Check out the entire interview below.

Ravi Sinha: Urban Trial Freestyle is an excellent addition to the PSN digital library; however, it also shares similarities with the Trials HD series on Xbox LIVE. Was there a point of inspiration, or any other sort of intersection and overlap between Trials HD and Urban Trial Freestyle?

Wojtek Bilinski: Of course we were inspired by Trials in some ways, but in a same way we were inspired by Elastomania or any other title based on trials genre. Trials HD is a fantastic game, maybe even one of the best download games on Xbox360, but if you spend some time with UTF, you will find out that it is very different from Trials and it also has a lot to offer. UTF environments, motorbike physics and gameplay features differ a lot, as well as online features and game modes.

"We definitely are considering tackling new systems to expand Urban Trial Freestyle to the largest possible group of players."

- Wojtek Bilinski, Tate Multimedia's General Manager

We have worked together with Julien Dupont to capture this unique urban-freestyle look and feel of the game. Trials HD is definitely more like an outdoor event.

UTF has also many unique features, like billboards with Stunt Masters – the system presenting best players on special billboards placed on tracks or the use of the tilt feature on both PS Vita and the PS3.

Ravi Sinha: Urban Trial Freestyle has appeared on Playstation Network, and will be heading to 3DS’s eShop later. Why not Xbox LIVE or Steam? Are those platforms you will consider later?

Wojtek Bilinski: We were thinking about PSN and PSVita platforms from the beginning, there was a noticeable lack of such game on these systems. And we definitely are considering tackling new systems to expand Urban Trial Freestyle to the largest possible group of players.

Ravi Sinha: Forty maps is a lot! Apparently the 3DS and iOS versions will have additional maps as well; are there any plans to release more content for the games as DLC?

Wojtek Bilinski: Not at the moment, but we’re not saying it will never happen. If enough players in the community want more tracks it could be hard to say “no”.

Ravi Sinha:  Now that the game has been released, was the game profitable to you guys? Did it do good sales wise to warrant a sequel?

Wojtek Bilinski: We don’t know the numbers yet but in February UTF was Number 1 on PS Vita in Europe and USA . We are working on some new stuff around trials mechanisms and would like to enhance the stunts factor of the game but there is no rush with the sequel as there is still a lot of players that we hope shall discover our game since the game was only released 2 months ago! 🙂

Ravi Sinha: Urban Trial Freestyle looks incredibly good, especially for a digital game. Considering the range of the platforms you worked with- everything from the 3DS to the PS3 to the iPad- how did you manage to make the game look so uniformly good across platforms so varied?

Wojtek Bilinski: Actually Tate Interactive worked on PS Vita and PSN version of UTF. 3DS and IOS is being developed by Strangelands form UK. But referring to the question most of our games were multiplatform, so through years we’ve learned how to cope with multiplatform production.

The key is to know how much you can handle and to make a reasonable production milestone, so both versions don’t come in their ways. The good asset server is a must and cooperation and understanding with publisher need to be perfect – luckily we had both.

Ravi Sinha: The level editor function on the 3DS version of the game sounds intriguing. How full featured is the suite of tools that will be made available to the player?

Wojtek Bilinski: Basically you start with an empty décor and you just start adding objects to build up the ramps and obstacles that you want. There is a selection of over 150 objects, from planks and crates all the way up to trains and bridges, which you can use to construct your course.

Objects can be positioned, scaled and rotated, either individually or as groups, and you can duplicate sections you’ve already made and reuse them further down the track. All this is done using the tactile screen and a couple of icons, so it is really easy to do.

Ravi Sinha: Obviously in a game such as this, the actual track and level design matters a lot. Urban Trial Freestyle has some great and varied design. What was the approach behind designing the levels?

Wojtek Bilinski:  UTF level design is based on 3 main elements – the way the obstacles are set, the environment and special effects which makes the environment interactive. When we created the level, first we set the theme and then, keeping that in mind, the designer built the track from the sets of obstacles. When the track was ready, art guys worked on special effects and built the environment.

The last step was lightning. The average time was around 2 weeks per level but that doesn’t mean that each level was done within such time. It’s just a general working time to create primary elements. Along the process there are new implementations, focus tests, bug corrections and optimizations so we need to get back to each level from time to time throughout the whole development.

Ravi Sinha: Multiple developers point to the ease of working with Sony on PSN, and Nintendo with their new stance on digital gaming with the eShop. How was your own personal experience working with them on releasing your title digitally?

Wojtek Bilinski:  There are always some pitfalls along the way but we had some great support from SONY so we managed to get through pretty easily.

"Bringing the common architecture to PS4 should ease the development in many ways. And it should help them too, as we will be able to ask for solutions in different sources."

