution follows the same formula with most of its levels where players must take physics and momentum and use them on their side to get the rider from point A to point B. Along the way, environmental hazards like exploding barrels, bottomless pits and oceans pop up to impede the player’s progress. Luckily, for those just hoping to complete the level, there are lots of checkpoints which players can revert back to if they miss a jump or crash to their doom.

As with the previous Trials, the addiction to the game comes from trying to make it through a level with no faults to earn the gold medals on each track and top the leaderboard. Players will find themselves sometimes annoyed with certain sections but quickly overcome that as soon as they hit the “back” button to restart the current track.

I have a confession to make- I never gave Trials HD a shot. Partly because my Xbox 360 gave me a red ring of death, and partly because of this YouTube video.

But while walking by Microsoft’s booth at PAX East, Trials Evolution was available to play, so I shelved my apprehension and joined three friends to try our hand at the four-player multiplayer, a new feature in this upcoming sequel.

Trials Evolution multiplayer is really really fun. Your goal is to finish the level as quickly as you can, with as few faults as possible. The player with the most points at the end of the heat ends the game. There’s a couple different areas to play in, and if you’re a veteran of Trials HD, you know how different controlling your bike can be. The two Trials HD veterans I played with had no problem picking up the multiplayer and schooling us newbies to the game.

I have a feeling Trials Evolution will soon join the ranks of Mario Party and Smash Brothers as another party game with the power to end friendships.

You won’t have to wait long for the chance to challenge your own friends to Trials Evolutions, as it will be available for download from Xbox Live on April 18^th.

It all started with Summer of Arcade before XBox Live came alive with a series of seasonal promotions to help push new titles for their digital download platform. With the Block Party freshly wrapping up with some hits like Warp, Microsoft has already dropped the list of games for the upcoming Arcade Next promotion set to start on April 18th and wrapping up on May 9th.

Of the four games, only one is a wholly original IP with Bloodforge. Trials Evolution is a sequel to XBLA hit Trials HD and Fable Heroes is a new gameplay style set in the Fables world. The most anticipated of all the titles though may be Minecraft: XBox 360 Edition, a port of the unstoppable indy PC sensation making its debut for the first time on any console system.

Also for the first time, the achievement cap on XBLA has been upped. Starting in April, XBLA titles will be allowed up to 400 Achievement Points and up to 30 total achievements per release. This is a drastic increase from the original 200 point / 12 total achievement maximum that had been in place (well, 250 point maximum if you include the possible 50 points that could be added for DLC.

Take a look at all four titles after the jump and stay tuned to the Flickcast for news and reviews on Trials Evolution, Bloodforge, Fable Heroes and Minecraft: XBox 360 Edition as soon as we get our hands on them.