Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Arcade elegance meshes perfectly with a glorious wilderness

Somehow simultaneously soothing and thrilling, this excellent arcade-style experience captures the joys of biking, nature, and competing against yourself

Hurling yourself down a mountain on a bike has rarely been as much fun as in this sports game, which pairs serene scenery with thrilling challenge

This is a very different kind of two-wheeled platforming to the recent Trials Rising, but it scratches the same kind of itch – arguably more effectively, too.

An exquisite bike racer-cum-trials game with tight controls, varied courses, and uniquely zen-like presentation. At once calming and demanding, Lonely Mountains: Downhill looks and feels like no other game on the eShop. Barring one or two disappointing technical issues, it's an absolute freewheeling delight.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is easily the best mountain biking game available.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a fun mountain biking game that falls short of the mark due to a general lack of content and poor progression.

A perfectly executed simple idea offering relaxing and challenging experience.

In my mind, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is the perfect Switch game and, a pretty great game regardless of platform. It feels amazing, looks fantastic and is exactly the right level of challenging. The way that you can pick it up for five minutes, have a run through a trail and have a fun time makes it ideally suited to what I think the switch does best, that pick-up-and-play genre of games you can play on a train or while waiting for a bus. Even then, you can sit down with it for a few hours to make some progress through a mountain, tackle a difficult challenge or destroy your high score. Whatever type of gamer you are, Lonely Mountains: Downhill has something for you to sink your teeth into and it’s a strong recommendation from me.

As far as indie games go, Lonely Mountains: Downhill remains one of my absolute staples in my library and Eldfjall Island just adds to the experience. The physics-based experience almost always fills a void most other games can't for me. The need for patience and touch and care around every corner make for a white-knuckle experience, crossed with the unimpeded joy that comes from an absolutely flawless art design. Lonely Mountains: Downhill remains one of the best games on the market, and for $19.99, it should be a holiday buy this season.