Although the name seems to indicate that a previous version of Line Rider was available for various platforms, it was in fact a free flash game online. Now Line Rider appears on the DS with an actual story and other features that utilize the handheld in basic ways.
Line Rider 2: Unbound does indeed have a story, but it’s so extremely thin, accentuated with basic animated cut scenes that one wonders why they even bothered. The basic premise is Bosh is sledding down the slopes minding his own business when the black suited baddy Chaz tries to set traps on the way down. These traps seem to always backfire and Bosh moves past as if nothing happened. Later on you’ll encounter a female rider by the name of Bailey who Bosh seems to have an interest in. All of the story however has no effect on the way the game plays.
To get Bosh to one point or the other, drawing lines where he’ll ride is necessary. Many tools are at your disposal that allow you to manipulate the way you draw your track. When a line is drawn, it’s easy to edit it by pulling at the points the line consists of. The problem however is that the game fails to notify you that drawing in a certain direction will lead to Bosh being able to slide across the line or fall right through. This is due to the fact the track is two sided, one side is a black surface Bosh can hop on, the other allows him to pass right through the line. Drawing from right to left will result in the black side being on top with the blue strip on bottom. This can make it difficult while trying to make a track going in a different direction as my tendency was to draw from left to right anytime I made a line.
Although it wasn’t clear how drawing the lines functioned, the speed lines were. Three types of lines are presented for play besides the standard line: fast, slow and break apart. The speed up and slow down lines are used exactly in the same way as the regular blue line with the two sided mechanism. They come in handy when you need to boost Bosh up a hill or slow him down after flying from a cliff. They are also able to be reversed with a few simple taps. The break apart line is handy when you want Bosh to do a half loop and not run into the track as the line he rides on vanishes after riding over it.
Through story mode, there are levels to be completed. Bosh has a designated starting point where he’ll begin his run, depending on the level. Using the lines to create a path to pick up targets and coins to the finish line seems simple. To make it difficult however, you’re only allowed to draw in specific areas marked with transparent green boxes. Sometimes to make the level work a bit of creativity is in order. Testing is also apart of moving past a particular challenge and can be tedious. There are no controls for testing speed so if the level is long, you’ll have to wait awhile before Bosh even gets to the point you’re really interested in. Even more aggravating is the fact that the game extremely picky about placement of lines. Draw a line a hair slightly to the left from where you had it and watch Bosh plummet to a crash after waiting for him to get to that point. When you do get to the finish, the game swiftly moves onto the next level and whatever you did, no matter how flashy isn’t saved. Extremely disappointing, especially in the later levels when things get complicated.
The other two modes allow for a bit of freedom from the story mode. Freestyle is exactly what you’d think it is with a blank screen and tools to go crazy on. Puzzle mode allows you to create puzzles for others to solve, similar to how the story mode levels were done. Content Sharing mode allows you to share your tracks locally or online for others to snag from your collection. When downloading a track from the online library and playing it, it was extremely complex. Upon opening it I wasn’t able to alter it due to the fact it had used up all the line that was being allocated. Slow downs when browsing around the level were occurring as well, so something to keep in mind for those who tend to create the more extravagant levels.
Background music was done moderately well with the game. You’ll be able to choose what you’ll be listening to while drawing. If you don’t care for a particular track, you can remove it from the playing queue. Many of the tracks have a beat that seemed slightly catchy which is a plus considering the selection is bare bones.
For the flaws in the game, Line Rider 2: Unbound isn’t completely horrible. Most of the time you’re able to work around the issues and get the job done. Unfortunately by the end though it did feel as if I were doing a chore because of how picky the levels were. If you enjoyed the Flash version and want a bit more then this might be one to look at otherwise I’d steer clear unless you’re a masochist and enjoy being constantly frustrated.
