‘OlliOlli World’ is a friendly yet deceptively challenging skateboarding game

Was Was its complement, Oli Oli 2: Welcome to Oliwood CompanyIt is known for being difficult to master. These side scrolling skateboarding games start off quite easily, but if you want to complete every challenge, be prepared to play and replay a few levels dozens of times. It can be annoying, but it is also very satisfying to only perform the series of tricks and tricks necessary to score a high score.

I was worried about this elementary worlde new fashion For the series, which will arrive on February 8, he would have given up on that level of challenge. After playing a long preview of the game over the past week, I’m not worried anymore. Developer Roll7 has created a more intuitive game than the original, but keeps the gameplay, quick response, and chased scores intact for those who want it.

for beginners, elementary world It is a 2.5D skateboarding game where your character simply has to move from one end of the path to the other while performing as many stunts and combos as possible. This is the same basic formula as the original games, but the purpose elementary world is being So much Larger. The game was divided into five different regions, three of which were playable in my demo. The first, Sunshine Valley, had nearly 20 distinct levels, some of which were just training levels meant to introduce you to the basics of skating, grinding, and shooting various tricks. But even if you don’t count these levels, there is a lot to explore elementary world Of the two previous games, each has 50 levels in total.

There are tons of ways to challenge yourself as you skate through these levels. To begin with, you need to navigate between grinding bars, gaps, ramps, and other obstacles to get to the end before you can progress. In a bruising difficulty game story concession, however, the levels now contain checkpoints, so if you explore 90 percent of the level, you can try the last part again. Of course, if you have a large selection of things left out, you will miss out on this opportunity to score big points. But that at least makes it easier to learn the levels and work on problem spots without having to go through the entire course again.

But the levels are very well designed and visually interesting, so I was eager to play and replay until I passed all the challenges and discovered as many secrets as possible. The world is filled with colorful and imaginative creatures like walking bananas, smiling trees, giant bees holding banners to hang on the wall, huge frogs (which sometimes ride those giant bees) and of course the Skate Godz you encounter at the end of each world.

You see, your character is on a mission to become the new skate wizard, with the help of a funny and cheery cartoon crew, including Chiffon, the current one-eyed skate wizard who smokes a pipe and is ready to retire. To replace them, you will need to meet all the Skate Godz who live in the five different regions you can play in. Each level has a few lines with your team and the people you meet on your travels, filled with silly puns and the occasional advice on how to improve your scores or implement new moves. You can skip it if you want, but it helped me step into a huge void in the wonderful world of Radlandia.

It is difficult to summarize the words that make them individual levels elementary world Very convincing, but they mix a serious challenge with moments that really let you step into an uncertain flow, where you just do tricks, drive rails and generally just whiz through the course without thinking too much about what you’re doing. Music, sound effects, art style, level design and a variety of moves that you can take advantage of all help to create this atmosphere, and while the game looks very different from its predecessors, the end result is the same: the happiness of the player. skate.

My skills have been translated here from the original Oli Oli games, but there are many new things to challenge old players. The game is no longer truly 2D, which means there are more paths to explore across many levels, which seriously adds to the replayability and challenge of these levels. Each level has multiple objectives that are presented to you at the beginning and reaching them all will almost certainly require more games, especially as the game progresses and the paths become more and more complex.

In fact, when I reached about halfway through the third world of the game, I was seriously struggling to control all the level objectives. The good news is that you can keep progressing without passing the three challenges and you are not penalized for using the checkpoints, but the game is so well designed that I wanted to keep going back and trying to get my previous best results and score those aims.

There are many new moves such as holding the shot and the quarter tube allows you to change the direction the skater is going. Sounds simple, but making the skater go right to left instead of the other way around really threw a loop at me, but I also audibly exclaimed the first time I skated in one of those quarter tubes. They add a whole new dimension to the game that I wasn’t expecting.

It is also worth noting a few other ways that Roll7 has made this game more accessible than its predecessors. In addition to the aforementioned checkpoints, it is now difficult to clear them. Previous games required you to press a button while landing, otherwise you’ll lose all your momentum and points collected from a grab. You can now land without worrying about this move, but performing a so-called “perfect” landing increases your speed and score.

The main game is a deep experience, but Roll7 has added new features for those who like to chase the high score. Each time you finish a level, you will see a rival player’s score, after which you will be challenged to get the best. It’s subtle, to only show your opponent’s high score below your best score, but these challenges made me play a few more rounds to try and win this challenge. elementary world Smart enough to match players of your skill level, so if your highest score exceeds 100,000, you won’t be challenged to beat someone who has a million at the same level; Competitor scores are generally around 20 percent higher than your best results. It is a good encouragement to push yourself through the level more aggressively.

elementary world It also offers daily challenges through the Gnarvana League, which you unlock once the first area of ​​the game is completed. Here, you join a championship where you face nine competitors who once again skate with a similar skill level to yours. The levels change every day and you are simply trying to get the best score in your deck. As you play, you can be promoted to other leagues, as tournaments should get more and more difficult. I admit right away that after scoring the score that put me at the top of my group, I kept my eyes on the championship all day to see if I had to start over and improve my score to keep that first place.

Finally, there is a random level generator that you can use to challenge your friends or strangers to get their best score. The portal of Gnarvana is very simple, allowing you to choose the “style” of the level, which is based on the five main worlds of the game. You can then choose one of the four difficulty levels and set the duration of the course. Once created, you can share that course via an eight-digit zip code. This code allows anyone else to try your level, no matter what platform they’re playing on, and you compete again to see who can score the highest score. The funny thing is that anyone can try it, so you can give the zip code to a few close friends or post it online and challenge whoever you want.

For the first time in the OlliOlli game, you can also customize your character to your liking. There are tons of clothing options, hairstyles, skateboard designs, skin color options, and more here, and you’ll unlock more options as you explore the different challenges each level offers. Unlike the overall solo design of a male skater in the first two games, you can create a character that really fits your personality.

There are plenty of games here for $ 30, and the Roll7 team has no less than two DLC expansions planned for the end of the year (both included if you order the $ 45 Rad version). If you have a passing interest in skateboarding or platforming games, elementary world Definitely worth your time. It’s deeper, brighter, bigger and more fun than the original games, and I expect it to be a hit with hardcore OlliOllli fanatics, as well as a much wider new audience experiencing the excitement of this for the first time. meditative skateboard series.

elementary world It will be available on Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One and PC on February 8th.