Introduction
Shred! 2 Freeride Mountainbiking is an extreme sports game about riding a bike down mountains while doing death-defying jumps and tricks. Shred! 2 was developed by ASBO Interactive and released on March 1, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. It is a game a lot like the Trials games, travel along a side-scrolling path, and try not to fall off your bike before you reach the finish line.
Shred! 2 Freeride Mountainbiking for the Switch is available for purchase on the Nintendo website for $9.99.
Story
The only story this game has is that you play as Freeride legend Sam Pilgrim and you are doing some extreme mountain biking. That’s all the story the game needs though. You are just a crazy guy doing crazy tricks through a trail of trials. If it had more of a story than that it would have hindered the game more than helped it. It’s nice and simple.
Gameplay
As I have said before the game is a lot like Trials it’s simple but can be difficult. Simply hold RZ to pedal forward, use the left thumbstick to teeter the bike back and forth to keep yourself upright. You can also hold the A button down to go down hills faster and gain momentum. Once enough momentum is gained and you launch yourself off a ramp in the trail you can preform tricks in air with the right thumbstick. The more tricks that are preformed the more points are gained.
Tricks and a high score aren’t just used to look totally tubular, dude. Each level has challenges that award stars. The challenges can be as simple as getting a high score or completing a level to doing some intense tricks. The stars awarded for completing these challenges unlock new levels and bikes. With each new level unlocked the more difficult the challenges and the levels themselves become. You may find yourself failing a lot at times and getting frustrated, but the corpse launches from the fails can be entertaining and even gruesome looking. I have planted Sam Pilgrim’s head beneath the surface of the ground many times. It took a while for it not to be funny anymore. However, the bikes you unlock from collecting the stars are a bit of a letdown. It just wasn’t fun to look at. The colors and bike model could be changed but nothing ever jumped out at me.
Graphics and Audio
Both graphics and audio seem so dated. When I first turned the game on and saw this bicycle that looked like it was out of a game that was made 10 years ago, I knew not to be excepting much visually from this game. This was paired with music that sounded like it was techno from the 90’s and garage rock band. My expectations were set low after just looking at the title screen. However, as I played, I started to enjoy the almost calming music and not minding the dated looking graphics. The wind that could be heard as I flew down hills added to this calming but intense experience.
Conclusion
Shred2! Freeride Mountain Biking isn’t anything special but its not anything bad either. It’s a nice simple game with simple gameplay great for casual gamers. The graphics and audio seem a bit dated, but they aren’t unbearable, and the music starts to feel like it belongs to the game the more you play it. The tricks and challenges give this game some intense moments that can jar you out of that calming mood it can put you in. It can go from feeling like a casual bike ride to an intense cliffhanging moment.
However, Shred! 2 doesn’t do much to set itself apart from other games like it, like Trials. It’s just a casual ride that isn’t that extreme. It's a solid game and you can tell a good amount of polish went into it but it leaves you wishing it had just little more to really give you a thrill. It's a game of ups and downs and is at least worth looking at what gives this game its momentum.
Pros | Cons |
+ Simple casual gameplay | – Dated graphics |
+ Over 40 unique levels | – Dated music |
+ Funny wipeouts | – Not very different from other games like it |