Previews

Exclusive: Hands on with Ski Jumping 2010 on mobile

Be the Eagle

Exclusive: Hands on with Ski Jumping 2010 on mobile

To be blunt, Vivid Games didn’t exactly inspire me with the tepid sounding Ski Jumping 2010, but after being surprised by its equally unexciting-sounding Speedway 2009 (which turned out to be massively entertaining) I felt inclined to give this latest winter sports game a fair crack.

And once again I find myself impressed by the depth of gameplay with which the developer has managed to permeate such a seemingly limited concept. From a naive layman's perspective, ski jumping looks like a fairly inactive sport. True, it's dangerous and exciting, but the skis seem to take a far more active role in the experience than the actual skier.

If Ski Jumping 2010 is any kind of accurate representation, this evidently isn't the case. Naturally, the game begins at the top of the ramp, with a quick push setting you off down the fast moving ski slope - and it really is fast-moving.

Coiling yourself up for the big jump as you hit the bottom of the curve is easy enough, but the end of the ramp rockets toward you at a blinding speed, and hitting the button again to make the jump without simply sliding off the end is no mean task.

Once in the air, keeping your ski jumper not only the right way up (so he lands on his skis and not on the back of his head) but also aerodynamically efficient in an effort to increase your distance is just as critical as jumping at the right moment.

The third part of this sport is landing. Touching down in as controlled a manner as possible can add vital centimetres to your distance. All of which conspires to make ski jumping quite a delicate and precise sport, represented impressively well in Vivid’s game and all controlled with a single thumb (the holy grail of good mobile gaming).

Ski Jumping 2010 is further bolstered by a host of ancillary features, such as multiplayer, quick games, achievements, and an in-game currency system allowing you to upgrade your character as you progress through the championships.

Judging by this preview version of Ski Jumping 2010, it seems Vivid Games lends further weight to its reputation as one of the most inventive mobile developers out there. As surprised as I am to say it, I'm now forward to seeing the release version immensely.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.