This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format.

Pumped BMX Pro is an arcade sports game and, unfortunately, it’s a tad underwhelming.

Taking its retro inspiration seriously, the game puts an emphasis on high scores via set objectives in each of its 60 levels. It's clearly influenced by classics like Excitebike and Trials, but has a very ‘mobile game’ vibe that makes repeat visits unappealing. The controls are pretty unforgiving and there’s a general lack of polish that makes it quickly forgettable.

Pumped BMX Pro’s difficulty curve is savage. Even playing the tutorial stage, the level of precision required to land a jump or trick is pretty extreme. More frustratingly, the tutorials pop up literally as you’re trying to time releasing the accelerator to properly land, seriously harming your chances of pulling it off.

Obviously, as you progress, this becomes less and less of a problem, but the timing required remains laughably precise, leading to restarting levels becoming the norm. There is certainly some enjoyment to be found with landing the right tricks, though the game doesn’t seem bothered either way and lets you progress to the next level just for completion's sake.

Visually, Pumped BMX Pro isn’t anything to write home about, either. The characters are cartoonish, bland, and unappealing. A quick Google search of some of the names told us that these are real BMX racers — which is pretty cool — but their likeness isn’t exactly complimentary. The stages are equally bland, leaving the game feeling quite soulless. Amusingly, the ragdoll physics cause your character to flop to the floor when you lose, regardless of how you failed, which can be pretty funny to mess about with, for about 30 seconds. Also of note is the awful sound design, which loops an ear-grating tune endlessly on each stage.

Overall, Pumped BMX Pro isn’t broken or awful, but it is bland and forgettable. The bizarre top-heavy difficulty curve, unpleasant aesthetic, and lack of multiplayer make it feel like a wasted opportunity.