Ctrl+F for “Descenders” came up empty. I think that’s the author’s issue.

look i’m not a ICE apologist or antyhing (these apply to EVs as well) but it’s not hard to figure out why car games are more popular. Also I’m not saying these are universal rules, i’m sure some disagree. But I think it’s safe to say these apply to most in the gamer market.

1. more power and speed = more fun.

2. Games are as close as most people will come to driving an expensive car like a BMW, let alone a Ferrari, or even actual racing cars.

3. Even if you argue people are just not culturally conditioned to aesthetically enjoy bicycles, could you even really appreciate them in the same way in a video game? you’d barely see them.

4. Cars are much more complex machines and that leads to each having a more unique character than bicycles, and that allows a greater variety of gameplay. For example, mid/front engine, ICE/EV, NA/turbo/super, FWD/RWD/AWD, etc. And usually in games there’s a progression from lower performance cars to higher performance cars.

Road Redemption (motorcycle combat game)

7 Days to Die (zombie scavenging survival craft with mostly 2-wheeled vehicles)

Generation Zero has bicycles as the main “silent” vehicle to get around, so you don’t alert the machines.

Parcel Corps (I played the demo a while back, I don’t know if it’s fully released) is about bicycle couriers, in a cool vibrant city. It kinda reminds me of JSRF in a couple ways, as you ride around on your bike and do all sorts of cool tricks, and there’s a funky soundtrack (from what I remember).

Eta: holy shit I forgot about, imo, the GOAT of bike gameplay: Bully. I remember trying so hard to get all the way through Shop class to get one of the best bikes in the game, and doing the paperboy side quest as much as I could just to experience that feeling, and earn tons of money. I ended up getting really good at it too.

Road cycling is a rich persons sport, gaming is circuses for us poors.

No one wants to play ‘tour de riche’

A /decent/ Downhill game could be good (Descenders wasn’t it., super wide mariokart-esque tracks - give me some goat tracks that need berms on the corners)

The excitement of F1 racing is unattainable to most people, which is why it makes sense as a game, but bikes are pretty tame. However, one thing that makes bikes interesting is their smallness, ease and simplicity. The Yakuza series has started picking up on giving protagonists such small vehicles, including a skateboard and a segway, and they make much more sense within those worlds than full vehicles.

I feel like this could be envisioned as part of a larger open-world game, not as the vehicle itself as a means to fun. Something like: You have an open world game, and it has cars, and they are faster than your bike. But they are far more nimble, can go in tighter areas, and can be stored in larger vehicles used to get around. So, something like picking the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2, they’re a tool that’s fantastic for making use of the environment for better results, but not a “first-order strategy for movement”. This is even sometimes how they work out in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Anyone else thought the title was referencing to the book of George Orwell, Animal Farm?

“Four legs good, two legs bad” - Snowball, Animal Farm.

Trials Evolution would like a word

I don’t know, Tour de France (1983) on Vectrex looks nice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MnEOLIaBl0

We have Road Rash. What more could you want?

I think there is an upcoming one, but I forget the name. It looked like Pacific Drive with a bike.

Bully? Would love a sequel/reboot.

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Zwift is very popular. But you have to do the cycling yourself

All games are equal, but some games are more equal than others.