47. Kikstart 2

(C64/Spectrum/Amiga/Amstrad, Mr Chip, 1987)
As of this writing, many people are classing Trials HD as their game of the year for 2009, the downloadable stunt fest is simple in concept but incredibly difficult to master and dangerously addictive. It has attractive 3D on 2D plain graphics and is all about the physics of gravity, motion, momentum and balance. As a package it is a superb score/time attack experience.

Back in the 80's Britain had a TV series by the name of Kickstart, it featured an array of mentalists attempting to complete wacky courses on trials bikes whilst simultaneously trying not to die. It was very popular and ran for nearly ten years.
Off the back of this show's popularity, Mastertronic released two games that were mysteriously similar to the show (they just dropped the "C" from the title) Today, we look at the superior second game. Kikstart 2 was a bare bones bike trials simulator in which one or two players would race along a course, negotiating a series of jumps, water hazards, fences, pot-holes, lakes and many other obstacles, using the physics of speed, momentum and balance to traverse the trickier sections. Failure to judge the terrain or stick a landing would result in the rider performing an awesome 30 foot forward flip over the handlebars (A stunt I achieved myself once at the age of about six)

There was an impressive selection of courses but the real beauty came from the in-game course designer, which allowed players to build their own death tracks from all the items available. I spent hours with my friend Gary designing what we thought were the ULTIMATE stunt environments, looking back, we just stuck a bunch of ramps together and added fire, but hey, I was like seven years old, ramps, wheelies and fire were pretty damn exciting.
Kikstart 2 was fun, smooth and incredibly competitive, the C64 version had the one of the single most memorable and catchy SID tunes ever composed. Like the current success of Trials HD shows, just over twenty years later, some concepts never change, you can ramp up the graphics and sound for the new generation, but as long as the "hook" is still there, you've got playability for life.

True story. When I played GTA: Vice City, I attempted the bike trials arena and repeatedly failed. Thank God for my friend Linus, who then sang the Kikstart 2 tune on a loop whilst I tried the course once last time.
I passed with flying colours. Sometimes, it's all about the motivation.