Lonely Hills: Downhill is an arcade style game, where, continuing our cyclist from an aerial perspective, we embark on a mountaineering trek from the top of a hill to find each path to the finish line at the bottom. After knowing the best shortcuts, we take part in counter rejections and try to crash as much as possible to overcome their proposed challenges. Although it is not easy, since you have to dodge dangerous fountains among rocks, trees, narrow flowing rivers and others.
Its mechanics are very simple. Here we have a button that lets us pedal in advance, another can brake, and the possibility of a sprint based on spending time recovering resistance over time, as well as starting again from the last control point if we believe it is necessary. Then we have two control systems to handle the cyclist: one which we just want to move left or right according to the cyclist's point of view by simply pressing on him. They both deal with their confidence as they choose to embark on their play activities.
The game is based on the rock landings of different mountains, dividing each of the opponents into different levels of difficulty that are unlocked by completing the other. These are usually divided into three categories: Explorer, Beginner and Expert, although they achieve a completely free mode. Here you have to explore the mountain first to discover the best routes and reach the destination, then unlocking challenges occur before the specified time or less than a certain number of accidents occur.
This may seem like a simple task but on the paths you will see many shortcuts full of risks, such as logs, rocks, jumps, very narrow roads, georges ... they are very varied and the shortcut is much more complex it travels. Reaching the finish line without being the victim of an accident is sometimes very complicated, even if we make it easy. The best thing is that there are control points that we must overcome and if we have an accident, our recovery started before the counter crossed it for the first time, making it easier to overcome the signs at a greater risk.
These need to have a well-functioning physics system to work well. Here you will see how the bicycle reacts appropriately to our movements, shakes the curves going down at high speeds, affects the terrain in the behavior of the bicycle, or crashes if we do not place it properly while falling in certain places among others. It is true that from time to time we encounter some invisible obstacle or something that in principle we thought we could cross, but it is not very frequent.
There are six bikes to get: Grasshopper, Pacebreaker, Javelin, Trailblazer, Boer and Geronimo. Each has a series of features that sets them apart from the rest and makes it even better for their specific regions by completing challenges to get their parts until some parts are unlocked. In the beginning we only have graspers, able to customize them in different ways. The same is true for our cyclists, as we have the option to change the set, helmet, gender, hair style, skin and hair color. It's not something that affects the gameplay, but its attack is appreciated.
The graphic section uses a beautiful colorful minimalist style, a beautiful modeling and animated cyclists, great material for their movements and situations that are also extremely attractive using flat material. Also note that hidden trails have small visual clues that help us identify them. It works very easily so as not to enjoy the gameplay. Of course, we got some tears and some small textures late, but nothing important.
You won’t find many melodies in the sound, just to pronounce a few moments, albeit an acquired environment in the mountains, the sound of our bike skidding on the road and the screams of our character when he has an accident. The texts are full Castilian, so you will have no problem understanding the game's functionality.
Lonely Mountain: The descent, as a conclusion, has been a pleasant surprise for us, offering a title that shines to challenge the heights despite its simplicity. Delighted to study the best roads and travel the paths of different mountains to cross the trails, using a control system that relies solely on turning, acceleration, braking and sprinting. Perhaps we would have liked to adjust some of the physics better and the bikes would have been easier to unlock, since once we got it we got to the first of all the challenges in a region that they gave.