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Ollie up to the railbar, skaters
posted by JCDenton (FREEDOM, NH) May 3, 2009
Member since Mar 2006
4 out of 5 gamers (80%) found this review helpful
While the Tony Hawk series has fallen under the weight of it's own success, Skate It shows gamers that skateboarding games are still alive and kickflipping.
While Tony Hawk focused on huge combos, long grinds and character customization, Skate It focuses on old-school boarding and crashes. You'll notice right off the bat that it's aiming at a more realistic, back-to-basics approach to skateboarding. You won't catch massive air, you won't pull off 15 flip tricks from a kicker and you won't use grind down a rollercoaster. What you will do is experience the kind of skateboarding that feels like the real thing. Doing ollies down a staircase feels very natural. Grinding is done with accurate timing rather than a button and skating off the roof of a building onto the pavement will cause you to bail.
You might be surprised at how well the motion sensor controls work. While it isn't completely responsive, moving from one move to the next is fluid. You'll be taking your heelflip to a manual into a rail grind in no time. Although, doing a specific move takes some effort.
And then there's Thrasher's Hall of Meat. In a smart move to make bailing as much fun as a successful landing, bad falls will cause various bones to bruise, sprain or break. If you break enough bones, you can unlock some new gear. Don't worry, breaking bones doesn't actually affect your skater, it's just morbidly entertaining.
The music works well here, a good combination of newer alt rock and old-school funk. The environments look very good and take you to locales all over the world.
While most of this makes for a solid skateboarding title, there are areas where Skate It does a faceplant. Because of all the little trip hazards, you'll bail far more than you should. Some levels are dark or difficult to maneuver through. And some challenges are frustratingly tricky. You'll also get turned around at the worst possible times.
Still, Skate It is the best skateboarding game on the Wii and that's an accomplishment.
While Tony Hawk focused on huge combos, long grinds and character customization, Skate It focuses on old-school boarding and crashes. You'll notice right off the bat that it's aiming at a more realistic, back-to-basics approach to skateboarding. You won't catch massive air, you won't pull off 15 flip tricks from a kicker and you won't use grind down a rollercoaster. What you will do is experience the kind of skateboarding that feels like the real thing. Doing ollies down a staircase feels very natural. Grinding is done with accurate timing rather than a button and skating off the roof of a building onto the pavement will cause you to bail.
You might be surprised at how well the motion sensor controls work. While it isn't completely responsive, moving from one move to the next is fluid. You'll be taking your heelflip to a manual into a rail grind in no time. Although, doing a specific move takes some effort.
And then there's Thrasher's Hall of Meat. In a smart move to make bailing as much fun as a successful landing, bad falls will cause various bones to bruise, sprain or break. If you break enough bones, you can unlock some new gear. Don't worry, breaking bones doesn't actually affect your skater, it's just morbidly entertaining.
The music works well here, a good combination of newer alt rock and old-school funk. The environments look very good and take you to locales all over the world.
While most of this makes for a solid skateboarding title, there are areas where Skate It does a faceplant. Because of all the little trip hazards, you'll bail far more than you should. Some levels are dark or difficult to maneuver through. And some challenges are frustratingly tricky. You'll also get turned around at the worst possible times.
Still, Skate It is the best skateboarding game on the Wii and that's an accomplishment.