Jump on that board!
Skateboarding games are back and in a big way; while we wait for Full Circle’s Skate 4 and hope that Microsoft will properly revive Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, we can happily play OlliOlli World in the meantime.
Following in the footsteps of the PlayStation Vita’s OlliOlli and its multiplatform sequel OlliOlli 2 Welcome to Olliwood, World ditches the pixel art style used in previous iterations in place some pastel, Adventure Time-inspired sprites instead.
Playing as your uniquely-created avatar, your task here is simple: skate through the various regions of Radlandia in a quest to become its next Skate Wizard (the current one needs to transcend into Gnarvana, you see). To do so, you’ll traverse through drastically different areas of a larger world map, learning new techniques from those who’ve mastered them before you. Those mentors hope that their student will eventually become the teacher as you attempt to rack up the most points as possible.
It’s a simple premise, but one that provides hours and hours of fun; in the same vein, OlliOlli World gameplay is easy to learn – thanks in part to useful tutorial levels dotted across its narrative – but truly difficult to master.
You start off simply concentrating on getting from the start to the end of a level, using your controller’s d-pad (yes, even on a PC) to launch into a trick. Hold down in a direction and release and your on-screen avatar will do an ollie or heelflip; put some flourish on a directional movement and you’ll pull off an advanced trick. If you see a railing, launch into a trick or jump and hold down on the d-pad again to start a grind.
As you get used to mechanics, OlliOlli World does a tremendous job of easing you into more difficult actions like stair rides, grabs and spins. While some moves — like wall riding or board grabs to break through purple-coloured platforms or crystals — are necessary to properly complete a level, others are intended to buff your score.
As you continue from level to level, its difficulty climbs with you; near the end, you’ll not only need to have quick reflexes but chain moves and pushes together in ways that add momentum to your movement. You might be able to pull some sick kickflips, but they don’t mean a thing if you can’t clear the gap between one rail and the next.
Each level comes with its own set of challenges – only grind three times, as an example – and rivals to best. Doing so will open additional levels or cosmetic items that can be used to customise your skater. Each level also a gnarly path (or two): trickier, alternate areas that require a decent amount of skill to best.
Perhaps the best thing about OlliOlli World is that you can play for long stints or short periods, either as a casual or competitive player. When it comes to the latter group, you have the challenges of completing each level in a flawless run, completing all its challenges and beating all the rivals who’ve played it before. There’s also a dedicated competitive league in-game that pit your runs against others. If playing more casually, there’s a bit of zen to be found in grinding, spinning and grabbing in a colourful, psychedelic world. In either case, you can also access an infinite source of new levels to play with thanks to an endgame generator; each presents a sharable code if you want to get your friends on board.
I’m obviously in the casual group, sporting two left thumbs and finding some of OlliOlli World’s more advanced techniques out of reach. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest, through the transition from level to level does leave something to be desired. In old-school, Super Mario-style, you’ll need to head back to a world overmap to select the next level to play; doing so will always launch you into a conversation with fellow skaters that mostly just pads out your time. There is the ability to hold down a key to largely skip each conversation, but I wish there was an options setting that could handle all that extra effort for me instead. When that’s your largest bugbear, though, you know you’re onto a good thing.
OlliOlli World has something for everyone, be it hardcore skaters, platformer enthusiasts or those simply looking for a chilled out time. Check it out from 8 February on Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5 and Switch.
OlliOlli World was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox Series X, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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OlliOlli World8 February 2022PC PS4 PS5 Switch Xbox One Xbox Series S & X |
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