Ravi Sinha: Urban Trial Freestyle was released both on the PS Vita and PS3. How was it working on these two hardwares? Was it easy to develop games for? The PS4 was recently announced which promises easier games development. Do you think the amount of time you guys invested on developing the game on the PS3/PS Vita would have been less if it was developed for the PS4?

Wojtek Bilinski: It’s hard to say, the game itself always takes the most time to develop as this is what really counts. But with this, what SONY has already stated this could be the case. Bringing the common architecture to PS4 should ease the development in many ways. And it should help them too, as we will be able to ask for solutions in different sources.

Ravi Sinha: The social aspects of Urban Trial seem to have been received well; are you looking towards expanding these in the future?

Wojtek Bilinski: Yes, definitely we would like to do so. The idea of seeing other players happy faces after breaking the record turned out really well. It’s fun and it’s compelling. Still a lot can be improved here. We’d like to make it more dynamic, so more people could see themselves on billboards. Maybe some special contests refreshed with time could bring even more innovation.

Ravi Sinha: Urban Trial Freestyle was fun! What else can we look forward to in the future?

Wojtek Bilinski: Apart from UTF we are working on some new and fresh design idea around hack’n’slash genre but it’s too early to present it.

Kudos to Robbie Paterson from Indigo Pearl for setting this interview up.

Those games were critically acclaimed and the formula was something special. It seems replicating that formula is quite easy too since Urban Trial Freestyle is a really fun game filled with tons of content. And the great thing is that it’s suited for the crisp screen of the PS Vita.

Having spent a lot of hours playing this game, I cannot in good conscience nail it for being a copy of some other game, because it is genuinely fun. That’s what people need and demand from a portable console, really. A game that can provide them a lot of bite sized fun and hours of entertainment for a decent price.

The production values are quite good too surprisingly. It doesn’t match the XBLA games when it comes to physics but the destruction and other things available in this game is not that bad. There are two modes here: Time Trials and another that just depends on the tricks you do and calculates the total score at the end. Both of them are fun, but Time Trials are only recommended once you get to know the tracks and how to clear them efficiently.

Then there’s customisation and upgrade features which you can apply to your bike and it changes the statistics. Some tracks require a slower bike but something that offers more control, but such tweaking is only recommended for people who have spent a lot of time with the game.

There are a ton of tracks which are unlocked as you collect stars. If you beat a level with 5 stars it becomes easier to unlock the difficult tracks. There’s a good sense of progression here as the game eases you in with simple tracks and then once you get the hang of controls, gives you something difficult and lengthy to play with.

The controls are responsive and smooth. You can use the X button or the RB button to go forward and advanced techniques like throttling speed will come in handy to get faster track clearance times. If you have played the Trials games on XBLA, the concept is quite similar to that.

You have to dodge obstacles, clear tricky terrain, do stunts and more importantly try to clear the stage fast. Balancing all these things won’t be easy, but it depends on how experience you are at the game.

The visuals are fantastic with a good colour palette and the framerate is solid as well. There are set pieces that you will encounter from time to time which creates new path and that depends on your hand eye coordination to quickly anticipate and control your bike.

Once you clear a stage, you can upload your score to the leaderboards along with a picture taken from the Vita’s camera, and this really increases the competitive nature of the game.

The game isn’t sophisticated at all but it is something that is clearly suited to a handheld device and more importantly it has all the basics things in the right order. Inspired or not, this is a really fun game and worth your money especially if you are travelling somewhere and need something to fool around with.

This game was reviewed on the PS Vita.

Urban Trial Freestyle brings real-life inspired motorbike stunt and racing action to the massive PlayStation community. With a no-limits attitude set in a gritty urban setting, Urban Trial Freestyle oozes action and speed and features challenging levels and tracks, mouth dropping stunts, tons of explosions and off-the-wall obstacles.

The entire list of features include:

Urban Trial Freestyle features include:
· 64 Custom Bike Configurations with Body, Engine & Wheels options
· Advanced Physics & Dynamic Animations: Motorbike, Dynamic Objects & Obstacles, Crashes
· Environmental Objects to Test Skills: Ramps, Obstacles, Moving Objects, Physics Objects
· Stunts: Highest Jump, Longest Jump, Biggest Flip, Precise Aiming, Speed Check

Stay tuned for our full review of the game.

We also have the launch screenshots from the game.  Check them out below.

Are you looking forward to pick this game? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tate has provided a new trailer in the meantime, with none other than Julien Dupont speaking about the game. With five massive environments, lots of tricks and stunts for racking up the points, and the infinite danger that freestyling always presents, Urban Trial Freestyle is shaping up to be a roaring good time.

It may not be as feature-packed as the upcoming Trials Evolution: Gold Edition, but Urban Trial Freestyle is looking to push realistic physics and multiple game modes onto gamers for enjoyment.

The question as always though: Is it better than Motocross Madness? Check out the new trailer and pick up the game when it releases to find out.