It’s got a story, an adventure mode. You get missions form NPCs, collect parts, and upgrade your bike. I love that stuff, and although I don’t actually know much about the structure of Fusion, I assume if it’s anything like previous main Trials games it doesn’t have that stuff, and just has a load of insanely hard levels to frustrate me. In this game, if something’s too hard I can come back later with a better bike and do better.
The basic gameplay too is really fun. Good controls, it feels smooth and the levels are well designed for you to breeze through them once you’ve learned the layout, and even take a different path if you do jumps right or whatever.
The problem of course is the bane of mobile gaming, free-to-play mechanics. There’s a fuel (energy) system that limits how many tracks you can play at once, but recharges all the time. Of course, you can pay up to play more! You can also pay to have your upgrades complete instantly, or get new costumes! The chance mechanic for getting parts can also be gamed at the cost of premium currency. It’s a little scummy at times, but I got through the entire game without paying anything just fine, so I decided to make a purchase afterwards to boost myself a little for the end-game stuff.
I felt I owed it anyway because I played this game a lot. The fuel mechanic at least kept me coming back many times for short bursts, which felt like a good way to play. In fact I finished all the missions, just before a big update that added extra content that would have been good to unlock as I played through. Oh well.
I’ve played a few other BMX or like platform motorbike games on iOS, but this one is my favourite. Not only does it feel nice to play, the setting and artwork are engaging too. You can even play it for free, so highly recommended.