Proving once again that the less you know what you're doing, the more entertaining sports actually are, Bennett Foddy of QWOP fame brings us PoleRiders. A two-player physics game for a pair of buddies sharing a single keyboard, the goal here is to try to kick an apple on a string into your friend's goal... by pole-vaulting. Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to control your runner as he gallavants around the field, tapping the down key at just the right moment to send yourself vaulting gracefully through the air like some majestic Olympic gazelle... in theory, anyway. In practice, it requires a lot of timing and the proper momentum to do anything over than smack into things or waggle slowly back and forth in air with your pole bent backwards. Just make sure you tackle the challenges in the single-player practice mode 'til you get the hang of things.
Like previous titles QWOP and GIRP, PoleRiders is fiddly and tricky to master, but also curiously rewarding once you manage to do so. Failure here often doesn't feel as frustrating as you might expect simply because the whole thing is so silly; the concept is gloriously goofy, the visuals simple and entertaining, and the dainty sound-effects that accompany movement are hilarious and make you feel like you're in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon. Best enjoyed with a friend and a healthy dose of self-depreciating humour, PoleRiders is well worth a bit of your time.
I am biting my tongue so hard I taste blood. It is taking all my will power to restrain the immature 14 year old boy that resides in me from making a joke about the name of this game. Just so you know.
*deep breaths*
That said, amen to the fact that sports are more entertaining the less adept you are at them. I'm pretty sure guys like me are the reason trophies for just participating were invented. I hated sports. Yet this is annoyingly fun and addictive.
To me it's reminiscent of the old school games. I had a space olympics game on my Comm 64 back in the day that this reminds me of. At least with this one I don't end up throwing my joystick across the room in frustration.
*Bites tongue about joystick innuendo*
Pole riders.....insert giggle here.
I love how Atari-ish this game feels, in how it's as much, if not more, fun to completely screw up as it is to win. While getting the hang of the controls was easier than I thought, it just made it all the more hilarious at those times when I'd crash into my opponent mid-air and we'd both go sailing off the poles. Reminds me of the days where Circus Atari could keep me entertained just by watching the trapeze guys do a cartoony SPLAT on the floor when I "accidentally" missed.
OMG. That is the most frustrating and difficult piece of yerg I've had to deal with in a while. Why isn't this flagged "high difficulty"? Not fun.
Um... Online mode? Anyone?
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