While it’s easy to poo poo mobile games of various kinds, it’s hard to say that at some point you’ve never encountered some that inexplicably caught your full attention, at least for a while. While many of hill climber racing games I’ve encountered have tended to be agonizingly slow due to how they’re structured to keep you playing, there are a few I’ve enjoyed over time. The shame of one favorite I’d run into years ago was that it felt that just when it had gotten interesting, throwing in wildly unrealistic tracks with loops and other extreme features, it was done with. Well, what I love about Stunt Paradise is that the developers seem to have latched onto that end point as their starting position, fully exploring the fun to be had with some truly crazy tracks and even better camera angles.

For the most part the controls are quite simple, you’re able to accelerate, decelerate, and adjust the angle of your vehicle. Early on I don’t know that I recall even having to do all that much beyond tapping the brake and being sure not to get myself stuck on my back, but with time there come more subtle challenges. Traps, in particular, can be tricky overall, often requiring that you get the feel of how quickly your vehicle accelerates in order to go from a stop to narrowly avoiding them, but for the most part it’s all quite manageable. While, for a while, you’ll generally be able to clear most of the game’s 50 courses on the first try, they do throw some extra incentives for trouble into the mix.

Each course has a star somewhere along the way, and while initially they’ll be in plain sight and often right along your course, over time they tend to be more creatively hidden. Due to the fact that there are no checkpoints on the courses, they do introduce an element of risk and reward as well, since failing to complete the rest of the track without dying will require that you grab it again. Another smaller, but still fun, element is your ability to flip your car in the air, which will award you some extra money when you land successfully. While most of the unlocked cars behave roughly the same, their length and some minor differences in their speed do make them worth trying out to see what may suit you best. Aside from the game’s overall simplicity there really are no other major issues, but it could be understandable that some would find it too shallow an experience to be worthwhile.

The thing is, even with more complex or more deeply-satisfying games out there to play in the last week, I actually found myself returning to Stunt Paradise quite a few times, if only to see what wild tracks I’d be driving on next. There are just times when the camera angle will shift to really help you appreciate the fun of the wild slopes and other elements, and that would absolutely make me smile at times. At some point some of the courses did feel familiar, but at least with new challenging sections added to differentiate them. While this isn’t a particularly sexy title on several levels, I can’t help but admit that I had a pretty good time with it, certainly enough to justify what I’d consider a bargain price overall. If you’re able to view it as a fun spin on puzzle action, rather than a racer, it should prove to have some consistent appeal.