If I were to start one of these reviews one day with a phrase like, say, ‘last night I spent a few hours sticking needles into my balls, and bloody enjoying it too!’ then the chances are you’d think for a few seconds and then press that little red cross up in the top right there, yes? ‘Last night I spent a few hours hitting my eyeballs with spoons, and bloody enjoying it too!’ would probably have a similar effect. They’re the kinds of things that no one would enjoy, surely.

Yet, here I am sitting down to review Trials HD thinking much the same. In the countless hours I have spent with the game it has kicked my arse from pillar to post, has made me look utterly stupid at least two-dozen times and has drawn out of me the kind of language that would make even Joe Kinnear blush. It’s made me play the same sections of levels over and over again. It’s seen me fail at the last agonising moment. It’s made me feel like a king for a tiny fraction, only to then go and throw something unreasonably difficult my way the next to bring me back down to size. Oh, and yes – I bloody enjoyed it too.

Initially I was confused as to why this should be. The game has a remarkably simple premise; it’s pretty much a 2D platformer on a motocross bike, with your task being to navigate whatever the TWISTED AND EVIL minds of the developers have thrown down in your path until you reach the finishing line. The controls are pretty minimal too – both triggers control throttle and brake, and the left analogue leans your rider to suit any particular incline or, if you get massive airborne moments, complete kerazy flips.

This sounds easy enough obviously, and the main thing that makes Trials so enjoyable is that you are never really having to think about you holding the controller in your hands. Pretty quickly you get into a kind of zone where you go past the screen in front of you and become your rider, leaning and stabbing the throttle instinctively. It’s also one of those kinds of things that, when you watch, you just feel the need to grab that pad and give the thing a go. It’s got some kind of mysterious magnetic pull that makes you want to play it, and once you do you don’t want to stop. Digital crack?

It’s not just the normal A to B trials that entertain either, although they do form the main portion of the game. Split into five different difficulties, each has a set time in which you must get to the end by hook or crook to earn a certain medal. Problem is, people like me who are a little obsessive-compulsive find themselves not satisfied until they’ve managed to secure the gold, and by the middle of the game the chances are that you will have burst a lung/suffered a rectal prolapse by the time this occurs. That’s not even taking into account the tournament option, in which you must complete three stages in a row unscathed and in record time to bring home the bacon. It can be a cruel, cruel game at times.

None of this is the game’s fault necessarily of course; in fact, if anything it’s a game that will make you more critical of yourself than anything. To alleviate such depression there are a clutch of mini skill games to undertake, each of which provides an amusing take on the usual biking formula. Particular favourites of mine include the Ski Jump mode in which you must hurl yourself from your bike and down a giant (and painful) metal ramp, and the mode in which you need to fracture as many bones as you possibly can before your rider rolls to a stop. Sounds mildly sadistic probably, but it’s pretty cathartic to see your little guy ragdolling through glass and barrels after the git has caused you so much trouble when you were actually wanting to stay on the bike.

There’s a track editor lobbed in for good measure and integrated leaderboards and created content all for good measure too, but it’s not this that really sets Trials HD out as a game that you really enjoy. No, there’s something else far more menacing and possibly slightly evil that makes it great fun, and it’s something I realised whilst watching Jay play through some levels yesterday.

This realisation is that Trials HD brilliantly taps into the human desire to see other people fail… miserably. Whilst flying off a ramp and face-planting into the edge of a ramp is slightly irritating when you’re doing it, watching someone else perform all sorts of inept manoeuvrings can be utterly hilarious. No only does it give you reason to feel good that you’re not the only person who’s horrendously cack at the game at times, it also provides great moments of slapstick comedy as whoever the poor bugger is that you are watching desperately flails around trying to rescue tricky situations. Trust me, there was nothing better then seeing Jay manage to fluke his way out of one crash by flipping, only to then go and land square on his face when he actually tried to perform a stunt on purpose. Good times.

As such, Trials is one of those games that seem to be becoming increasingly rare in this era of anonymous online gaming: a great game to play in a local gathering. Passing the controller around as you try to grab medals and instead end up spending much of the time crumpled in a heap on the floor is laugh-a-minute stuff, and this extends the lifespan what was already a reasonably sized game in the first place. Buy it, grit your teeth and prepare for some of the most amusing moments you’ll have with any game this year.